Michelle Singletary writes a down-to-earth personal financial column. This article, while directed towards family budgets, struck me today as directly applicable to resalers and their businesses. Michelle doesn’t pull any punches, so prepare to possibly feel your cheeks redden as you read….

5 financial fibs – and how to come clean in 2011

l have a budget. Having a budget in your head doesn’t count. You have to write it down, which also leaves a paper trail or computer record of how you are doing financially.

l have an emergency fund. People will swear they have an emergency fund. But they raid it so regularly that it’s really just a backup checking account.

l can manage my spending better with a credit or debit card. People love to think the monthly credit card or debit account statements that track their spending are great tools to manage their money. But that’s simply not the case.
“Paying by a card does not feel the same as paying in cash,” Manoj Thomas of Cornell University, told me. “Our behaviors are often influenced by non-conscious factors. I believe that mode of payment is one such factor; it can affect our consumption behavior without our awareness.”

l own my home. Unless you’re mortgage-free, you don’t own your home. The institution holding your mortgage does. If you would see this debt for what it is, maybe you’d work harder to pay it off sooner.

l don’t understand why I’m always broke. This is the biggest lie. You could figure this fib out if you really thought about it. It’s about needs versus wants. Be honest: You’ve moved too many of your wants to the needs side of your budget. So when you look at your budget, you don’t see what should or could be cut.

So before you make your financial New Year’s resolution for 2011, take a truth test. If you can handle the truth, you stand a better chance of becoming the better money manager you want to be.

Read the full article at the Washington Post site.