, but not everyone gets there as a result of being a compulsive over spender. There are many people who are willing to help anyone that has a financial need and this can sometimes jeopardize the financial stability of the person helping everyone. It is important to put yourself first in this respect. You cannot help anyone when you are not stable yourself. Your money should not go to pay the bills of someone that does not have the money just to end up in financial trouble yourself.
Your goals should be to have no consumer debt and an emergency fund for unexpected expenses. Some people say that 6 to 8 months of expenses in your emergency fund and this is a good number, but just having $1,000 is better than having nothing at all. You should have all this in place before you begin helping others out with expenses that they have that they cannot meet.
Having been in the finance industry for several years the biggest reason that people file bankruptcy is because of substantial medical bills that are incurred. But I have seen my share of people that file bankruptcy over compulsive spending and then there are others who have credit card debt because of family members that have been making poor decisions for years and cannot keep their head above water financially.
The thing that makes the least amount of sense is to help others out just to jeopardize your financial future. You have to put yourself first before you can be in a position to help others. It make no sense to go into debt so that someone else can have their bills paid or be bailed out of jail or whatever other reason may occur that friend or family may need financial assistance. There is nothing wrong with helping as long as you can afford it.