Yahoo!: 5 signs you're in financial trouble

It may well be that we would be better off by going back to the way it used to be in the old days when there were no plastic payment options, giving credit was rare, unusual and uncommon, and the color of your money spoke louder then words.

You may not always had the exact amount of cash in your wallet, but at least you knew you would get your money's worth and obtain what you were able to pay for, without being afraid they might come back for it in the future.

You certainly didn't have to worry about your credit score and no one would even have known where the word 'identity theft' came from, let alone what it meant. The only thing you would have to take into consideration was what to spend your money on.

Yes, you would have to make good decisions, because a fool and his money are soon parted. Even if the money would burn a hole in your pocket, when it was spent you knew you wouldn't have any left to burn and had to wait until the next payday.

This may sound terrible nowadays, but at least you knew it was irresponsible throwing money around like it was going out of style: it never would and will. You certainly didn't need to look for 5 signs to see whether you were in financial trouble.

One sign was more then enough: your empty pockets!