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Reader question: Please explain “don’t get ahead of yourself” in this passage: Second, if extra income comes in, write down exactly what it will go toward so you don’t get ahead of yourself and think it will help pay for your credit card debt, your student loan debt and your vacation in Sicily. Most important, be honest about what you can afford to do. An ambitious plan is good, but unrealistic goals can be discouraging. My comments: Don’t plan too much ahead, in other words. Don’t get too giddy. Be realistic. When you make a few extra money, use it on necessities first and don’t plan too far ahead. Pay off your credit card first, if you can afford to do that. Set aside a little toward paying off your student loan if you can afford that. But don’t dream about your vacation in Sicily just yet. Come summer time, when school’s over and if you’ve still got some money left, you can think about going to Sicily then. For now, be realistic and stick to paying your bills and paying off your debt. In other words, there’s a time for everything. Don’t get ahead of yourself. Don’t get ahead of yourself? What does that mean exactly? Well, we can get ahead of someone else by walking faster and moving in front of them. That’s getting ahead of someone in the literal sense. But in the literal sense, we cannot really get ahead of ourselves – that is, we can’t walk faster than we possibly can without risking stumbling to the floor. | 
