Maybe I'm not expressing myself directly enough: when you overdraw your checking account, it's the latest mistake of a long series of mistakes. If having a paycheck delayed for a week causes you to have a negative net worth, you should reduce your expenses or get a better job.

Its very easy to say that when you are a software engineer who comes from an upper middle class background.

I'm not saying some people are not irresponsible but real financial strain is a tough thing to get out of, especially when you were born into it.