I hate debt. A lot. I’ve always hated it though not as defined as I now know it. I don’t have much of it and that’s the way I like it. I’ve been thinking more and more about the little I do have and it’s become somewhat obsessive. I don’t like it and want it gone now. I’ve played with facts and figures on how long it will take to pay off and tried to figure ways to speed it up. I’ve racked my brain and laid awake at night have only hate it more. Today I’m going to talk about the evil of debt, missed opportunities and how to work out from under it.
Debt is Slavery
I’ve come to realize those words more and more. Debt is slavery, it steals your time and soul. If you ask most people why they work you will get some sort of similar answer. To pay for housing (that they spend no time in) A car to get to the job and to buy food (that’s killing them). On top of that the majority hate their work. Then you add in the harder you work the more the government takes from you. This enslavement to the machine of modern life leaves us will a gaping whole in us that is filled with buying junk. It’s a viscous circle that crushes us down until we are old and broken.
Prepping to Avoid
Except for some student loans that I paid off I avoided debt my entire life. I always bought cars outright for cash, the best being a Chevy caviler for $100 that ran for over four years. When I got my big promotion at work I was driving my old pickup truck the eighty mile round trip to work and it blew up. I, in a rash decision, decided to get a new car. Enter the big monthly payment and high insurance and interest rate. I’ve paid and over paid on it since the begining of 2010 and I’m finally seeing a dent in it. I owe $8,600 left on it and hope to have it paid off in a little over a year. I’d love to do it sooner. I even almost got a credit card to pay it off to not have the giant interest rate. I’m also thinking real hard about selling it and buying a car with cash. I’m tire of the debt that badly.
Missed Opportunities
Why am I so anxious to be out from under the debt of the car? All the missed opportunities that come from being debt free. One of my favorite people, Paul Wheaton, just bought his land and needs people on it. If I were debt free the prospect of moving to Montana would be amazing. My friend Dave from TNGun just bought land and is offering it for someone to manage. Building a home and beginning my homesteading now would be awesome. Instead I’m stuck in my crappy apartment for another year. Another year in the machine and slavery.
Having a Map
For the first few years I just paid the bill and hardly noticed the amount. I was blindly paying money and had no map nor direction. Now I have a budget and a plan on paying it off. I’m still deciding if I want to hold off on my land savings and pour more into paying off the car then add that into savings or continue to do both. I’m leaning towards the car then savings. I implore anyone that has not yet become a slave to avoid it. It is far easier to walk around the bog than climb out. The absolute only exception I can justify is housing. Just barely at that buying it outright would be better but understandable to go into debt for land/ home.
Have you stayed out of debt? Are you trying to stay out of debt? Let me know in the comments!
Think I have written about this before, but here goes again. My husband was the one to handle our money, he just did a better job of it than me. We bought older homes and good clean secondhand cars. Once he got weak and bought a new fancy truck, not only were to notes shocking, but it needed repairs as often as our older cars. The more bells and whistles on things the more things there are to break. Never again. We watched appliance sales for 12 months interest free, making sure we paid them off before the 12 months was over. We got our “new” freezer at an estate sale several months ago….was like brand new and we paid less than $200 for it. The people even wanted us to take all the food in it…however the food was given to a needy family.
The best hint is as you get raises at work, never ever increase your style of living….use the money to pay off your home or big debts and always put something in savings. We lived on about half of my husband’s salaries the last years he was working. We never saw the increase in pay, it went straight into savings. He paid an extra $100, or whatever we could afford, on the principle of our house payment, paying it off early. Be sure you always put the extra payments on just the principle
none of this money should be used on interest payments. Not sure how that actually works.
Vacations we saved for, even bought a secondhand travel trailer and was able to afford to travel for 2-3 months without using our credit card. My husband would take second jobs and I would work extra to save money faster. We even traveled to the Bahamas and the Virgin Islands for long vacations, by traveling a little off the tourist seasons (less crowded and prices as much as half price).
We do have a credit card and we use it for most things. That way we can see month to month where our money is going. BUT THIS CREDIT CARD IS PAID OFF EVERY MONTH…..THEREFORE NO INTEREST PAYMENTS.
W have lived a good life, not wanting for anything. We didn’t try to keep up with the Jones….and the Jones are still working while we are debt free and retired.
I have no connection with Dave Ramsey, but he has a radio show where he gives very simple, down to earth financial advice….mostly his rule is buy nothing but maybe a house on credit….save and buy with cash.
Sorry this is long, but anyone can cut daily living cost, just make it a project like the rest of your prepping. Money management is just as important as stored wheat.
Thanks for sharing Olivia! That’s how I am except this car. Credit cards are the devil. I would say it’s more important that wheat, but I don’t eat wheat
Forgot to add this one note for those of us who don’t trust our government…..pay cash for anything you don’t want Washington to have a record of…..we don’t know how the information will be used, do we?
Hate to tell you this, but the government is even tracking cash now. I booked a cruise for my 25th wedding anniversary over the weekend. Paid cash. The travel agent called me back to get all of my numbers (SSN, DL, DOB, etc), because they are now required to report all cash transactions!
In the same vein, cash is king. I know it’s a tagline but it’s also very true.
When we got married my wife owed a couple grand on a vehicle and had a payment close to $300 per month. Small, manageable, easy, right? Well, I’ve always been debt free and have always hated owing anything to anyone so as soon as the ink was dry on our marriage license I wrote a check and paid off that car. We then began paying that $300 to ourselves. Every month, $300 in the bank. No change of lifestyle, nothing different.
We have other savings and have gotten bonuses and whatnot but that $300 keeps rolling. If the budget gets light we buy less stuff or stay home, but the $300 always goes into the savings account.
Okay, that’s $3600 a year in extra cash, right? What would you do with it? It’s not earmarked for anything and it’s outside of regular budget (which itself includes entertainment and fun money).
In the past 5 years we have gone to Europe and Belize and Cancun and various other trips. When my computer crapped out I simply went to the store and bought a new one. When our TV crapped out we did the same. If there’s an emergency we have enough cash to cover all but the most catastrophic situations… we easily have insurance deductibles if needed. Sometimes, rarely, but sometimes, we just feel saucy and do something fun. We are also able to help people and donate to charities and causes we believe in.
Opportunities abound when you’re not sending all your money into someone else’s account.
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