Sometimes I fantasize about being debt free. Just substitute always for sometimes. I’m not thinking about living in a mansion and driving a Mercedes. I’m just thinking about a life with reliable things that I have the funds to replace when I need to.
The recession ripped out from under me the safety net I didn’t know I was relying on. My confidence that I could always get by somehow diminished. And I wasn’t affected in any dramatic way, but watching people who had worked their whole lives losing their jobs, having no more protections in place than I do at 26, made everything feel uncertain. When it started affecting my parents, however minimally, I was scared. It seemed that no matter what you do, you’re always at risk.
Changing my mind to get out of debt changed my thoughts about the future as well. There is a lot I can do to make myself financially stable. It’s just that I’m impatient to get there already. I want a more reliable car and six months worth of expenses in savings and other adult things! Basically, I want nice things.
But, this has been a mind trap for me before. A way I delude myself. I think, I’ll buy this quality thing and then I won’t have to replace it. It’s a variation of I’ll just buy this one last thing and then that will be it, which is a variation of I’ll just get high one last time and then that will be it (I’ve been watching a lot of Weeds lately).
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Oh, the lessons we learn from Weeds! Love that weird show.
My one goal in life is to be completely debt free. No student loans, no credit card debit (never had and hopefully never will) and before I settle down. I want to say to myself (and my future kids…scary thought) that there was one point in my life where I was truly debt free.
In a culture of accruing debt, I want to change it. I understand when I get married and have a family, obviously a house would be a given and so will be the debt. However, I want to prove to society that we can be debt free. No bound by credit cards, loans and creditors. Live free and responsibly.
A big part of getting rid of the debt is changing the way we think. Even today, while grocery shopping, I was on a tiny budget and had to turn away thoughts like “oh, 3/$5, I can stock up” when in reality, I don’t need three and won’t for at least a month – and I would save more money shopping at Wal-Mart anyway, but it was too far today.
Tangent. Sorry.
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