Debt

Debt. In today’s society, debt seems to be a very normal occurrence. It has actually become harder to find someone WITHOUT debt than WITH debt. The problem with debt is that it hangs over your head, dragging you down. It causes sleep deprivation, worry, marital issues, and even illness due to stress.

My debt started when I was 17 years old. I was a naive college freshman, signing my life away (with a parental cosign) in exchange for a college education. While in college I could never quite make ends meet. And those nifty credit card applications came with a cool T-shirt or free candy bar. Everyone needs a snack, right? And I could cancel that card as soon as it arrived, right? Only I didn’t.

I used those cards. A lot. By the time I left college, I had tens of thousands of dollars worth of school loans PLUS thousands of dollars worth of credit card bills. The siren call of credit swept me up in its embrace and didn’t let me go for several years.

Fresh out of school, JP and I worked hard to pay down our school debt. However, JP did not know about my credit card bills. He had no clue that I had thousands of dollars worth of debt and continued to add to it almost daily.

Over the years, we finally paid off the school loans, well within the allotted time. JP thought all we had left was the mortgage. Then he found out about the credit cards. All four of them. Needless to say, that was a very rough time for us.

It was then that I got serious about getting out of debt. About becoming completely, totally, debt-free. And we did it. September 1, 2010 was the day that we became debt free. It was not easy. It did not happen over night. But then again, neither did the debt.

We now live debt free. Since we live mostly on a single income, we never have the best or newest of anything, but we are just fine with that. While our things might be purchased from garage sales and thrift stores, we live with the peace that we do not have a large debt looming over our heads.

I tell you all of this to help you understand that I have been there. I have been addicted to credit cards. To wanting something so much that I rationalized the expense. To not quite grasping the long lasting effects of compounding interest. Is it humiliating to admit that I had out of control spending? Yes. But I am willing to do so if it will help others. I have been to the place where you think it is hopeless to even try to climb out of the debt pit.

It isn’t hopeless. I did it. You can do it too. We can do it together.  I would be more than happy to share what I have learned on my journey to debt free living. I invite you to join me. if you have specific questions that you would like to cover, please let me know.

As Publilius Syrus said, “Debt is the slavery of the free.”

~Annie