Life’s Too Short To Be Saddled With Debt
As a mother and the other member of the two-man finance board in the family, I’ve long since discovered that keeping our credit card level in check can be one of the most challenging household finance issues to deal with. Debt tends to creep up on us slowly before we can even realize that we’ve already created a monster that’s totally out of control. A moment of weakness that happens once too often, can build up our existing debt to levels so high, that recovery can take years.
Even if we enjoy a comfortable enough level of income presently, the anxiety of having to cope with past debts can sometimes cause us to miss out on quality time we could have spent with our loved ones, or even just moments to stop and smell the flowers. Life indeed, is too short to get ourselves saddled with debt.
If we don’t want to find ourselves constantly having to deal with creditors on our door, or jeopardizing our child’s college education fund, these few reminders might come in handy in keeping the bills away.
Spend only what you earn. Or ideally, even less to tuck away a little something for savings or emergencies. This may be one of the most fundamental steps to a debt-free existence but also one of the toughest to live by.
Using envelopes isn’t such a bad idea. Or use a personal finance management tool such as Mint, Quicken, or Microsoft Money. Whether you do it the old-fashioned or the computer-savvy way, the point is that a prudent homeowner should have the household spending organized. Want to have a separate envelope for the occasional treat? No reason why you can’t have one. But remember to put in only a reasonable amount and by all means use only what’s inside that particular envelope.
Know the good from the bad debt. While an annual vacation is one of the best ways of building lifetime memories with your family, maxing out your credit card for that may just be a tad impractical. A good family home on the other hand, is always a worthwhile long-term debt.
Always keep an eye out for great deals. Shop around for maximized interest rates on deposit and accounts, sniff out bargains and discounts, cut out coupons, and don’t buy brand new when you can go second hand. The more savings you get from scrimping here and there, the less you’ll need to rely on credit.
Don’t stress on old debts. Granted, we’ve all made some bad decisions in the past. Maybe that 55-inch plasma TV was really too much of an extravagance. Or perhaps the money used on modernizing the kitchen would have been better spent stocking it up. Whatever the circumstances behind unwise spending in the past, it really doesn’t lighten the burden of having to pay for it in the present by continually thinking about if only’s. Instead, manage your current payables, but think twice, thrice about incurring future ones.
Work hard, live well, laugh out loud. Whether we get to be forty or a hundred and forty, life can still be enjoyed to the fullest… without signing ourselves up to a lifetime of debt in the process.
Written by Carolyn Joy Villanueva
Related Posts
