Disclimers:
1. If this comes off as preachy feel free to send a dirty look and f~~~ off my way. If you find it preachy please know that it isn’t my intention.
2. I am not offering financial advice, there are others here that know more about that s~~~. This is about freedom.
3. I know some of the dudes here are currently a slave of the state and some slot-c.
Condolences. This may or may not be helpful to you.
4. This is about personal debt, business debt is a different beast.
5. I’m not a financial whiz-kid. I basically know f~~~-all except for debt f~~~ing sucks.
6. This is mostly for the youngsters so hopefully they don’t make the same mistakes I did.
If you are in debt you are not free.
You are a slave to whomever holds the debt.
You are paying extra (interest) just for the privilege of using someone else’s money.
If you have a mortgage you are still a slave but once your term on that plantation ends you will most likely have a valuable asset.
In other words a mortgage is potentially a good debt to have if you are gonna have it.
In my 20s I got into Credit Card debt, most of the debt probably came from my pursuit of poon.
Eh, not probably, who the f~~~ am I kidding. Chasing tail was exactly why I was in debt.
I will admit that my CC debt was pretty tame compared to a lot people in their 20s.
I think the most it ever got was about 13-15K.
Not a small amount certainly but not a oh, s~~~ how am I ever gonna be able to pay this down amount.
In my early 30s I FINALLY scored a gig that paid more than, just enough to get by.
First thing I did with my new found largesse was pay off the cards as I KNEW that s~~~ was bad.
Now lets take a trip in the way back machine…
If you are like me then you most likely grew up hearing s~~~ like:
1. You are always going to have a car payment, get use to it.
2. You are always going to owe someone, get use to it.
3. Some debt is good (for credit score).
In my mid 30s I wasn’t worried about the loans I still had, vehicle and student loans.
After all I was meeting my obligations and saving for a home, just in case I met my Unicorn.
Then a good friend of mine loaned me his copy of Dave Ramsey’s; The Total Money Makeover
It totally changed my life.
This is not overstatment.
Just like I took a red pill regarding the whimenze and other assorted c~~~s.
This book was my red pill for money.
{edit: S~~~ sorry I forgot the link}
Total Money Make Over
Welp, I am gonna let you know right now, Ramsey is tradcon, blue pill af.
This doesn’t mean his advice is s~~~ it means you have to wade through tradcon, blue pill s~~~ to get to the good stuff.
Also, this book is NOT about making money.
It is about how to stop digging once you are in the hole and how to get out of the hole, it is hard but impossible.
Within the hour of finishing this I paid off my remaining loans.
I was very, very lucky that I could do this. Like I said I had debt but was saving for a house.
Jeebus Crackers on a pogo stick!! I was paying interest I did not have too. How stupid can I be?
The bros here that are debt free can back me up on this.
The feeling of not owing people money is fan-f~~~ing-tastic.
Nothing else like it.
Just like many of you, the debt was a heavy af anchor that was added to, slowly over time, I had no idea how heavy it was until it was gone.
Others here have talked about a F~~~ You Fund.
When I wasn’t sending my pay out the door each month, I was able to save two of them 1. A larger one, for when s~~~ really hits the fan 2. A smaller one, that is more easily accessable.
After becoming debt free it was years before I trusted myself with a credit card again.
Today I have and use a Credit Card but I pay it off several times a month (so it doesn’t seem so big) and it gives me ‘cash back’.
I am able to do this not because I make big bucks but rather because I live a simple and frugal life.
Now I will give myself a dirty look, on the off chance, this came off as bragging or preachy.
Seriously though if you are having money problems please consider reading Ramsey’s book. Blue pill s~~~ and all.
I have made all the money mistakes of youth but was able to recover with my money red pill.
One last bit of info to leave, A good Credit Score generally means that you are really, really f~~~ing good at paying interest. Yes, I know you need a good credit score to buy s~~~ like a house or a vehicle but there are better ways to get a good credit score without paying thousands in interest.
SESQUI ano est 2 years, 7 months ago.
