I Used to Be Drowning in Debt July 21, 2006
I used to be drowning in debt and paid hundreds and hundres of dollars (who knows, maybe a thousand?) a year on credit card interest rates. Until one day, it just dawned on me that unless I changed my lifestyle, I would not only be treading in debt but the credit cards would slowly pull me under, until one day, I’ll drown and not be able to come up to gasp for air. I’m not sure what it was, it was just a sudden decision to not spend anymore, not worry about what other people thought of me, not worry about labels on clothing. When you’re young (16-25), what matters to most is what other people think of you and being accepted…and I’m a pretty self confident guy. Now that I’m in my early 30s, I don’t think about how other people look on the surface, but who they are. I hate the idea of “keeping up with the Joneses” because that’s essentially what I was doing when I was young. I tried to keep up with the rich kids who had trust funds and bought expensive meals, went on weekend trips to Vegas, and had supposed high profile jobs.
I spend every extra dollar on credit card payments and it didn’t seem like I was making much progress. When I realized that I was paying down a $1000 on cc payments but just treading, it was time to change. Paying down $1000 and not spending anything got me back and after years and years of almost drowning, I finally was on dry land.
For many Americans who are drowning in debt who are trying to keep up with everyone else around you, stop thinking about how other people judge you. Because the you’re the most important judge of yourself, not the dude who has a BMW 650i with the 18″ rims or the 16 year old whose parents throw their child a $100,000 sweet 16 party who thinks you’re lame because you don’t wear True Religions or own the latest Botkier Bag.