This is how I feel right now. Thank you, beautiful Hawaiian lady, for giving your life to help me express what I'm going through.
Why, you might ask, do I compare myself to a woman trapped neck deep in quicksand? The answer is an ugly thing called debt.
Up until April this year, we were sitting pretty. We made oodles of money, had a very inexpensive place to live, and we only ever made minimum payments on credit cards, car payments, etc... We had massive student loans but were not required to start paying on them until later...and we didn't! If I could only talk to the Tamara of those days!
Everything changed when we relocated to California. Our living expenses doubled, and our income didn't. Our paid-for car was totaled, so we acquired a new auto loan. We had to start paying our student loans plus interest, and ironically, about half of what we owed was unnecessary, frivolous debt. Am I painting a depressing picture for you?
Don't misunderstand...we are doing just fine, we have enough money to pay all our bills and a little extra. The problem is that by paying only the minimum payments on debt it will take years to extract ourselves, we'll have a late start saving for retirement, and it will be very tough to pursue our interests in the meanwhile.
What I hate most about credit card companies is that they give people the mistaken idea that "buy now, pay later" is a positive, win-win situation. Don't be deceived! You may be paying for your ignorance for many years to come! And in the end, you may not even remember what it is that you are paying for!! Nothing is more frustrating than that!
Once my little family is able to get out of debt, I will never, ever, ever, ever take out a loan or use a credit card EVER again. Of course, a mortgage is a necessity, but I will pay mine off in 15 years or less, just watch me!
I will forever be grateful to my sister Rachel for telling me to read Dave Ramsey's book, The Total Money Makeover. It's changed the way we live, the way we think about money & debt and I know we're going to have a much easier, richer (literally) future because of it.
3 comments:
Minimum payments are terrible, Credit Card companies recently had to double the minimum payment rate because the government stepped in and said people would never ever pay off a debt if that's all they did, even if they never charged again and were always on time. You never win with minimum payments.
I got a nice money break a few days ago and went online and setup payments for all my balances, it was such a nice feeling! NO more payments. It's such a free feeling. I hope you get there soon!
Tamara, when I started reading your blog, I was going to comment: first, cut up your credit cards, and next read Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover! But then I finished your blog and I'm glad that you are a step ahead. And believe me, even though you may be frustrated now, just be glad you are learning your lesson in your early twenties. If only we could go back 10 years and do some things over!
I like the picture you used. Seems very appropriate! :-) It sounds like you two are on the right track now... it's just not easy! Good luck!
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