Don't Let The Good Times Bury You

It is vital to get rid of debt while things are
going well. Yet the opposite is usually the
case. Human nature is such that when we
find ourselves living in good times, we let
down our defenses. With our lives going
great we seem to make the worst
decisions. It’s not hard to understand why
this happens. We believe things will always
be better in the future, “When I’m done
with school, When I get a better paying
job, I’m sure I will get that promotion.”

With this attitude, that extra lump
sum of money, or the raise at work, is
used as a springboard to increase your
personal debt. After all you can now afford
better this, bigger that. You assume in
your linear view of life that tomorrow will
take care of everything. You don’t become
concerned with your debt load, until you
no longer can make the payments.

When you begin to feel the squeeze of
debt, you want some quick fix to get you
out of trouble. Unfortunately there are no
quick fixes for debt that will leave you (or
your credit report) unscarred.

But why should it be any different from
other areas of your life? If you know a
food will give you heartburn you take a
pill and, ”presto,” you may eat any thing
you like. If you can’t find time to exercise,
just take a pill and watch those pounds
melt away.

The economy is built on the same “I want
it now,” principle. If you want an item,
you just whip out the plastic. You need it
now. You will figure out later how to pay
for it. When your plastic can take no more,
you want out of debt in an easy way. You
begin looking for the magic pill.
Unfortunately the drugstore closed a long
time ago.

A woman, who I know casually, had no
problem taking on more debt because she
saw herself able to handle the extra
payments. She reasoned, if everything
remained the same she could handle the
drain on her income. So she bought some
expensive gift items on her cards and
began making the monthly payments.

She found out rather quickly she could not
see into the future very well. Her car gave
out on her. The repairs exceeded the value
of the car. She needed one for work, so
she bought another.

The new payment wiped out the tiny
cushion she had each month and also made
it impossible to pay on her credit cards and
store accounts. Today she finds herself
hounded by her creditors and unable to
pay them anything.

What she should have done, and what you
should do, is pay off your debt while you
can and not take on any more. Whatever
extra you have each month should be
applied toward getting out of debt in a
systematic way. Until you are debt free,
you should order your life to make it a top
priority.

Life’s pressures are more easily handled
without money worries dogging you. Then
when those big promotions, with those big
raises come along, you will be trained to
put some aside. And without debt to take
care of, you can. The goods times then,
truly, will be the good times.

(c)2004 David Wilding

David Wilding has worked with individuals and groups to help them get rid of debt. He has, for the past ten years, attempted to change attitudes toward and the acceptance of personal debt. Visit his website http://www.debtattack.com for more ideas, tools, and strategies to make yourself debt free.

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