The Credit Dilemma

Life sucks when you’re in debt.

Many of us are living on a dream, a prayer, and a credit card.  As a result, we’re drowning in debt.

I can say that, because we were too.

Once upon a time, my husband and I had great jobs.  It seemed like a good idea to get a mortgage, two car loans, and a couple of credit cards.  And it was fine, until life happened.

Then we began sinking.

Do you know what stinks?  Not being able to answer the phone because you’re afraid it’s a creditor, and although you are doing every single thing in your power to pay them off, it’s not happening fast enough.

Been there?  Done that?

Then you can relate.

We don’t know how to live with what we have and we can’t discern between need vs. want, so we buy on credit.

Furniture stores offer no payments/no interest for a year or more, so why wait to buy furniture when we can have it now?

Why wait for anything?  We can have it now!

I don’t think credit is bad.  Our world runs on it, but it’s so easy to fall into the water and not be able to swim out.  Credit agencies want you in debt, it’s how they make money.

We’re not promised tomorrow and we’re not told what’s going to happen tomorrow.

What if you’re up to your eyeballs in debt and you lose your job?

It happens.

What happens if you get sick?  Heaven forbid it’s cancer and you’re out of work for three months or more.

It happens.

Life happens to the best of us and the trials don’t have to be nearly as drastic and life-altering as the ones I just mentioned.

We paid off all our credit cards long ago, but it wasn’t easy.  Neither was the lesson we learned.

Now, we’re perfectly happy to wait until we have money to buy a living room set or a car or a weekend away.  Even if means doing without, we avoid credit at all costs.

About two years ago now, we went to buy a car.  The car we were looking at was used, but gently.  We couldn’t get a loan on that used car; however, they were more than happy to offer us a loan on just about any brand new vehicle on the lot.

I’m sure in some twisted way that made sense to the creditors, but for us, it would have been foolish.  It was more than we could afford and we knew it, so we walked away.

Just because you qualify for credit, doesn’t mean it’s wise to take the money.

Debt is a raging sea and it’s easy to get crashed by wave after wave and become weary of swimming.  Before you know what’s happening, the storms come and you find yourself drowning.

Once I heard someone say, “Don’t borrow a nickle unless you have a dime.”  I think that’s pretty good advice.

Be careful of credit.  Don’t drown in it.

More Information

Life and Money – Credit Cards by Dave Ramsey

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