Five Reasons To Get Out Of Debt
By Stuart Laing
1) Everything that you buy becomes much more expensive
OK, I’ll show you. While out shopping you just can’t resist buying a new plasma television. The price was $2300, but it has been reduced to $1995. Bargain! So you sign up to an attractive looking credit agreement. How much will is cost? This is not a trick question. $1995? Wrong!
Whenever you borrow to buy something, the total cost to you is made up of three distinct parts.a) The actual amount that is borrowed - $1995
b) The interest on the loan – Perhaps 3 years at 29.9% APR. That would come to $915.78 (36 payments of $80.85 less $1995)
c) These payments must be made from your taxed income – Let's say 30%. That would add another $1247.40 So taking all of these things into account, you’ll have to earn an eye watering $4158 to pay for your television. And that’s before we take into account the opportunity that you’ve lost to earn interest on the money that you’re using to make the loan repayments. At 5% per year over 3 years this could amount to another $300 in lost interest. Doesn’t seem such a ‘bargain’ any more, does it? Do you really want it that much?
2) Lack of Freedom
The world is full of credit junkies. Too many people hold a ‘must have’ attitude that they simply can’t afford. Unfortunately, this position translates into a ‘must borrow’ state of mind. They borrow in order to feed their need for a regular consumer spending ‘fix’. But this addiction is not without its consequences.
Every time you borrow money you forfeit a piece of your life. It means that your lender owns a bit of you. They own the time that you take to earn the money to repay the debt every week or every month. Welcome to life as a human limited company….and your lender has just become a major shareholder! Every pound of debt reduces the freedom that you have in your life. It’s a simple equation.
Debt = lack of freedom to spend your time as you decide
Part of your precious, non-renewable life, now has to be devoted to acquiring enough money to repay your creditors. Your personal freedom has been curtailed. Every pound of interest paid represents a waste. Waste of your money. Waste of your effort. Waste of your time. Waste of your freedom. WASTE OF YOUR LIFE!!
3) Rows
What’s the most common reason for rows between couples? Work, children, sex, the house, trivial matters? Wrong!
The answer is money. Debt is the biggest cause of rows and relationship problems.
4) Stress
This is the inevitable result of the last two items. You owe money that you no longer have. You have to repay it with interest. You have to work every hour available just to make ends meet. And at the back of your mind is the nagging doubt, ‘what if I can’t keep up with the repayments?’ Then on top of all that worry, there’s the frustration of being permanently skint, despite the fact they you’ve never worked harder in your life. And all the time your ‘better half’ is nagging you about never having any money and the amount of time that you’ve been spending at work.
5) Bankruptcy
With all debt, there’s always the chance that it will spiral out of control. One debt can lead to another debt. After you’ve borrowed money once, it becomes incredibly easy to do it again, and again, and again! It’s the easiest thing in the world to say ‘Oh I’ll just stick it on my credit card’, but it’s much harder to repay! Especially when you’ve got interest working its mischief against you! Eventually, it can get to the stage where you can’t even afford to repay the interest, let alone the original amount you borrowed. And the end result? Life is not as happy and exciting as it should be! And if that's not a good enough reason to get out of debt, I don't know what is.
Stuart runs a website dedicated to helping people get out of debt. So if you want to improve your financial position, visit www.icanhelpyougetoutofdebt.com for free, impartial debt help information
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