{"id":1660,"date":"2014-07-30T00:15:47","date_gmt":"2014-07-30T08:15:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cultofmoney.com\/?p=1660"},"modified":"2014-07-29T11:04:13","modified_gmt":"2014-07-29T19:04:13","slug":"how-to-break-your-debt-addiction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cultofmoney.com\/how-to-break-your-debt-addiction\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Break Your Debt Addiction"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"break<\/a>I\u2019ve never had much debt. It always felt wrong.<\/em><\/p>\n

When I was 18 I was stupid and maxed out a couple of credit cards totaling around $2,500. I quickly smartened up, paid those suckers off, and cut up the cards. The only other debt I have ever acquired was a car loan (which in hindsight was a bad move) that I paid off in two years, on a super low salary mind you, and the loan I took out to buy my trailer which was also paid off in two years thanks to a small inheritance.<\/p>\n

So no, I\u2019m not perfect \u2013 just close to it. (Kidding. Sort of.<\/em> No seriously, I\u2019m kidding.) But it baffles me at how easy it is to get addicted to debt.<\/p>\n

Debt is An Addiction<\/h2>\n

One of my closest family members just kills me in this aspect. She finances EVERYTHING. Household appliances, super nice cars, clothes, jewelry, make up \u2013 you name it.<\/p>\n

Outwardly you\u2019d think she has it all. She\u2019s beautiful, has an awesome personality, and everything under the sun. But what most people don\u2019t know is that she is drowning in debt \u2013 and she\u2019s okay with that.<\/p>\n

But how?<\/em><\/p>\n

Excess Debt is Not Okay<\/h2>\n

Unless we\u2019re talking student loans, a car loan (for a car that is much needed), a mortgage, or investment property loans I just cannot understand why people would want to take on debt.<\/p>\n

Excess debt is not okay. Here\u2019s why.<\/p>\n

It robs you of financial freedom \u2013<\/strong> When you\u2019re making ten to twenty monthly payments on your debt you\u2019re never going to get ahead. All of your money is going to interest. Your debt balances will remain stagnant and you have no financial cushion<\/a>. You can\u2019t save up money for emergencies or any other large purchases.<\/p>\n

It creates stress \u2013<\/strong> I can\u2019t imagine having ten to twenty credit card payments per month. How hard would that be to keep up with? When you\u2019ve accumulated this much debt the only thing you can do is rob Peter to pay Paul.<\/p>\n

And knowing that you owe so much money? That\u2019s a pile of unnecessary bricks on your shoulders.<\/p>\n

What About the Future? \u2013<\/strong> What\u2019s going to happen when you\u2019re too old to work? File bankruptcy? Live in an old folk\u2019s home and hope that your social security checks can support you? What about the financial burden you leave to your kids?<\/p>\n

If my Dad was in a position like this I wouldn\u2019t be able to watch him suffer. It\u2019d be me taking care of him and I\u2019m sure that\u2019s not his grand plan for my life or his.<\/p>\n

Buying Stuff Does NOT Create True Happiness \u2013<\/strong> My biggest problem with the debt addiction \u2013 is that just like any other addiction \u2013 it\u2019s a bandaid. It\u2019s not a cure all. Buying things for temporary happiness is a vicious cycle. Real happiness comes from connections<\/a> and deep relationships with other people. Not with the newest jeans on the market.<\/p>\n

What to Do About Debt Addiction<\/h2>\n

The first process of beating any addiction is admitting you have a problem. You might think this sounds funny but seriously, being addicted to debt is no different than being addicted to drugs.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s an addiction. It\u2019s psychological. And it\u2019s killing you.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re the one with the problem then you\u2019ve already taken that first step because obviously if you\u2019re reading this you know you need help. However, if there\u2019s someone in your life that has the problem things get a bit trickier.<\/p>\n

You see, it\u2019s out of your hands. You cannot force someone to change their ways or even admit that they have a problem. The person has to make this decision themselves and there\u2019s usually some sort of trigger involved.<\/p>\n

Once you get past this here are some steps you can take to break your problem.<\/p>\n

Cut Up All Your Credit Cards<\/strong> \u2013 Cut up every single credit card you own. Don\u2019t hide them, destroy them. If you have problem with spending money you don\u2019t have, don\u2019t make it available to you.<\/p>\n

Get Support \u2013<\/strong> You\u2019re going to be tempted to go out and buy new stuff multiple times. It takes a long time for those type of feelings to go away. If you\u2019re married get the support of your spouse. If you\u2019re single get the support of your best friend, sibling, or parent. Just have someone to talk to when you\u2019re tempted to veer off the path.<\/p>\n

Make a Debt Pay off Plan \u2013<\/strong> Now comes the fun, but hard, part. You need to pay off your debt. If you have multiple credit accounts I would highly recommend that you pay them off from smallest balance to highest balance.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s going to be so much easier to manage your monthly bills when you don\u2019t have as many. Start by paying the minimums on all your payments and throw everything extra on the smallest balance. When it\u2019s paid off move to the next.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s Gonna Take a Long Time<\/h2>\n

Depending on how much debt you\u2019ve accumulated it can take years to pay it all back. You\u2019ll have a long road ahead of you and no doubt it\u2019s going to be stressful but it will be totally worth it in the end.<\/p>\n

Next week we\u2019ll go into more detail about creating a budget, a debt pay off plan, and looking for extra money<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Until next time\u2026..<\/p>\n

Do you know anyone who is addicted to debt?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I\u2019ve never had much debt. It always felt wrong. When I was 18 I was stupid and maxed out a couple of credit cards totaling around $2,500. I quickly smartened up, paid those suckers off, and cut up the cards. The only other debt I have ever acquired was a car loan (which in hindsight […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":1661,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[373,114,372,68],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cultofmoney.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1660"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cultofmoney.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cultofmoney.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cultofmoney.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cultofmoney.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1660"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.cultofmoney.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1660\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cultofmoney.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1661"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cultofmoney.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1660"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cultofmoney.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1660"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cultofmoney.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1660"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}