Debt Story

Getting Something Off My Chest

I recently wrote a post about not borrowing money, and I received some comments about it, and quite a few emails. If you want to read that post, feel free to click here and them come back and finish reading this one.

Back?

Good. I just wanted to point something out. The name of this blog is NO Credit Needed. Not Some Credit Needed, or Good Credit Needed, or Great Credit Needed. Nope. If you check the first two words, they are “No” and “Credit”. I am always floored by people who are shocked by the fact that I talk about NEVER wanting to use credit again. Listen, I am not a fool. I am not undisciplined. I am certainly not crazy (I cannot tell if this dude is cutting me down or giving me a compliment… He has “crazy” in quotes..hmmm). Could I learn to manage my debt. Sure. Could I use a credit card, pay-off the balance every month, and use reward points. Sure. Am I an idiot who would have to stand back and watch his economic house crumble if I ever used credit cards or borrowed money. Nope.

I could use borrowed money if I wanted. I DON’T want to, and that is the ENTIRE point of this blog. I do this blog so that I can CHALLENGE the status quo of borrowing, paying interest, and THEN owning a thing. I want to save money, make interest, and THEN own a thing. It really is a simple as that. I do not look down my nose at people who borrow money. Frankly, I don’t care if you borrow money (in the sense that it would cause me to not like you or trust you or befriend you.) But, I see WAY too many people who are dying underneath a crushing load of personal debt, and I want to do everything within my power to help them “help themselves”.

So, if you come here and think that I am going to give out conventional wisdom about debt to income ratios, finding a good mortgage rate, or building a credit score… Brother, you in the wrong place! The POINT of this blog is to see if a family, in 2006, can live without borrowing money. The “why” behind this is centered in the idea of freedom. I want to be as “free” as a human being can be, within the constraints of society and the law. I do not fear credit. I do not fear credit cards. I am not an idiot, scared to death by the thought of borrowing money. I am, however, convinced that credit cards can be, will be, and are being abused by the VAST majority of people who use them.

Thanks for listening. I appreciate your thoughts, emails, and comments.

Peace out, G.

DORK!!