I’ve been debt free for 10 months now. (Here’s the post that talks about the day I paid off my last debt.) Here are a few things that I’ve learned:
It’s easy to live without a credit card. A debit card works just fine in almost all cases. If a company does not take a debit card, I find another company with whom to do business.
When I tell people that I never plan to borrow money again, most of them (98 percent) think that am crazy / foolish / stupid / simple-minded / etc. A small minority think that I totally rock, and they agree with me.
Not using plastic forces me to think about every dollar that I am spending. So does a budget.
This website has really, really helped me to be more disciplined with my spending, saving, and investing. Accountability rules.
Saving money can be as addicting as spending it. When you find yourself memorizing the interest rates of MULTIPLE online savings accounts, you, my friend, are a savings-junkie.
Most people SAY that they want to get out of debt, but few are willing to make the sacrifices necessary for true debt reduction and credit freedom.
Even when you create a support group (See the NCN Network) many, many, many people fall by the wayside when it comes to truly changing their financial futures.
People get upset when you tell them to stop buying crap that they don’t need. Really, really upset.
Money cannot buy happiness, but it sure can do away with a ton of misery.
Even though I’ve done well, I could have / should have done much, much, much better. In fact, in looking back over the past 2 years, I see SEVERAL areas for self improvement. I need to create more detailed budgets, I need to learn WAY more about investing, and I need to really, really focus on my weight / health issues. All in all. I give myself a B, maybe a B+.
You can read about, study about, and ask questions about personal finance ALL DAY LONG, and still, until you’ve put hammer-to-nail, you’ve not DONE anything. You must get up, and DO something.
I really, really, really like commas and exclamation points.
I am a dork! (But, I’m going to be a rich dork!!!)