I would rather own things, than have things own me. I will get there eventually.

My husband and I are in our early 50s. Our furniture is still mismatched. My husband drives his late father’s car, a 1980-something Olds. We get most of our clothes from thrift stores. We living in a small house on 1 quarter acre. Our “vacations” are trips to take care of business with our elderly parents. It took me six years of night school to get my BA, in the 1980s, when nobody gave a damn that I was a working woman trying to climb the corporate ladder while putting myself through school. I had no rich daddy, no rich mommy, no husband, no government assistance, except student loans, which took me 12 years to pay off. Why? Because on the road to trying to live the so-called American dream with all the “subsidized” baby-boomers out there, life took over and we had huge debt from illness and accidents and loss of work. IOW, folks, things we couldn’t control..on top of all the normal mistakes people can and do make. And yes, we are still surrounded by people who go to Europe every 15 minutes, travel on the weekend, own boats, have huge houses and Hummers. Most of them cannot fathom what life is like…whether they’re in debt or not. BTW, my husband and I are spending our “vacation” money to fly home to bury his mother, who isn’t expected to live another 48 hours. PS: I have an uncompleted MA and my husband is a summa cum laude grad with an MS in Computer Engineering and is gainfully employed. My point is that if you blow your load on stupid stuff, you won’t have any money when the really big shit (like death and illness) hit the fan. Maybe you’ll be one of the lucky ones…and that’s what you all are counting on, but remember Jon Donne: “Ask not for whom the bell tolls–it tolls for thee.” Meet the working poor! Be proactive and conscious.

Your post reminded me to remember to SAVE the money aside first, then buy it in full instead of on credit all the time. It’s an easy trap to fall into.

That being said, I am attacking that student loan with a vengeance now that I’m graduated and have a little money to throw at it. With $5,250 in loans (starting balance), I expect I’ll have it paid off in less than 4 months. That’s how much I hate it.

From the above, you can probably guess my opinion of those who willingly take on debt in order to finance a lifestyle they don’t really own. It’s pretentious, prideful, and a little sad. We care so much about what others think of us, and we have so little ability to delay gratification that we sell ourselves into slavery to get that which does not ultimately satisfy.

Ugh, I don’t ever want to be debt tolerant. Good post!