Do You Want To Be A Slave?

Did you know that when you borrow money from a bank or from another person, you actually become a sort of “slave”?  Yes, it’s true.  And the more you borrow from someone, the longer it will take for you to be freed of that slavery.  That’s why it’s really important that you take debt very seriously.

In our world today, people don’t think twice about buying big ticket items on their credit cards.  But do they realize how much interest they will be paying to the credit card companies?  The people who do this are slaves to the credit card companies for many weeks, months, and possibly even years, just for a single item they purchased in ignorance.

Credit cards are not the only forms of debt that can make you into a slave however.  When you buy a home and get a mortgage, this can cause you to be enslaved if you end up buying a home that is too big for your budget.

One thing I want to make clear is that debt itself isn’t the culprit.  It’s the people’s lack of knowledge that causes the biggest problem.  Let me explain:

Although you will find blogs on the internet that talk about all debt being bad, I don’t believe that is the case.  Why?  Because most people that I know would never be able to buy a home if they had to pay for it with cash.  Also, if I wanted to go make a big furniture purchase, I would far prefer to use my credit card rather than risk carrying large wads of cash with me.

The key here is how I would use the debt.  Let me show you a good example of how to make debt work for you instead of the other way around:

Buying a Home – A responsible young family is looking to purchase a home in the city where they live.  After doing a great deal of research, they find a home that they like.  It is an adequate size for their family, its utility bills and property taxes fit their budget with room to spare, so they make an offer and buy the home.  Their mortgage payments are less than their rent was and they are even able to double up their payments from time to time.  Because they are able to live comfortably and affordably, they are not slaves to their mortgage.

On the other hand, if this same family had bought a home that was twice this size and they had not considered the cost of property taxes and utilities, then they would have found themselves struggling ot pay their mortgage and their bills, and would most definitely have become a slave to their debt.

Now, let me give you an example of using a credit card:

A couple is looking to buy a leather sofa and chair for their living room.  They know they can spend up to $1500.  They shop around until they find the pieces they like within their budget.  They use their credit card to buy the furniture.  When the credit card payment is due, they pay off the balance.  That way they don’t have to pay any interest on the furniture they bought.  This couple demonstrated a wise use of their credit card.

On the flip side, if the couple had thrown their budget out the window, and decided to splurge on some furniture that was much more than they could afford, then when the credit card payment was due, the couple would not be able to pay off their balance in full.  This would result in hefty interest charges that they may have to spend a few months (or years) to pay off.  They, then would be slaves to this debt.

So, you can see that it doesn’t make sense to just write off debt altogether as being bad or to be avoided.  The key is to use it responsibly.  Debt can be used in a way to help you to get the things that you want without you being enslaved in the process.