I have a confession- I have credit card debt. It will be paid off within the next year but, alas, I still have it.
Does it bother me? Yeah, at times it does. I suppose anything would bother me if I sat around dwelling on it which is why I don't dwell on my debt.
I know that the responsible thing would be to buckle down and spend money only on what is truly necessary and divert all other funds to pay down my debt sooner. That would mean no take out, no cute clothes for the kids, no Starbucks for my husband, no gifts for others and no whatever else I spend money on.
I can't live a bare bones lifestyle- there I said it. I don't want to wear used clothing and find my furniture on the side of the road. I like getting take out on Friday nights. I like having a 2010 car (even though it is a mini van). I love cable TV and my DVR.
I want to be at the point where we have no debt (other than a mortgage and car payment) and I know we will get there in the near future so I'm not going to get my panties in a bunch about not living a miserly life.
I gave up my credit card several years ago. You really do get used to it. I am glad that you can be honest. I guess I do live a bare bones lifestyle compared to some of my friends, but I guess I am used to it and have learned to be creative. Whatever works for you.
ReplyDeleteI have a lot of respect for people who are able to live a bare bones lifestyle and who are content doing it. When I wrote this post I was writing about how I feel right now. It is really hard to go from one extreme to the other and we have taken steps, not drastic ones, at living a more frugal lifestyle. We live within our means now which is a big deal to me and someday, at our own pace, we will be living a debt free lifestyle. With everyone online talking about being debt free and never using credit cards I wanted to be honest and show another side of the story for people who don't have iron clad will power- I wish I had it but I don't.
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