Becoming debt free is one of the best things you can do to improve your life. Like most good things, achieving a debt free lifestyle isn't easy, but is well worth the effort. Becoming debt free will bring greater peace to your life, will increase your prosperity and will grow your personal freedom.
Living debt free will bring greater peace to your life in many ways. Most domestic troubles can be traced back to stress over finances. Money is consistently listed as the number one source of complaint among troubled marriages. But don’t blame money if you struggle in this area – the real culprit isn’t money – the real problem is your attitude about money. Getting to a debt free, controlled, budgeted lifestyle involves major attitude changes for most people. You can’t spend more than you make. The credit cards have to go. Get free of your debt and the bank-advertised attitudes that got you there and peace will move in where fear once resided. Your spouse and your kids will notice and appreciate the greater calm in your life and theirs.
Becoming debt free can also increase your prosperity exponentially. That’s right. Why do you think so many banks and other companies focus so much time and energy on getting you to use their credit cards or to buy that new car (financing approval guaranteed) – because they’re nice and are looking out for your best interests? Could complete strangers really be that giving? Maybe – but don’t count on it. The only interests the banks are looking out for is the interest they’re charging you – compound interest. Have you ever made a major ‘on sale’ purchase on a credit card, and then lollygagged around not paying it off for years? Drag it out long enough and you can easily wind up paying double the original price! Banks know this. That’s why they bend over backwards wanting to lend you money. Don’t fall for their advertising that is usually some variation of ‘you deserve it.’ The problem is that the ‘it’ is really forking over your hard-earned cash to line their pockets with money that should be working for you in your investment portfolio. Put the power of compound interest to work for you. Start by getting rid of your debt, then focus on building wealth by setting aside at least 10% of your income into pre-tax retirement accounts. By becoming debt free, all that money that you would have been giving to the banks will stay in your pocket and can grow exponentially through the power of compound interest.
For example, say you are paying out $500 a month in interest to credit cards. Pay off the credit cards and start investing that $500 a month at 12.5% average annual interest. In just 20 years, you will have amassed over half a million dollars! Or, go ahead and keep carrying a balance on those cards and keep paying an average of 17% annual interest to the banks and give them over a million dollars in the same 20 year period!
Who do you want to enjoy prosperity from your income - the banks or you? The choice is yours. Become debt free so that it can be you that enjoys prosperity – you deserve it.
Finally, becoming debt free puts the ‘free’ in freedom - it allows you to focus on building your wealth rather than giving it away to money lenders. Becoming wealthy and financially independent will give you even greater freedom: freedom to live where you want, work where and how you want, and play whenever you want. So why not use the freedom of choice that you have right now and make a plan to free yourself from debt?
Brad Homer offers free-to-try budgeting software which can help you easily generate a plan to become debt free and more. At his website you can also find more personal finance articles like this one.
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