Fighting Debt

Stuart Miles/photo credit

I wish someone would have taught us from the beginning of our marriage the importance of never collecting debt. Everyone explains the importance of communication, keeping regular date nights, and not going to bed angry. People often fail to mention the importance of simply living below your means.

Frugality has become a lost art in our society. We live in a world today where many luxuries are at our fingertips. You no longer have to save before you buy. You simply hand over your shiny piece of plastic or put your signature to another loan and boom…it’s, “yours.”

There is something so sweet and simple to the, “plan, save, then buy,” plan. Imagine if you will, newlyweds making a list of their priorities together. They list out the items they want to purchase for their new life together. They have conversations, they dream, they plan, and work together to save up that money. Once they have saved enough money they do their research and get the best bang for their buck. They bring home their new purchase proud of what they have accomplished together as a team. The object now symbolizes their hard work and commitment. It’s not just a status symbol to them.

Our instant gratification mentality is ruining America’s work ethic. This is true of not only of material things to work for, but also working to put effort into our marriages, or the work of raising our children. To be able to delay gratification is a sign of maturity. The actual definition of delayed gratification is: To resist a smaller but more immediate reward in order to receive a larger more enduring reward later. Isn’t this concept worth passing down?

Practicality goes along way in the fight against debt. Advice to not accrue debt is simple, practical, and saves so much time and many arguments in the future. We can’t let the money talk scare us away from giving others the head start and knowledge we wish we had. Because of smart decisions you make today, you can rest more confident in your future.