Debt: It's Not What You Have, It's How You Look At It

If you have had debt for years, you know how it is. You can approach it in two ways. The first way to handle debt is to have it take up most of your paycheck and many of your life decisions. The second way to handle it is to push it in the back of your mind, still live life “normally” (let’s be real here, your version of normal probably got you into debt in the first place) and open up as many bank accounts and credit cards as you can.  Consider this article a snap back to reality either way you look at debt. I promise I will be nice about it!

If Debt Takes Up a Chunk of Your Life

Congratulations! You are just like me. If you haven’t noticed already, I like to think about money from an educational perspective and am always striving to achieve financial responsibility and security. If you are paying off debt with all of the money you have left over after living expenses and a little bit of fun in your budget, in my opinion you are doing the right thing! With the method of allocating all of the money you aren’t spending to paying off your debt (not to mention that you are living at or below your means) it will pay off big time in the end. In fact, it’s not an uncommon that every dollar you pay off in debt now will equate to over $200 in savings over your lifetime.

As awesome as this method is, there is one annoying thing you need to avoid: a little thing I like to call Debt Recovery Depression. This happens when you are obsessed with getting out of debt to the point where the debate of whether or not to buy a cup of coffee will send you into a tizzy. If you find yourself avoiding reasonable purchases, sitting home along for weeks at a time or eating an incredibly unhealthy diet to save some change, take a step back and take a deep breath. With your habits, you WILL get out of debt. Your sanity is just as important though, and if $10 for a healthy meal makes you feel better for the next few days, than so be it.

If You Ignore Debt Like An Ex

All right people, pretend that your debt is your loveable (cough cough) ex-boyfriend that just walked into a party. Oh, and this is at least the 10^th party that you have seen him at since you broke up three years ago. If you are one of those girls who bolts to the bathroom and then sneaks out to avoid saying hello even though you couldn’t legally enjoy a glass of wine while dating him, I have three words for you: get over it. Mr. Debt is a friend of your friends, and he isn’t going anywhere. It is always better (and very girl power satisfying) to be the one to walk up to him, say a polite hello, chat for five minutes and then walk away with a satisfactory grin on your face knowing that he was a complete idiot for dumping you. So do that with Mr. Loser Debt. Pull out your credit card bills. Answer the calls from collectors. Start paying more than minimum payments and most importantly, stop spending more than you can afford! Eventually you will stop seeing him at parties, as long as YOU are the one who chooses to move on.