Get Out of Jail Free

I was just reading a post at Minx, Redux about wanting cool "things" and the inherent debt that goes along with amassing a bunch of stuff. I, too, fight with the urge to keep up with the Joneses and feeling somehow "less than" those who have more than I can afford.

However, I will say that I am a woman on a mission these days. I want to pay off my consumer debt as quickly as possible. There are times when I feel as though a financial tidal wave is looming from behind me, knocking me down more quickly than I can gain my footing. No sooner are the bills paid, than something unexpected rears its ugly head. The oven conks out, the fridge goes on the fritz, the washer stops spinning. When you are barely staying afloat from week to week, these kinds of things un-moor the boat.

My commitment for 2008 is to unload the things that weigh me down. Debt, and its ugly presence in my life, actually weigh upon me more ominously than the extra eighty pounds I currently tote around on my body. The thought that I could lose everything through one major financial hiccup keeps me awake at night. And the latest reports show that lack of sleep makes us FAT!!!

I know it sounds like my husband and I have the equivalent of the National Debt -- to me it seems as insurmountable. However, let me say this -- our credit is impeccable. We could not RENT a home more cheaply than the one we have mortgaged. (Even when taxes, mortgage and fire insurance are figured in.) But, we DO have a car payment, and our eldest is in braces, for which we had to take out a home equity loan. God Almighty! A home equity loan to straighten this kid's teeth?!?!?!? Something's gotta be done about the health care situation in this country!

So -- what to do -- what to do.........

We have been keeping a fairly strict budget for the first time in our 23 years of marriage. Surprisingly, it's not that far off from the "seat of my pants" budgeting I tried for the first 22 years. The one change is our planned, consistent commitment to retiring our debt. It's not easy, and it's certainly not fun! But, each month of consciously sacrificing in order to get out of debt has become more and more satisfying. Even the children have been brought in on the "plan". It has done some good in showing them just where the money comes from -- and where it goes to -- on a monthly basis. Just seeing those numbers helps to make it more concrete.

Hopefully, come February, the car loan will be paid in full. This next school term will be used to pay the orthodontic loan off. Then on to the mortgage. Just IMAGINE living with NO debt. I no longer use credit cards for consumer debt. I use them just like a debit card -- if there's no money in the account, I don't BUY the item. It has been the best first step in debt reduction I have taken, and I've been practicing this for the past ten years.

What I'd really like to do, though, is have a nice financial cushion. One that would make me feel a little more secure in my financial position. Six months' worth would be lovely, but that's like trying to hold sand in a sieve. Every time a little bit gets saved, a new "crisis" comes out of the woodwork.

I am a firm believer that the wealthy truly are happier, on balance, than most of the rest of us. Not that money makes you happy. It's that money gives you "choices" and "options". People with money don't have the same pressures that the normal working stiff has.

Imagine for one moment what your life would be like without a mortgage payment or a car payment or a school loan payment or a credit card payment. What would that mean to you? To me, it would mean some modicum of financial freedom. It would mean that I could choose to save for my future, instead of scrabbling to make ends meet today. It would mean that I could choose to work someplace different, because my very life would not depend upon keeping my current employment in order to pay the bills. It would mean that I would not be pumping my husband's life blood from his veins in order to pay usurious interest rates to the bank. (NOTE: Have you really READ the disclosure agreement to your mortgage??? Do you realize that if you allow the loan to run its course, you will have paid back more than DOUBLE what you borrowed?? And that's a 6% loan, people!!!)

Short of winning the lottery (which incidentally I don't play) this is going to be a long haul. But it is empowering to have a goal, and achievable steps with which to achieve it. Kind of like losing weight -- but much easier!!!!

Food for thought........

I had an interesting conversation with a fellow educator over the weekend. He told me that he attended a conference for reading specialists recently. At this conference, the main area of discussion was reading proficiency, and its importance in early elementary education. Seems like a "no brainer" to me. But what he told me next, left me absolutely speechless. He said that the speakers at this conference have confirmed what we all kind of "know" already. If a child is not a proficient reader by the third grade -- he is basically screwed. So much so, in fact, that studies are done nationally on reading proficiency scores in the third grade. And, that those scores, which show the percentage of children who are NOT proficient readers, is an ACCURATE GAUGE FOR THE PLANNING OF FUTURE PRISON CONSTRUCTION!!!

Dear God, when are we going to get with the program, and start aggressively pushing our children to read, read, read? It is NOT the school's responsibility to fully educate our children. It begins at home, and EARLY. Kindergarten is too late to begin to decode the complexity of our language. Hence, "No Child Left Behind", which translates to "No Child Gets Ahead"! We cannot continue to educate to the lowest common denominator and expect to produce anything but mediocrity.

What has happened to personal accountability and the pride of accomplishment (other than in athletic competition)? Our town doesn't even publish the Valedictorian and Salutatorian from our local districts any more! What a shame, shame, shame!