I have a lot of friends who talk about wanting to get out of debt. They really like the idea of being debt-free. However when you really listen to them I don’t think they have what it takes. They aren’t as interested in getting out of debt as they are just having fewer payments so they have more money to spend. The debt-free mentality involves changing the way you approach spending. It involves changing how you approach things that you desire, and how you deal with materialism. None of my friends have any interest in changing of those things. They don’t want to change how they spend they just want to be able to spend more.
Being debt-free and having a debt-free mindset is about controlling your consumption. Even if you make a lot of money it’s about trying to be wise in how you spend that money and accounting for what you do with it. It’s about making sure you’re spending money on important things and not just random things they eat up huge amounts of cash. As you can see is not just about how much you make versus how much you spent its mentality how you approach spending money in the first place.
You can have lots of money, no debt and still not have a debt-free mindset. Your mindset has to do with how you approach money in the first place. It has to do with understanding what money is pouring your life. This is in to say you can’t ever buying anything that makes you happy or isn’t completely necessary. But it is about trying to make sure that you’re spending money on things that will bring you true value and that you will actually enjoy. For example why do people go out and buy something, let’s say a DVR or new videogame console simply because her friends have it and they thought it was cool. But many of those people don’t actually use it that much once they have it. They were buying things based on its value to them they were bowing in taste on its perceived value to other people. The deck reminds that involves actually taking the time to understand how you would use a particular item and how it fits in with your lifestyle and the things your family feels are important. That’s very different than the way most people think. But it’s very necessary if you’re wanting to control your spending and make sure you don’t end up with just a bunch of stuff that you don’t need.
