Life Lessons: Don’t spend more than you have

Get Rich Slowly: “I decided to only spend money I actually had, and so my purchases of toys slowed dramatically. My extravagances in life dropped to going out to eat with my roommate a couple times a week, and not at particularly fancy places. I got into bicycling as a hobby, on a used, mid-range road bike — not a brand new, high-end model like I would have bought before. And there I sat, content with the computer I already had, my modest bicycle, and the occasional trip out for dinner. I was living quite comfortably on my salary with my new outlook on life. For the first time in years, I felt comfortable with myself. I actually managed to save a few dollars from paycheck to paycheck instead of spending them!” – This is an interesting story. One I’ve read time and again, and one I do not ever want to get into. We’ve been making strides to change how we look at life. Our children are in college and we’re about to become empty nesters. We’ve decided to pay off all debt as quickly as we can, and to that end we’re just about there. Our car loan, along with the disaster I spoke about a couple of days ago with Chase, are the only remaining pieces of debt we have. The car loan will be gone soon, really, really soon, then it’s on to saving, and putting away for the future. Will we live like hermits? No, we won’t. Things will get better because we won’t have any debt, with the exception of our home loan, which we can now focus on paying off.

Read the article. You don’t need credit cards, you can survive in life on cash. It’s a good thing. Don’t spend more than you have.