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Day 25
Start a Debt Repayment Plan
Since I’ve graduated law school, I’ve been taking a look at the debt Kate
and I have accumulated during our time in school. And it isn’t pretty. I hate
debt. I hate the feeling of owing another person money. I hate thinking,
“Oh good, I have ‘X’ amount in savings!” and then realizing that when I take
into account how much debt I have, I actually have nothing to my name.
Some debt is necessary for getting ahead in life and building a future.
But there are few things more emasculating than excessive debt. A man
should strive to be as self-reliant as possible. To be able to stand on his own
two feet. To be able to plan for the future without being hobbled by the
past. To be free from the shackles of dependencies. To live without another
man looking over his shoulder.
Debt robs you of these things. The interest from your debt is your captor,
shadowing you wherever you go:
“Interest [on debt] never sleeps nor sickens nor dies; it never goes to the
hospital; it works on Sundays and holidays; it never takes a vacation; it never
visits nor travels; it takes no pleasure; it is never laid off work nor discharged
from employment; it never works on reduced hours. … Once in debt, interest
is your companion every minute of the day and night; you cannot shun
it or slip away from it; you cannot dismiss it; it yields neither to entreaties,
demands, or orders; and whenever you get in its way or cross its course or
fail to meet its demands, it crushes you.”
—J. Reuben Clark Jr.
Over the past 10 years, people have had a pretty lackadaisical attitude
about their finances, thinking that the economy would keep pace with their
debt. The recession burst this bubble of fantasy. The average American fam-