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