It's two days till Christmas and my kids are getting real antsy for Santa to stop by and drop off all their presents. The holiday season has always been stressful for me for as long as I can remember. When I was a kid, it meant that I would be shipped from one household to another (result of divorced parents). Yes, I received double the presents. But the trade-off was to somehow make everyone happy. I remember coordinating my holiday parties across multiple families and thinking that I wish I could be at two places at once. I would trade half my presents for peace during this supposedly harmonious season. It was supposed to be such a joyous time where we celebrate the birth of our savior Jesus Christ. But for many years, the reality turned out to be a stressful time where we celebrated how many presents everyone could buy for each other. I took that reality to heart as I became an adult. When I entered the workforce, instead of making everyone happy by being everywhere all the time, I thought I could fulfill the happiness by making sure I bought stuff for everyone. Surely no one could be upset with me if I remembered to get something for them. So, I bought "stuff"...a lot of "stuff". Heck, I didn't stop at Christmas present shopping. If buying gifts for others made them happy, why not buy "stuff" for myself and make me happy.
When I was a recent college graduate, my Christmas shopping was spread across family, friends, co-workers and of course myself. As the years went by, I found myself trying to buy bigger and better things for everyone. When you're shopping for adults, the $10 toy just doesn't cut it anymore. It's true, grown ups own and love toys...they just tend to cost at least 10 times as much as the toy they had as a kid. As I transitioned from a swinging bachelor to a husband and eventually a father, my Christmas stress transitioned with it. The list of people I had to buy presents for changed but it was still a long list nonetheless. And for my own kids, forget about it...I wouldn't be a good/cool daddy if I didn't shower them with presents (from Santa).
With all that "buying stuff", you would think that I'm amazingly rich. Well, I must admit, I'm fortunate to have a pretty decent income. But many of those purchases resulted from an ugly accumulation of debt. It doesn't matter how much money you make, if you spend more than that, it equals debt. What a concept, right? I know it's not breaking news to all of you but it's something no one wants to admit. I mean, come on, if I have good credit that must mean I'm good for it. Since I have such an awesome salary (making more money than my parents could ever imagine), I should be able to buy what I want, right? I was a business major in college, so surely I must know how to handle my money. These were just some of the many things I said to myself subconsciously that rationalized my spending habits. And unfortunately, it's the same messages that enabled me to build up a tremendous amount of debt!
So, why is this my last Christmas with debt? Well, over the last year and a half, my family and I have gone through a transformation. We're still going through the long journey but we now see the bright light at the end of the tunnel. And the final destination looks awesome! It has taken a complete change in mindset and behaviour towards our finances but it finally has us charging forward in the right direction. The utopia that awaits us at the end of this long journey includes: total freedom from ALL debt, ability to go for our dreams (starting the business we always wanted to) without risking food on the table for our family, true ownership of all our possesions including our home, peace of mind knowing that we will truly afford our kids' college education and our retirement.
The journey has been tough so far and we still have a ways to go but the most important thing has already happened....we've started it! That's by far the hardest part with the second hardest part being to stick with it. I'm using this blog to document our journey so that I can look back and realize the sacrifices we had to make and the amazing results that came from them. And if this blog inspires anyone else to start their journey, that would be icing on the cake for me. No one goes through life on their own, I know that I wouldn't have gotten this far in the journey without special people in my life (my wife and kids are everything to me). I hope everyone can take something away from my experiences that benefit their lives. Wouldn't it be great to shout out the title of this post "My Last Christmas With Debt!" when you get to that point, I know it makes me all warm and fuzzy. :)
Merry Christmas!
When I was a recent college graduate, my Christmas shopping was spread across family, friends, co-workers and of course myself. As the years went by, I found myself trying to buy bigger and better things for everyone. When you're shopping for adults, the $10 toy just doesn't cut it anymore. It's true, grown ups own and love toys...they just tend to cost at least 10 times as much as the toy they had as a kid. As I transitioned from a swinging bachelor to a husband and eventually a father, my Christmas stress transitioned with it. The list of people I had to buy presents for changed but it was still a long list nonetheless. And for my own kids, forget about it...I wouldn't be a good/cool daddy if I didn't shower them with presents (from Santa).
With all that "buying stuff", you would think that I'm amazingly rich. Well, I must admit, I'm fortunate to have a pretty decent income. But many of those purchases resulted from an ugly accumulation of debt. It doesn't matter how much money you make, if you spend more than that, it equals debt. What a concept, right? I know it's not breaking news to all of you but it's something no one wants to admit. I mean, come on, if I have good credit that must mean I'm good for it. Since I have such an awesome salary (making more money than my parents could ever imagine), I should be able to buy what I want, right? I was a business major in college, so surely I must know how to handle my money. These were just some of the many things I said to myself subconsciously that rationalized my spending habits. And unfortunately, it's the same messages that enabled me to build up a tremendous amount of debt!
So, why is this my last Christmas with debt? Well, over the last year and a half, my family and I have gone through a transformation. We're still going through the long journey but we now see the bright light at the end of the tunnel. And the final destination looks awesome! It has taken a complete change in mindset and behaviour towards our finances but it finally has us charging forward in the right direction. The utopia that awaits us at the end of this long journey includes: total freedom from ALL debt, ability to go for our dreams (starting the business we always wanted to) without risking food on the table for our family, true ownership of all our possesions including our home, peace of mind knowing that we will truly afford our kids' college education and our retirement.
The journey has been tough so far and we still have a ways to go but the most important thing has already happened....we've started it! That's by far the hardest part with the second hardest part being to stick with it. I'm using this blog to document our journey so that I can look back and realize the sacrifices we had to make and the amazing results that came from them. And if this blog inspires anyone else to start their journey, that would be icing on the cake for me. No one goes through life on their own, I know that I wouldn't have gotten this far in the journey without special people in my life (my wife and kids are everything to me). I hope everyone can take something away from my experiences that benefit their lives. Wouldn't it be great to shout out the title of this post "My Last Christmas With Debt!" when you get to that point, I know it makes me all warm and fuzzy. :)
Merry Christmas!
Here's to you reaching your goal brother! Nice article and good points. Debt free is for us too!
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