Posted by noa on March 6, 2004, at 20:27:36
In reply to Do I have a problem with this?, posted by tinydancer on March 5, 2004, at 4:21:36
When I was younger, I got buried under credit card debt on top of student loan debt, etc. etc. It was horrible and made me miserable. Eventually, I got credit counseling and worked my way out of debt and now my only debt is mortgage related and it feels fantastic.
Now, in some ways I spend more on certain things but I am much more frugal in other ways. I keep reminding myself about where I was and how incredibly depressing it was and how far I've come.
Today, on PBS, Susie Ormond was talking about "Telling the Truth" about finances. She talked about how important it is not to decieve oneself about what we can or can't afford because it will catch up with us later.
Sometimes it helps me when I'm tempted by some purchase to remind myself of what I really need to spend my money on.
And I do advise people to start young in saving for retirement. I did not start young because I felt I couldn't--that I had barely enough to get by on my paycheck--this was because I already had all that horrible debt. If you can prevent the debt from growing, and start paying it down, it's good to also start putting retirement funds away early, because the younger you are the bigger it will grow--by a lot.
A possible reminder for you about what the priorities are might be (and I just learned this about you tonight!!) is thinking about college funds for your child--weighing that against the tempting clothing purchase, which believe me I know how strong the temptations can be!!!
We are constantly bombarded with messages that there are so many things to buy, that we want to buy, that we should buy, that we can afford to buy, that we should feel we can't afford NOT to buy, etc. etc. new and wonderful and tempting things all the time everywhere we look, all the time. It can be so hard!
Good luck. It is very hard. But since you are young, it is fantastic that you are asking this question now rather than later.
poster:noa
thread:320525
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20040303/msgs/321354.html