Hello debt fighters and dreamers! Today’s dear debt letter comes from Beth. Beth is a 65-year-old retired teacher from Youngstown, Ohio, aspiring to pay off her debt by 2020 (if not sooner). She is a widow that learned money doesn’t last forever.
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Dear Debt,
I’m done playing victim to you! You have controlled my money and my freedom most of my adult life and I will not let you control any more of my money or my freedom!
I’ve struggled with you through my first marriage, being a single parent, and I finally broke away from you with my second, financially-savvy husband. We were in rough shape in the beginning, and we used you too much.
It was the only way to survive raising our blended family. Then we were able to buy a house, and I felt we were in good shape financially.
Student loans were paid off, credit card debt was paid off, we paid off a loan for our backyard improvements in a new house, and we traveled to see our children and grandchildren.
Yes, life was looking up. I was making good money as a teacher, and my husband was making good money in the business world. So, we were rid of you once and for all!
Then, the unexpected happened. My husband was diagnosed with cancer and it was already
metastasized. During the eight months before he passed, he made sure the paperwork was in order.
He showed me how to maintain my lifestyle with the decreased income his death would bring. He showed me how to change light bulbs, light a furnace in the garage, and so many things he knew I needed to learn. I inherited the bill-paying-debt-reducing spreadsheet, too, but I didn’t follow it.
I was blessed with life insurance and I wanted to share that with my family in any way that I could. I traveled to visit them, I treated them to material things that don’t mean anything, and I spent that money trying to find the “happy” again that I had with my husband. It didn’t work.
I traveled to Arizona to be with his sister and her husband, and I bought a condo as an investment. It was too soon (nine months after my husband passed), but because I paid you in full every month from my nest egg, I had excellent credit and got a home loan without a problem! Debt, I was even able to furnish my condo thanks to you.
Then, sitting at home 5 months later, I thought I needed a condo just for me, so I bought another condo across the street from the first condo. The HOA fees and yearly community fees were outrageous, and I had two condos to pay for. The rental income didn’t cover much, so I went through more of my nest egg with the monthly condo expenses.
I was living in Ohio, but I traveled to Arizona a lot. I told myself that the flights into Las Vegas were cheaper, so I spent some time and a lot of money in Las Vegas before driving to Arizona to spend time at my “Me-Condo.”
I was very popular with the casinos in both Vegas and Arizona, gambling, charging and cash-advancing with every trip. It turns out it was YOUR “happy” I was living.
I never found my “happy,” but my journey to find it ended earlier this year. I ran out of money and now I live paycheck to paycheck. I charge things to maintain my lifestyle for a while, then I realized it was just spiraling out of control. I need to change the way I think about money and you, Debt.
I started looking on Pinterest and found out what a “side hustle” was so I joined Proofreadanywhere.com. I started the course, and I love to proofread. I also like to write, so when I followed a link on Proofreadanywhere.com it led me to Contena, which is a writing/publishing course. I joined that, too. I purchased the suggested books, joined the organizations, and started the coursework.
But the funny thing is that you, Debt, got in the way again! I can’t focus on my coursework for either class because you get ALL my attention!
On another link, I read about Own Your Money and Money Makers Academy (MMA). I joined MMA
because I thought, “This is the program I need!” I need to find out how to get you off my back for good!
Do you see a pattern here? I am charging the fees for these classes, so I can learn how to make more money to ditch you, Debt. Well, MMA is doing one thing in the very beginning of the program to cause a mindset shift about you.
They are teaching me how to put YOU, Debt, on paper, own you, then just do the numbers to fix it and get rid of you. No emotional attachment to YOU. This is just what I need to get you OUT of my life forever.
My goal is to be free of you (without charging) more in the next 18 months. I’ll be done with you for good and you won’t get me back again. My plan is to “own my money” and not give you a cent!
So, goodbye, Debt! I’d say it was nice knowing you, but it hasn’t been nice at all. I will continue to declare my anti-Debt attitude to anyone I meet so that one day, you will be no more. That is my prayer and the promise I’m making to myself today.
Sincerely never yours again,
Beth
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