If ever there were a BAD four letter word, and I mean BAAADDD four letter word (which there are a couple, but this one is even worse)…can guess what it is?

Yup! You guessed it…DEBT!

My father is the master financial counselor and we have talked for years about writing a book on him and some of his friends, who are living well at 78 and older. And not because they had professional jobs, advanced degrees, and lots of resources, but because they know how to monitor, save, and grow their money. My father attributes his financial savvy to growing up during post-Depression in Alabama.

“We didn’t have welfare, credit cards. If you didn’t have it (the money) right then, you had to wait. People need to learn to plan and to wait.”- my dad.

And his life is reflective of planning and discipline as he has purchased all of his homes and cars in cash (never knew what kind of leverage, negotiating power cash gives you. I want to try that one day very soon.) and he paid for college for all three of his children, so why are 2 of his 3 children (me included) are in debt?

Student Loans for graduate school. (Can we make this a four letter word on GP? Because this is BAAADDD.)

I wanted to move up in a company, loved the work, made a good salary and my oldest was well taken care of my her maternal grandparents (remember, DH was in grad school). I started the program out of fear/frustration/resentment (not good reasons to get 50k in debt…just a little FYI), but I did enjoy the program and a master’s degree has convinced other people that I know what I’m talking about (it also gave me an opportunity to teach on a college level and I am looking into doing that again). So, what’s the problem? The interest rates were ridiculous. I didn’t take the time to shop around (emotional buying, folks) and I can’t wait to pay this thing off. In the meantime, this debt, along with some credit card debt (car vandalism multiple times/inventory carrying business went south) is keeping us, our family in total hostage.

What do you do? Get creative, get resourceful and get to work! Read the rest of this entry »