I mean evil debt. Two in particular:
Macy*s. And Nordstrom.
Every two weeks, the story is always the same: I get paid. Then I hand over my money to everyone else... And like most other that I owed bills: I had waited until the day before the due date to pay. This time was a bit different though, this time Christmas had just passed, and I had extra money to spend..
In three weeks I'll be moving from San Francisco to Santa Barbara, from a stable job to an unknown job, where I expect my hourly rate of pay to drop about 2/3. These past few months, it was pretty important that while making such a stable income that I save money and not spend my money recklessly. Both of which I have definitely not been doing.
Oops.
The one promise I did make myself was that I would make sure to have paid off any "frivolous" debt before the big move. That being the two mentioned above.
So, I sat looking at my two bills, which weren't really all that bad. I owed Macy*s a tad under $150, and Nordstrom, a little over $300. (I must mention the Nordstrom total is after I decided so responsibly to return a pair of very cute Hudson Jeans that I got at The Rack for a little over $100. But they were a piinnchh too big, and I thought it wasn't wise to keep them. Go me.) My total debt was about $450.
When I wrote the checks, I felt good. I might of even smiled. It feels amazing to pay off a bill, especially the big ones. It's cliche, but you do feel "lighter" once they are out of the way. I set out to pay my debt.
Now, for those of you who don't know, I reside about 6 blocks or so to Union Square, so naturally, I walked. I came to Powell, made my usual right, heading to the mall, and suddenly it hit me.
"Dude," I thought, "I could be buying myself a Coach purse right now, instead of paying all this debt."
I don't even like Coach purses at that much. "Or.. I don't really like Coach purses, but I could buy.. whatever!" Buy this time, I'm passing by Sephora. "I could buy anything in Sephora........." My eyes wander to the windows.. I mean talk about having every
That's when I started to feel a little.. yukky. Granted, the items I had charged onto those cards were getting good use: I was able to re-vamp my wardrobe, etc, but I was using my Christmas money to pay for things I had already bought, when instead I could be out buying new things, or saving the money for my "unstable" future endeavors.
Ok, it's starting to sound like I just like to buy things, but I think you guys get what I mean. But for the record I guess I should say a few unselfish things like "or give it away to charity or buy a homeless person a steak."
What I'm trying to say here is that there's no reward in owing money to anyone but yourself. And instead of knowing that's what's really best for me and my money, I finally get it.
So, Dear Debt, I am done dealing with you! I will no longer make childish and impulsive decisions because in the long run they do not pay off! I will find a way to pay CASH for things I want and I will still be able to buy big ticket items without falling for your tricky ways! Who's the loser now?!
Shout out to @SuzeOrman, for without her, my finances would be nothing!!
