Yayyyyyy!!!

Giving Credit Where Credit is Due

After my divorce, money became an issue of great importance. For the first time ever, I had a considerable debt load and a limited number of resources to help reduce it to more reasonable levels. The first year was a year of substantial change, not only because of the status change from married to not-married, but because I had to change all my spending habits. I didn't really see that I had much of a choice. The debt wore me out, hanging over my head like a black cloud (though if you wanted to put it into accounting terms, a red cloud).

I made a lot of new habits. I did my best to stay out of the malls, and developed considerable pride in finding good quality for less money. I stopped eating out as much, and refinanced my car to a lower interest rate. I learned that I didn't 'need' as much stuff as I used to think I did.

I also thought I was alone in this effort. Today, in the age of bankruptcies and consumer credit counseling, in the age of very easy to acquire un-secured credit (so easy to acquire that it's actually difficult to get away from at times), I thought that I was alone in the effort to get control before it was totally OUT of control. I knew that my problem was a common one, and that if it was ever to turn around, it would require legislation to curb the lending habits of credit card companies.

I was wrong.

In US News Weekly this week, there is an article about people all over the country taking personal responsibility for the debt load they incurred through mismanagement of money. Instead of throwing up their hands and saying "Heck with it, I'll just declare bankruptcy!" (as my ex-sister-in-law has recently done at the tender age of 25), they are saying "I'm going to get through this and be debt-free." The article had a second header: America's New Status Symbol. No debt. Now THERE is a status symbol I can admire.