It's so annoying when people are praised & given a sense of accomplishment when they get out of an enormous amount of debt. Here's the thing, debt isn't good, we all know that, so you shouldn't be praised for getting out of debt. If you were in debt and got out, good for you, but you didn't accomplish anything big, you didn't cure cancer, you didn't save someone's life, get it?
Here's an article that really upsets me. (link also below)
You have this couple that "got out of $120,000 of debt." Like most people, I was intrigued by this article, so I clicked on it and read it until I read that their friend lent them a home to live in, free of charge (the house is paid off), while they chipped away at their debt. WHAT?!
That's BS! If we didn't have to pay rent, we would all have the ability to pay off debt super fast! That's no accomplishment, you didn't strive to work off debts like a lot of other people. Instead, you were fortunate enough to have a friend GIVE you a home to live in for several years at NO COST to you so that you can allocate the your income on getting rid of debt!
OH WAIT, if you keep on reading the article, you see that this particular family "slipped up" because they put their kid in a private school that was about $30,000. Are you freaking kidding me?! What the heck?! At the beginning of the article, you learn that this mother homeschooled her children... then why the heck would you put your kids in an expensive private school when you're trying to get out of debt?! That doesn't make any sense!
Can you understand why articles like this upset me? There are other stories.
I wish someone would give my husband & I a home that's paid off so that we can save our money and buy our own home. But we know that's not going to happen for us. Some of our friends have had homes, property, vehicles, and/or other major assets just handed to them from their relatives, that's great for them, but sad for me because they will never understand the struggle that other people have to go through just to get by and try our hardest to make it. Instead, we have to work hard, manage our money, sacrifice our basic standards of living, give up our comforts, just to get by living.
Should these people really be praised? I think not.
So what did I learn from this article? Rack up an enormous amount of debt, have someone give me a free house, start paying off debt, be careless while paying off debt & stick my kids in an expensive private school, and then eventually pay everything off & alert the internet press so they can write a story about me.
STUPID
Link to that stupid article that doesn't help anyone:
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/aja-mclanahan-paid-off-debt-171432328.html
