Financing Material Possessions is Highly Overrated!
February 22, 2010 – 8:24 amReceive the latest Trees Full of Money articles FREE in your E-Mail or via RSS.
With all the stress in the world today, it’s no wonder why many people long for their younger days when “things were easier”. A large part of this stress comes from the burden of having assumed more debt than we can comfortably pay off.
As I transitioned into adulthood, I was sucked into the belief that material possessions would bring me and my family happiness. With the availability of “easy” monthly payments, the temptation to purchase expensive things I otherwise couldn’t afford was difficult to resist.
Having experienced the burden of carrying a large amount of consumer debt, and then experiencing the relief of paying it all off, I can honestly say that material possessions are overrated!
When I leased my brand new Toyota 4Runner fresh out of college, I thought I was the coolest cat in town! I remember driving that vehicle off the lot thinking to myself “man, this baby is all mine!”
The reality was, the vehicle belonged to Toyota Financial Services and I was simply “renting” it from them, and paying an exorbitant amount of money for the privilege.
Believe me; the excitement of financing a brand new vehicle goes away a lot quicker than the monthly payments do!
Two years into my 4Runner lease, I was still paying $430 per month to “rent” the car and I still had a long way to go before my lease contract was up. As my family acquired more and more debt, we began enjoying our “material possessions” less and less!
The stress of paying for our material possesions soon began boiling over into other areas of our lives as well (as I’m sure happens in most families). According to just about every major family counseling organization in the country, money issues and money stress are the #1 causes of arguments among couples.
You have control over how much you spend! If you’ve already dug yourself into a deep financial pit, check out the story of how we overcame a large amount of debt!
Our current 4Runner, which we saved up for and bought with cash, is 10 times more exciting to drive than the one we were “borrowing” from Toyota.
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