Comments on: Bills, Bills, Bills: Effective Strategies for Paying off Debt https://witanddelight.com/2020/07/bills-bills-bills-effective-strategies-for-paying-off-debt/ A Lifestyle Blog Fri, 31 Jul 2020 00:05:09 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.6.1 By: Megan McCarty https://witanddelight.com/2020/07/bills-bills-bills-effective-strategies-for-paying-off-debt/#comment-673884 Fri, 10 Jul 2020 03:54:54 +0000 https://witanddelight.com/?p=53572#comment-673884 In reply to Jessica.

Hi Jessica,

Thank you for your thoughtful comment, and trust me, I’m crying and revolting right alongside of you. I’m sorry to hear about your current situation, a reality for many folks right now. It’s distressing that we live in a society in which a medical emergency could bankrupt almost anybody and a pandemic could wipe out entire industries. I’ve been hit hard with that first-hand. 

That said, this is currently – hopefully not forever, or even for long – the society we live in, and personally, peace of mind being debt-free has been worth the sacrifices. None of those sacrifices were dangerous, though they were at times inconvenient. Understanding the value of money and time early in adulthood, knowing there will be missteps and unpredictable circumstances along the way, was invaluable for me.

Here’s to better times ahead. (Hopefully universal healthcare, child care and liveable wages too.) And here’s to voting both with our dollars and ballots.

Sending you good thoughts,
Megan

]]> By: Jessica https://witanddelight.com/2020/07/bills-bills-bills-effective-strategies-for-paying-off-debt/#comment-673861 Thu, 09 Jul 2020 17:22:30 +0000 https://witanddelight.com/?p=53572#comment-673861 Legitimate question, here. In the beginning you mention all the sketchy, kinda miserable, maybe dangerous (roommate? skipping meals?) things you did to get out of debt, then say it was 100% worth it. You also say that ~80% of Americans are in this kind of debt. Are we really, as a society, saying that 80% of us should be going hungry, working multiple jobs, have sketchy living situations, and for what? Is it *actually* worth it?

Not trying to knock this advice – it’s solid, and realistic, and from a practical standpoint we should be trying to get out of debt. I want to know, why are we accepting this as “normal?” Why aren’t we demanding better public transportation so we take out fewer car loans? Why aren’t we demanding higher ed lower their costs? Why aren’t we demanding better wages from our employers? Or universal health care? Or child care? Or UBI?

Sorry. I know this has turned into an ideological rant. I’m just sick to death of reading yet another personal finance article when I couldn’t find work with my first overpriced degree (a BS in a STEM field) so now I’m *back* in school for *another* overpriced STEM degree and my husband got laid off so we’re trying to figure out how to pay our overpriced rent without selling an overpriced car, that we need because there’s not reliable public transportation, and oh yeah, our health insurance expires at the end of the month so maybe I should start rationing medication?

Sorry again. I’m gonna go cry and/or lead a revolt, idk yet

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