Is Being Debt Free Worth It?

There’s a saying that America was built on credit. So much so, that it’s considered a way of life that my wife struggles it imagine our lives without it. In addition to blogging our journey as a means to hold myself accountable, it may also be an avenue for us to look back on the sacrifices and tradeoffs we make to reflect on the case of being debt free and if ‘twas a noble ambition worth undertaking.

Mindset

For myself, the idea of owing someone or something money always gave me a sense of unease mentally. It’s always in the back of my mind that we both need not want high paying jobs just to be able to make our minimum payments. Every time we’ve completely paid off a debt instrument, it immediately relieved stress and anxiety. It amazes me how mental, emotional, and physical health issues can be tied to the stress from debt. There was a time when we were living in NYC and I was down to my last beat up pair of shoes in a quest for minimalism. I worked in an industry that required safety toe shoes, yet I was unwilling to part with $200 for proper shoes I needed because I was worried about making payments to our credit card. This eventually led to foot injuries and issues down the line and the stress of juggling whether to prioritize my health and safety or being able to payoff debt. A debt free life would enable us to completely change our mindset and focus our mental energy to things that matter to us most.

Freedom

This is a big one for me. Becoming debt free means we can walk away from a career or living situation that we’re not happy with. The freedom to take a long trip or break inbetween jobs. The jobs I had between California and NYC, then NYC to Hawaii, involved my last day of the previous job on a Friday, then starting the new gig the Following Monday. I always wished I was able to do a cross country road trip or backpack for a few months, but I needed to start right away to ensure there were no gaps in our income. The freedom to work lower paying full jobs that have deeper meaning and values to us. Since we moved to Hawaii 5 years ago, I’ve gotten a closeup view of how human action can take a toll on the environment and wildlife around us. I’d love to have the freedom to volunteer time, money, and/or expertise to these causes without worrying about financial compensation.

Opportunity

Fortune favors the bold, and we can’t be bold and take advantage of opportunities if we’re worried about losing big. From starting a business, investing in stocks, crypto, real estate, etc. We can’t really take a meaningful leap of faith or calculated risks in any of these areas. Of course this will sound biased, but I truly believe my wife is the best or one of the best at what she does in all of Hawaii. So much so that she started her own business doing it. Yet because of our debt, she still had to work at her 9-5 while doing this on the side. It did well and her clients loved her, but the stress of working 7-days a week, managing cash flow, and not having the freedom to pursue this full time ended up taking a toll on her and I. We ended up shutting down after a year in operation. It really hurt not being able to give her the opportunity to really go at it the way she wanted to.

Shutting down her dream was the last straw that led to where we’re at today. It finally got both of us on the same page on a journey towards a debt free life so we’ll never have that feeling again.