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Redbook Cover Story on Debt-Free Living: The World Really has Gone Mad
Last week was Spring Break for my daughter’s school so we packed up the family and headed to Great Wolf Lodge for a few days of water park adventure (that’s why there weren’t many blog posts last week). Anyway, between our water-parking and MagiQuest-ing, I happened to be perusing the gift shop when I noticed this magazine cover you see nearby here.
No, it wasn’t the picture of Jaime Pressly that caught my eye but rather the large article title splashed across the top left: "Live debt-free – How women like you are spending less and loving it" Seriously? Redbook has an article on debt-free living?! Spending less and loving it?! If you check out the Redbook website, some other articles that pop out immediately are "8 Hilarious Sex Life Don’ts" and "10 Things your Man Really Wants in Bed." So, excuse me if an article on the benefits of spending less than you earn and getting out of debt seems a bit out of place to me.
I haven’t been blogging for very long (about 9 months) but I’ve been talking about finances and the economy and related topics (a lot) for a number of years (just ask my friends – or the few that I still have) and I am taken aback by how many people I now encounter discussing the economy. And now I see the Redbook article (I didn’t notice if there was a Cosmo magazine on the rack – now that would be something if they had articles about getting out of debt!)
I feel that it is very unfortunate that it takes extreme circumstances like we are going through now to pique everyone’s interest in this important topic. If as many people discussed debt and savings and the economy a few years ago before all of this badness started to happen, a lot more people would be in position to weather this storm. In fact, if enough people would have been more realistic about house purchases and investments, etc, etc, the effects of this whole downturn might have been a lot less severe. Certainly, I am no economist, so take my opinion for what it’s worth.
Another benefit to being in a strong financial situation is that it is possible to position yourself for the long-term right now. If you don’t have much debt and do have cash to spend, you can purchase stocks that are very cheap compared to their prices of a year or two ago. If you have the time and money and believe that economy will eventually recover, then you can pick up some serious bargains and wait for the market to recover. Or consider rental properties – in most places in the US right now housing prices are down quite a bit. With some money and little to no debt you can purchase property for much less than it was selling for the past few years. This could lead to some considerable financial benefits years down the road when the housing market recovers.
See, there is more benefit to being fiscally responsible than just being able to sleep easy at night or weather financial storms. With the proper planning, you can not only survive an economic climate like we are experiencing right now but also thrive in it and set yourself up for long-term prosperity.
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Very informative site, and very interesting posts. I have bookmarked your site, and will be back, good work guys.. thanks