Anyone who holds any kind of debt (even if it’s only a mortgage) dreams of having lower debt or no debt at all. Imagine what life would be like if you did not have to make any monthly payments! Not even a car payment! The extra money sure would come in handy, wouldn’t it?

We follow the blogger who writes “Blogging Away Debt.” He recently published a post “Credit Card Debt Update - It’s a Biggie!”. The writer is very excited about having whittled his credit card debt down to under $2500. This blog entry made me aware of several things.

For one, his debt is now “only” about $2500, which makes him proud of his progress so far. And proud he should be. Anyone of us who has ever attempted to lower one’s debt knows the challenges involved, right? He is also excited because he almost sees the end of the road ahead that is no credit card debt at all. Soon enough he won’t have to make any more monthly payments to the credit card company. That money can be used for other things instead, like paying down other debts (like a mortgage), saving for financial goals (like a wedding), putting money into a retirement account, and many other things.

Why am I writing about this? First of all, it makes me feel good to read such a success story. The writer does a good job with his writing skills to invoke the good feelings in me, but the content of the story itself – lower debt – also makes me feel good. I just like reading such stories.

Second, I think this story also teaches us a very good lesson. It was probably easy for him to load up a big credit card balance. It may have even happened “by accident,” sort of. You know what I mean! Nonetheless, there is only one person ultimately responsible for taking on this much debt – the person who spent beyond his or her means. (The responsibility of the store or bank offering the opportunity to incur high enough debt to get a debtor into financial trouble is an entirely different topic.) Unfortunately, getting into financial trouble is not the worst problem of them all. Staying in financial trouble is. When you catch yourself in a bad financial situation, the first thing is to face the facts and determine what exactly is going on. Then you figure out a plan to get out of the bad situation. Many people have gotten themselves out of a financial mess, many are doing it right now, and many more will do it in the future. If you are in a financial mess, get started by figuring out how to get out of it right now. This blogger did it, and you can too!

Many might think it a big challenge to try to get out of debt on your own. If you feel this way, first try to educate yourself about personal finances, and about debt in particular. You may want to start by following some bloggers who are on the road to lower debt, just like the man who writes “Blogging Away Debt.” These bloggers are generous enough to share their stories, and we all can learn a little bit from their journey. Alternatively, you can build yourself a valuable support group in cyberspace. If you happen to be in a very bad debt situation, or really feel you can’t attempt this alone, you may want to seek the services of a debt counselor. If you try this route, be sure you don’t fall for any easy schemes – choosing unwisely can even worsen your debt! (For more on such schemes see our post “Lower Debt And Even Pay It Off In No Time”.) Just remember the guiding principle of finance, and life in general: “If it sounds too good to be true it is probably not true.” Good luck!

Tags: lower debt