Being normal is easy. Too easy. It is a path that is very alluring in every way. Want this? Well, buy it, finance it, or put it on a credit card and it’s yours. It will never stop; you will always want more. You will want what he has or what she has or what they have. It is a nightmare that will be on replay your entire life. I don’t’ want to live like that. However, a lot of my peers do and they don’t even realize it. I am not in any way perfect with my budget, and believe me, I have expensive wants, but I do feel that I have a sense of control over it. What first made me realize this was reading Dave’s slogan, “Debt is normal. Be weird.” It is SO TRUE. Everywhere you look, people are in debt. And the problem with that? They don’t see a problem!! Because? It’s normal!! Face palm. If that’s the norm, normal sucks.
Sure, there are people who have been and always will be financially responsible. I have a large amount of student loan debt to pay off. Some don’t. But working through my pay-off plan, I have stumbled across many other things I would have never stopped to take the time to research: 401k, stock options, Roth IRA, etc. I hope to be debt free and in retirement saving mode by the time I am 29, almost 30. Talk about a goal I never thought I’d never thought I’d have at 29! Are there people out there my age who are debt-free and already have a significant amount in the bank and in their retirement? You bet. But I’m also willing to bet it is not a huge percentage of folks. I want to join that small percent. I want to pass up the beautiful Michael Kors purse and matching wallet so that I can put that money towards financial freedom. And knowing that my TJ Maxx purse is a symbol of that, makes me feel not so ashamed toting it around town.
Debt snowballing is not really normal. There are people who know nothing about it and there are people who wholeheartedly disagree with it. But that’s okay. I know I am going against the grain here, and when I stop to think about where my motivation comes from to keep this going, it is precisely that; I’m not normal. I am doing something very few people are doing and I think that is cool. I am standing out in a crowd. I am a unicorn.
