Do you know how much debt you are in?  When you think about that dollar amount, how does it make you feel?

I know when I actually faced the reality of how much debt I was in, it was like I went through the stages of grief.  At first, I was in denial about it, then I got super mad at myself for allowing it to happen.  This led to me begging God to let me win the lottery, or give me an inheritance from a long-lost relative to relieve the burden.  The next part was not so pretty.  I started to wallow in self-pity and was feeling really sorry for myself.  It was during this time that I started talking to my husband about it.

We were both so disheartened by the fact it would really take us 7-10 years to pay off all of our debt.  7-10 YEARS.  We were 28 at the time, which would put us at almost 40 years old by the time we were done. This seemed like such a hopeless situation, and on top of that, we were wanting to start a family.  How would any of this be possible?

We made good money and felt we deserved to do whatever we wanted to with OUR money.  I mean, I HAD to go to vet school in order to have the job I had.  That debt was necessary, right?

As I was spiraling into this pit of despair, I realized something that completely changed how I looked at our debt journey.

Time will continue to pass regardless of what I am doing with my finances.

In 10 years I will be almost 40, guaranteed.  Everything in my life could be different in 10 years, but time passing will stay the same.  It is going to happen; guaranteed.

Think about that.  The years will continue to pass no matter what you do.  This means you can either be in the same financial situation in 10 years, wishing you had done something about it sooner.  Or, you can put in the work and be debt free in 10 years.  It’s so simple, but such a hard concept to grasp.

We thought about this in terms of our first child’s age.  Would we rather struggle during his early years, and be debt free by the time he is 10?  Or, would we rather live a comfortable life for the next 10 years, and be in the same situation when he wants to start doing sports and activities?  It seemed like 10 years would be such a long time in the future, but 3 years have already flown by for us.

This finally led to accepting the fact we had gotten ourselves into debt, and we were the only ones who could get us out of debt.  It sucks, but we did it to ourselves.

I am telling you all of this to let you know no matter where you are starting, you can change and decide to become debt free.  These 4 lame excuses are so common, even I used them!  I justified not getting out of debt with all of these reasons at some point in time.  The good news is, now you will know they are just excuses so there should be nothing holding you back anymore!

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1.  You DESERVE to enjoy your money.

As an adult, you finally start making decent money, and it is exciting!  You are working hard and just want to enjoy your hard-earned money. Guess what?  If you have debt, you don’t deserve to enjoy your money.  You made the choice to borrow money from your future, and now the future is here!  You have to pay it back.

This totally sucks!  This can be especially hard if you are the spouse of someone who is in debt.  My husband used to say all the time that he should be able to enjoy the money he made because he worked hard.  Unlucky for him, he married someone with a crap ton of debt.  When you marry someone with debt, you carry that debt too.  Is it fair?  No, but that is what marriage is, and that’s what you signed up for.

Being an adult comes with responsibility.  Paying back your debts is being an adult.  You are not owed anything, and you do not deserve to enjoy your money if you have outstanding debts.  This is super hard to hear, but if you are going to change your future, you have to change the way you look at debt.

2.  You need to keep up with the Joneses.

In college, it is completely acceptable, and almost like a badge of honor, to have mismatched furniture, rent a crummy apartment, have a beater car and be living paycheck-to-paycheck.  For some reason, people assume after college there is this transition into adulthood where you need to upgrade everything in your life to give the appearance you have your stuff together.

Just because you are out of college does not mean you have to buy a house, a car, furniture or upgrade your entire lifestyle.  If you are trying to keep up with the Joneses, you are going to continue to be in debt.  There is no way you can get ahead financially if you are trying to keep pace with people who have more than you.

When we were first married, my husband would discuss his frustrations with me that we didn’t have any acreage, and our house wasn’t nice enough.  He had this idea in his head that we would get married and live in a house like the one he grew up in. What he failed to realize was his parents didn’t purchase that home until they were in their forties.  He was trying to have us live a lifestyle that was decades in front of us.  Had we attempted to make that happen, we would have been in even more debt living beyond our means.

Your age is not an indicator of what your lifestyle will look like; your finances are.

Now that I have a changed mindset, I find myself looking at those people renting tiny apartments, driving beater cars, and I think they must be saving so much money!  Don’t worry about what other people are doing.  Do what is best for your financial future.

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3.  You want to provide a “fun” childhood for your kids.

How many people do you know who take expensive vacations every year, have birthday parties for their kids that are more elaborate than your wedding and their kids’ clothes are all name brand?  These things are not necessary for children to have a great childhood.

Children are not a reason to be financially irresponsible.  Do you think your kids would rather you spend tons of money on their first birthday party or use that money to pay off debt so when they are teens, you can take them on a ski trip for the weekend?

Think about your childhood memories.  How many birthday parties do you actually remember?  Do you remember every toy you got for Christmas?  Do you remember all the clothing your wore prior to age 13?

Children are very simple.  They crave your love and attention.  You do not need to spend your money entertaining them all the time.  Instead of spending a day shopping at the Mall and having lunch in the Food Court; find a free museum and pack a picnic.  This will be more memorable for them, and it doesn’t cost you anything.

Time will continue to pass.  You have to decide if you want to live a little tighter while your children are young and won’t really be impacted by it.  Or, do you want to be stressed when they are teens and want to do activities you can’t afford because you are still in debt?

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4.  Your debt seems insurmountable.

Paying off debt is PAINFUL.  I am not going to sugar coat it.  It requires sacrifice and dedication to succeed.  The hardest part of debt payoff is starting.  When you are staring at a mountain of money you owe, it can be crippling.  I get it.

It is so easy to convince yourself you will never be able to get out of debt, and you use that excuse to just keep going through life on autopilot.  You may even acquire MORE debt because what’s another $10,000 anyway?

No matter how much debt you are in, there is ALWAYS a way out.  It very likely will not be a quick fix, but it is always possible if you are willing to do the work.  No amount of debt can stop you if you are driven to be debt free.  I have a 7-10 year plan and I am excited about it!  It is slow and has its painful times, but I can almost taste the freedom that will be on the other side.

If you are making excuses for not attacking your debt, think about your future and what you want it to look like.  The next 5-10 years will pass by before you even realize it. If you can take responsibility for getting yourself into debt, keep your lifestyle minimal and make short-term sacrifices for your family; YOU CAN GET OUT OF DEBT.  Stop making excuses and start today.

Time will continue to pass no matter what you do.  Make the most of it!

Will you be in the same financial spot in 5-10 years?

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