Continuing from: Stop Buying Shit You Don't Need
Paying off debt is very satisfying and quite addictive.
I find myself even paying off my mortgages with like a tiny sub 2% interest rate, just because it feels so good to be paying it off. Really, if you can invest money for an over 2% return, paying off a loan with a sub 2% interest rate seems a bit silly, still it is nice to do, just watch out for any overpayment fees if you overpay too much.
Which leads onto the debt-free lifestyle.
I'm lucky (or you could say unlucky) that it is very easy for me to get credit. I have bought numerous sportscars using credit. I have enjoyed splurging on 0% interest cards (you still have to pay these back though). I have got personal loans to pay off credit cards and consolidate finances. I've had lots of fun with credit, but, to be honest, I wish I had adopted a debt-free lifestyle from the outset and learned patience sooner.
Fair enough, sometimes you have emergencies, unexpected expenses, or are simply struggling and need credit. But if you're well paid, you really should not need credit (a mortgage for a house is a fine exception to this as the rates are very low.)
The problem with easy credit, is that it makes you buy shit you don't need. Often you buy stuff just because you can. This is actually what the government wants. The government doesn't want well paid people to invest their money in gold, out of reach of their tax fingers, it wants you to spend it all, and generate loads of taxes for them, which they can waste on shit the country doesn't need (like loads of endless stupid wars, stupid policies, their pensions, a bloated public sector, and so much unbelievable shit.)
If you really want to stick 2 fingers up at the government, you'd spend just what you need, and invest the rest of your money in gold (something the government can't get their greasy fingers on) and one day retire to a tax haven, or foreign country and life the life of riley!
Of course, you need to enjoy your life. There's no point being too stingy and being miserable. But there is so much shit we buy that we don't need. We buy it because we want to be happy, and yes, the new product makes us happy for a short period, but it never lasts.
My best example of this is my sportscars. I had a Lotus Elise for about a year, and I did enjoy it, I had some good experiences, but it didn't make me long term happy, and I changed it for a Lotus Exige. The Lotus Exige was a fantastic car, I loved it, but again, it did not make me long term happy. And so the cycle of change car to find a fleeting moment of happiness went on. It was stupid. Perhaps I learnt something though. I did learn that, if you're going to invest in a sportscar, you need to keep it long-term to make it worthwhile. Don't do what I did and kept changing them like every 6 months or so. I lost loads of money. And it was credit that made this all possible. If I'd lived a debt-free lifestyle and said to myself "save up for X and once you have enough see if you still want it" things would have been better.
A debt-free lifestyle doesn't mean you never have nice things, it means you are patient! And because you've been patient, when you have those nice things, you appreciate them all the better, because you're not always looking over your shoulder at your depressing pile of debt.
A mortgage is a fine debt. I'm not suggesting you have no mortgage. If you can pay it off, fantastic, but if the rates are low, and it is an appreciating asset anyway, you might as well enjoy spending money on things that make you happy in your life (because life is very short and we ought to enjoy it, and have great experiences.) But you can certainly have no debts elsewhere.
Also, if you don't have debt repayments, it means you have more money to enjoy great experiences with the things you buy. This was another of the problem with my sportscars. I might have been paying £500 a month debt repayments, and at the same time, trying to pay this debt off fast, so my outlay was more like £1k a month fighting the debt. Which meant I had little money free to enjoy my sportscars. If I had just £500 a month more to enjoy the sportscars, that would have been many more great experiences. And life is about experiences and enjoying the limited time we have on this planet.
My attitude towards debt is always "pay it of as quickly as possible!" Really, I've always had a debt-free mindset, just the lure of shit that might make me happy has been too strong to resist (and I've not had enough willpower, and been too weak in resisting), and the credit to easy too obtain.
Good luck in your debt-free quest!
