Would it be possible for me to contrive a dumber or more irresponsible title? Saying don’t sweat the small stuff with debt is akin to saying, be irresponsible with money.
I am starting to see this philosophical drivel now being applied to money or debt, and frankly, I am appalled by those who might espouse not being diligent about money and debt, and the day-to-day issues of money in particular.
There is 1 truth about not sweating the small stuff about debt, if you do not sweat it, you won’t have to worry anymore about small debt stuff, because it will have become a F*cking Big Debt. I guess that implies you are supposed to sweat the big stuff about debt?
Yes, you can drive yourself batty micromanaging some things, but debt is not one of them. If you don’t have a plan to deal with your debt, you may as well start setting money on fire. No matter how small the debt, or how unimportant you view debt, it is like cancer. It will not go away, it will simply grow if ignored.
What is the nice thing about little debt? Say $500 left on a credit card, which compounds 18% interest on it, that after 3 years of not sweating it and just making a minimum payment of $20, you will have only paid (more than) $300 in interest charges, so why sweat it? Seriously, I am positive I have heard folks make that exact argument, and you wonder why I am so cynical?
The Banks, Credit Card Companies, Pay Day Loan Companies, and Risky Mortgage folks all really think that not sweating the small stuff with debtâ„¢ is a great thing. Why? They make money with no sweat on their part.
Should You Not Sweat the Small Stuff?
Sweat every part of Debtâ„¢!Â
That is the way to get out of debt and make your life happier (I’d like to thank Mark at My Own Advisor for complaining that I hadn’t ranted about debt for a while).
Equating burning money with “buying crap on the shopping channel” gave me a good chuckle.