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Does Your Debt Motivate You?


God the Father

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God the Father

I have to admit it, sometimes I want to be selfish. Grinding it out at the office, day in and day out, applying to professional school, putting on my uniform one weekend a month....it can be a lot to handle. It feels like it's too much to handle at times.

 

There are mornings that I feel like throwing in the towel. I feel like I would throw in the towel, except that now I have obligations. I have people counting on me to earn that monthly $550. Yes, it would be easiest to stay in bed, maybe crawl to the couch and lay in front of the TV, to relax in peace and quiet while waiting to die. But that's just not an option for me any longer.

 

I know i need to suit up and give it my all until 6, because my precious little creditors need my best efforts. To provide for them a better life than I had. It's not a responsibility I can afford to take lightly, and I'm sure all of you that have debt know the feeling.

 

I'll never forget the day I got my first invoice, and I realized it's not just about me anymore.

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Semper Catholic

I can recall every moment of that night. From the chill of the breeze to the lightning in the sky.

That night when my assailants grabbed me, put a burlap sack over my head and threw me into an unmarked van.

The next hours of my life were pure hell. Water boarding, pulling teeth, and bamboo splinters under my finger nails.

No it seemed these people would stop at nothing until I gave in. I suppose I shouldn't blame myself, every man has their breaking point.

Around 4 am I finally reached mine. I gave in to Sallie's demands and signed up for thousands of dollars of student loans. I was up against the wall and forced to with no other options available.

Truthfully though I blame Obama.

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That Tom Hanks pic is mega creepy.

Doing nothing sounds good especially on the way to work in the AM but once you are sitting in bed for awhile you become melancholy and depressed. When I'm working I wish I wasnt, when I take a day off I think wow, weekdays at home stink, I kinda understand why mom went like she did.

A mortgage is worse than student loans. Not only an obligation to a creditor but also to the community to not screw it up and ruin the neighborhood with a vacant property.

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That Tom Hanks pic is mega creepy.

Doing nothing sounds good especially on the way to work in the AM but once you are sitting in bed for awhile you become melancholy and depressed. When I'm working I wish I wasnt, when I take a day off I think wow, weekdays at home stink, I kinda understand why mom went like she did.

A mortgage is worse than student loans. Not only an obligation to a creditor but also to the community to not screw it up and ruin the neighborhood with a vacant property.

 

No way is a mortgage worse than student loans. You default on a mortgage, bank takes the house and sells it to someone else. Neighborhood not ruined. In fact, if you cant afford your mortgage, maybe the neighborhood is better off with the new buyers. You default on your student loans and the interest just builds up and up and up and screws your credit. You declare bankruptcy due to inability to pay all your debts, your mortgage goes away (and so does your house) while your student loans laugh you in the face and say "pay up poor person who has no monies, oh and here's some more interest".

 

For a mortgage, the bank requires an appraisal to ensure your loan is only X% of your house (or backed by FHA). In addition the bank requires W-2's, proof of employment & gross income, a large down payment or an FHA or VA loan. The bank requires the house be in sellable condition. For student loans thousands of dollars are loaned to an 18 year old often with no co-signor, no proof of employment, no evidence that the major you are studying for will earn enough to pay back loans, and no evidence of a decent GPA and ability to graduate. Why? Because although mortgages are secured loans with collateral, student loans are near impossible to get rid of without paying them off due to federal laws.

 

The obligation to pay back the creditor of a mortage is secured by the collateral of your house which the bank can then sell if you can't pay up. Student loans just follow you the rest of your life until they are paid (no handing in your diploma for the bank to sell to someone else...)

 

tl;dr mortgages are way better than student loans for all sorts of reasons.

Edited by Slappo
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I'm talking from a sense-of-obligation perspective it's worse. There are certain parts of the country where the "foreclosure, then bank sells to someone else" happens but not where I live. Here foreclosure means everyone's house values take a hit and meanwhile as the structure sits empty it is stripped of its copper by thieves or turned into a place to buy dope. Right now the city is trying to raise money to bulldoze these homes.

Edited by Maggie
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God the Father

phatmass.com -- still the #1 online community on the web for unfunny replies to painstakingly crafted OPs

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Nihil Obstat

I'm talking from a sense-of-obligation perspective it's worse. There are certain parts of the country where the "foreclosure, then bank sells to someone else" happens but not where I live. Here foreclosure means everyone's house values take a hit and meanwhile as the structure sits empty it is stripped of its copper by thieves or turned into a place to buy dope. Right now the city is trying to raise money to bulldoze these homes.

It is interesting for me. I live in an extremely affluent city, in affluent neighbourhoods. There are no abandoned houses or vacant lots, essentially anywhere. Land is just too valuable. Houses always sell, and if the house is not worth anything them someone tears it down and builds a new one.

Average days on market is just over a month, average selling price was over 550k this September.

I go visit places in the US - Steubenville, Evansville, St. Louis, whatever - I see boarded up houses that look like the roof is literally ready to cave in. Everywhere. Side by side even. And you can buy some of these places for less than the price of a decent car, apparently. Definitely an element of culture shock there. 

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All I can say is that being debt free is a great feeling. We were for about a year until we started taking kids in and buying up units in this building to house them. We paid off our first 15 year mortgage in 5. We took out a 25 year mortgage a year ago and have 18 years left now. We hope to pay it off in 4 more years. We do it by not eating out or buying unnecessary things.

If you're hurting for money, the best part time job is being a foster parent.

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If you're hurting for money, the best part time job is being a foster parent.


Ummmmmmmmmm .... pardon me while I remove my jaw from the floor.

Last time I checked 1. parenting, esp. foster parenting, is not a "part time job" and 2. foster parenting is NOT somethingto do because you are "hurting for money"
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Let me say something in the hopes of avoiding a flame war.

 

I do not have debt (thanks be to God), but the fear of having another career bomb on me and being unemployed for a long period definitely motivates me. In fact, it drives me into the ground sometimes. I work too much, too hard. But I would rather that than have to move home again.

 

So, I wonder if having debt but at least having a job is better than not having debt but also not having a job. I don't say this to minimize the burden of debt. I avoided it because I never, ever wanted that burden, and because I was able to avoid it. But I am saying: Maybe when you get that "grinding under the debt" feeling, it would help to consciously try to think of what you have to be grateful for?

 

:)

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