pay off debt

You can smell the flavor before you even get it unwrapped. Mmmm! It’s going to be so refreshing. You start vigorously chewing with focused attention as you excrete the juicy taste from the once dry, powdery stick of gum. It’s so good and you hope it never ends, but as much as you enjoy it, you start to realize that the love affair is over. That taste that was promised to last forever now tastes like wet cardboard. What do you do?

You grab two pieces. Maybe, just maybe, it will last for ten minutes instead of just five.  Something tells you that you’re probably wrong but what else are you going to do? You’ve got to have fresh breath.

Has this ever happened to you?

I know it has. It looks so delicious as you watch the commercial lying to you about how long the flavor lasts, so you fall for it. After all, they lure you in by convincing you—the flavor that lasts all day—will cause your one true love to instantly appear, or the one you already have to have sparkles in their eyes because your breath smells so fantastic.

It would seem to me that someone is great at marketing. Nobody wants to have stinking breath, so before long you are up to a pack a day. They sold you on something that does not live up to the hype, but you still buy it. That’s GREAT marketing!

Guess who  else is great at marketing?

You’re waiting in line at the bank. Your palms are sweaty and you are nervous, with butterflies in your gut and a bloated misconception of how beneficial getting approved would be—you are confident. Debt is a tool, and you owe it to yourself to be able to enjoy life right? It’s a relationship that you practically beg for, and you aren’t really sure what you just signed up for but you do know you have a few purchases to make to break in your new plastic friend.

What could be better than being able to borrow someone else’s money to buy something you yourself do not have the money to buy? It’s perfect, why stop with plastic? So you go out and buy that new “reliable” car you have always “needed”.

Life is GREAT!

Then one day you wake up and realize you are up to your eyeballs in debt. Debt—the tool—has suddenly become a monthly burden that has grown out of control. It is like a fiery beast and it has control over your emotions. You believed that it was going to make everything all right, but the romance is over. Or is it?

Now it’s more like an abusive relationship. You are in a viscous cycle that forces more bad financial decisions because you have no other choice. You believed that that credit card was going to be for emergencies right after you charged a little to “build your credit”. You just knew that new car was going to be reliable. Now it’s at the shop.

What are you to do now?

You go get more credit because you are maxed out, and after all, you need something to use for emergencies. What about your credit score? You can’t go through life without a credit score, just like you can’t get a good date without that long-lasting piece of chewing gum.

You never stop believing the lies. You just know that one day, using debt as a tool will put you right where you want to be. Reality is that you were lied to. Debt is not a tool, and how many dates have you ever been on that lasted only 5 minutes? They want you to keep paying them interest, and they want you to keep investing in their gum.

Have you been fooled by society?

By the banks? By marketers? What about broke family members?

You are not alone. Many of us have bought it, hook, line, and sinker too. The question is do you want to continue down the path of living paycheck to paycheck, or do you want to learn how to be DEBT FREE? Free from stress? Free from bondage?

Wouldn’t you like to remove the one thing that is keeping you from building wealth? How has it worked for you so far? Debt is nothing but a roadblock! It is not helping you.

The great thing is.

You can get rid of your debt, and I believe in you. Not because I know you, but because I did it. I’m not that special! Anyone of you have the same ability, but you have to stop believing the lies.

Get rid of your debt, and find out for yourself why debt freedom is so entirely AWESOME!!

photo credit

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For those that were asleep last Tuesday, J. Money from Budgets Are Sexy and I, teamed up to bring you Brad and J’s First Annual Christmas Stimulus. Be sure not to fall asleep next year because we will be doing it even bigger and better. We hope that this is something that we will continue to do each and every year—perhaps until J and I realize that our arthritis hurts too much to type.

The moment you’ve all been waiting for. First, I want to thank each and every one of you for taking the time to list two financial goals for 2010. Believe it or not, my only joy was not giving away the money, it was also fun for me to read all of the goals that you submitted. I caused 169 people to at least ponder for a second, 2 financial goals they have for 2010. That is beautiful in and of itself!

Now for the winner of a $150 Visa Gift Card!!

The winner is… (generating random number via random.org.)

The winner is…I’ll tell you who the winner is right after this short commercial break!

Haha, I always hate when T.V. shows do that.

The winner is comment number 100 who happens to be Kim!!

Congratulations KIM!!!

Kim, I hope that this money will help you in a big way! You have some WONDERFUL financial goals to work towards accomplishing in 2010. Good luck and make sure you come back to Enemy of Debt to stay motivated in your mission to do so.

As I said I enjoyed reading all of the goals for each of you, so much so I decided to list my top 15 favorite goals. (NOT IN ORDER, and I admit I am REALLY biased towards debt freedom.)

1. To become debt free! (via SS4BC)

• YOU’RE GONNA DO IT THIS YEAR, I BELIEVE IN YOU! DEBT FREEDOM IS LIKE WINNING THE SUPERBOWL IN OVERTIME—YOU’LL NEVER FORGET THAT MOMENT!

2. Continuing to live a cash-only lifestyle—started in 2009. (via Suzanne)

• WHENEVER I SEE THE WORDS CASH-ONLY I GET BUTTERFLIES…IS THAT NORMAL?

3. Payoff the remaining Credit Card Debt. Less than $2K to go & I know I can make it. (via N. Dade)

• I KNOW YOU CAN MAKE IT TOO! KEEP UP THE AWESOME EFFORT!

4. Build up an emergency fund…so everything that happens is not a crisis. (via LEE)

• A DECISION THAT MOST AMERICANS ARE NOT WILLING TO MAKE! HAVING AN EMERGENCY TURN INTO A CRISIS BECAUSE YOU HAVE TO GO INTO DEBT TO RESOLVE THE CRISIS—IS NO WAY TO LIVE! GREAT GOAL!!

5. Finish BS2. I have less than $25,000 on my HELOC. (via Chad) I WISH YOU MUCH LUCK CHAD! THAT’S GOING TO BE A GREAT ACCOMPLISHMENT FOR SURE! BE SURE TO STAY MOTIVATED!

6. I am pledging not to eat out with friends next year at all and to use the money that I would have used at restaurants to pay off my car. (via Shannon Lutz)

• NOW THAT”S HOW YOU GET SOMETHING DONE!! COMMITMENT AND SACRIFICE! MOST PEOPLE IMMEDIATELY THINK THAT GETTING A RAISE IS THEIR ONLY WAY TO FIND EXTRA MONEY! I AM ROOTING FOR YOU TO PAY OFF YOUR CAR…GOOD LUCK!

7. Pay off my credit card completely and cancel/cut it up! Thanks to your advice I’ve already taken my credit card debt from -3,700 down to -960. I’m almost there! (via Dena)

• DENA, GREAT JOB!!! YOU HAVE DONE A LOT ALREADY, CONGRATULATIONS! YOU ARE ALMOST THERE INDEED! CUT THAT CARD UP AND STUFF IT IN A GLASS ORNAMENT, AS A REMINDER OF YOUR ACCOMPLISHMENT. PLEASE LET ME KNOW WHEN YOU PAY IT OFF!
  

8. Become debt free! (via Mikki)

• I CANNOT RESIST PICKING ANYTHING WITH THE WORDS BECOME DEBT FREE!! PLUS I HAPPEN TO BE GOOD FRIENDS WITH MIKKI AND HAVE BEEN ROOTING FOR HER TO KILL IT, ONCE AND FOR ALL! YOU ARE KILLING THAT DEBT MIKKI—KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK!

9. Goal 2 is to pay off my final debt of $4182.00 and be DEBT FREE—I cannot wait for this day! (via Melissa Luna)

• ANOTHER DEBT FREE GOAL! I LOVE IT! MELISSA, I CANNOT WAIT FOR THAT DAY EITHER! BE SURE TO LET ME KNOW WHEN YOU DO THIS!

10. Live on a cash-only basis! (via Sheri)

• THERE GOES THOSE BUTTERFLIES AGAIN! CASH-ONLY ROCKS BABY, REGARDLESS OF WHAT YOU CREDIT CARD FOLK BELIEVE!

11. Become debt free—$2500 left baby! (via MyPrettyPennies)

• LOTS OF PEOPLE ALMOST DEBT FREE! 2010 IS GOING TO BE A GOOD YEAR FOR MANY! GOOD LUCK!!

12. Double my contribution level to my 401k. (via Brian D.)

• I LOVE IT BRIAN D.! ANYTHING TO AVOID RELYING ON THE GOVERNMENT FOR SOCIAL SECURITY IS A PLUS IN MY BOOK! SAVING FOR RETIREMENT IS ALWAYS A GOOD THING!

13. Keep selling all my stuff and apply those funds to that nasty debt! (via Money Funk)

• SACRIFICING IN ORDER TO PAY OFF DEBT IS AWESOME MONEY FUNK! IS IT REALLY A SACRIFICE? IT IS WHEN YOU THINK THE WAY YOU USED TO THINK, BUT WHEN YOU COME TO TERMS WITH HOW MEANINGLESS STUFF IS WHEN IT IS ALL SAID AND DONE—LIFE GETS SO MUCH NICER. CONTENTMENT IS AN AWESOME GIFT! KEEP KNOCKING THAT DEBT OUT—CASH-ONLY BABY!
  

14. I will finish paying off my VISA… only $4,250.00 to go. (via David)

• PAY THAT VISA OFF MAN! GET RID OF IT! GOOD LUCK KILLING YOUR CREDIT CARD!

15. Eliminate credit card debt..all of it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (via Steven)

• I CAN TELL BY ALL OF THE EXCLAMATION POINTS BEHIND THIS STATEMENT THAT STEVEN IS GOING TO GET THINGS DONE. PASSION INFLUENCES YOUR ACTIONS!

Want to know what five of my financial goals are for 2010?

1. Save $13,500 to complete our emergency fund of $15k!
2. Become certified as a financial counselor so I can start a career I am very passionate about!
3. Continue to work with my 3 year old with money by teaching him how to save, give, and spend!
4. Fund $500 for the wife to replenish her much needed wardrobe. She sacrificed big-time while we were paying off debt!
5. To give more to our church than we did in 2009 now that we are debt free!

THANKS!

Thanks again to everyone who participated, even if you didn’t subscribe! If you haven’t already, be sure to subscribe so you don’t miss out on the second annual Christmas Stimulus coming in 2010, as well as great motivational articles to keep you moving forward!

I also want to thank my good friend J. Money for agreeing to generously give $150 to make this an explosive giveaway! As I said before, prepare yourselves to see more of us in the future. Thanks J! We are going to rock it in 2010 my friend!!!

Here’s to accomplishment in 2010! Good luck everyone!

Have a very Merry Christmas, A Hap-Hap-Happy New Year, and a prosperous 2010!!

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