Lesson: A Beanie Baby is Not a Need

Sue Benante asked me a question about buying our home debt free: “If there was anything you could have done differently with hindsight, even something you could have made easier, what would it have been?”

• Figure out the difference between need and want.

• Not go into debt

• Stay out of debt

• Stuck with home cooking, instead or going out so often.

• Started tithing and saving earlier.

• When we did finance our house, I would not continually take out loans on the equity over the years. We would easily have $300,000 + in equity at this point in time.

I would say not being able to determine the difference between a need and a want was a hard lesson to learn.

Being perfectly transparent, here one just one personal example. I started collecting Beanie Babies when they were so hot. They were fun for me, but I certainly didn't need them. At that point in time I wasn't living with the intentional thought of getting our of debt. Probably about ½ were purchased with a credit card.

I have cut my loses and now I am now selling the Beanie Babies. You could probably insert your own Beanie Babies (fill in the blank).

Just one last example: Today, as I am writing this my 6 year old laptop is acting up yet again. Do I want a newer laptop? Sure. Do I need a new laptop? Nope. Right now, I will put up with all the annoying idiosyncrasies and after we get settled in I will schedule an appointment with Geek Squad to have them fix this one and save up to pay cash.

The short answer to Sue's question is that I believe debt has been the biggest hindrance to us achieving our dream in a more timely manner. I shutter when I think of all the interest I paid over the years, for useless items that I didn't really need. Making that decision to get out of debt and staying out of debt was the game changer.

"Home, Debt, Free, Home"
Chapter 1: You Must Be Rich

CHALLENGE: What is it you really want and what are you willing to do to attain it?.
LESSON: A Beanie Baby is Not A Need
Chapter 2: Soul Crushing Debt
Chapter 3: 4 Keys to Find Cash and Make Your Money Work for You.

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