Plodding your way out of debt
If you’re feeling overwhelmed by debt and mounting bills, you’re not alone–a startling number of Americans are struggling to keep financially afloat in our consumer culture. Books and radio shows offer financial tips and money-saving strategies, but is there a more lasting solution to the problem of over-spending? Dan Seaborn, writing for the Winning at Home ministry, thinks the answer lies in re-evaluating the effect that spending has on your relationships:
What you buy can’t make you any nicer, any more fun to be around, any more kind or compassionate, any more loving. Buying things for others won’t override broken relationships. In the end, trinkets don’t add to a life. All they’ll do is subtract from a bank account.
If your lavish spending is digging holes in your pockets, why don’t you take a break? Forget financial planning; try financial plodding. Instead of counting on possessions to make things better, leave the item on the store shelf and learn to do the real work of life and relationships.
Seaborn suggests that escaping debt and consumerism isn’t about earning enough money to buy all those things you want–it’s about realizing that your relationships–with your family, friends, and God–are what is really important. Read the rest of his advice and consider trying out his “financial plodding” strategy in your own family.
