Deep In Debt

I’m not! I learned as a very young person, the hard way, to not borrow money. I owned my own home at nineteen. At my sister’s suggestion, I had called a few real estate agents and told them what I was looking for. They all laughed at me. What I wanted was something that I could afford, not what the market trends were. I bought a two bedroom, one bath house in a nice neighborhood, for eleven thousand dollars. I bought the owners loan with three thousand dollars, so I only owed eight thousand dollars and was well into the principal.

That was in 1975.

I enjoyed calling all the agents up and letting them know about my buy.

But I didn’t have patience. I didn’t understand taking it easy and letting things happen over time. I borrowed money for this and that and created stress, that I didn’t know how to deal with. I sold the house, broke even and found myself having to rent. I did not like that! I am a homeowner at heart.

It took me years to be able to buy a home again. I was thirty. And once again, I found an incredible deal. I bought a beach house on Amelia Island for fifty thousand dollars. That was in 1987. Unlike my contemporaries, I never took out an equity loan. OH NO! I had learned my lesson. I never drove a new car. I like style and dependability; it doesn’t have to be new. I feel the same way about everything in my life.

After many years, I sold that home and bought more houses with my profit. I felt like I was splitting my stock. It all just kind of happened.

I’ve done things in a slow and progressive fashion. I have never done anything to impress anyone. Why should I?

A dear friend of mine posted on her Facebook page these words…..Capture the essence of who you are without material trappings…….

That has been a goal, in my life.

It’s not always easy, because of my ego. But then I think of ego as Easing God Out and I let go.

This post was inspired by an interview with Suze Orman, on the Nate Show. She said that she had been on the Oprah Winfrey Show, and there were 150 people in the audience. They were all asked to write down on a piece of paper their debt. The papers were folded, collected and counted. The total was a shocking 20 million dollars. What does that say about people?

Today, I’m extremely grateful for that 1975 financial flop.

If you are in debt and stressed out and want to get free, just know that it can happen. You are not your money and you are not your debt.

Often the things that we think are the worst thing that could happen to us end up being the best.

pura vida…..