Student Loans – Stupid, Stupid Mistakes
Stupid. STUPID mistakes. Don’t bother to tell me they weren’t stupid mistakes. They are my mistakes and yep, stupid. How someone can be so smart and stupid at the same time is always a puzzle to me. (I’m talkin’ about myself here – bear with me…)
Seven years. Seven years ago, I made money choices that I thought were good financial decisions. Okay – so they weren’t. They weren’t even OK choices – they down right were absolutely rotten money decisions.
…Then I got completely sidetracked. Today, I realized… the exact same problem I faced in 2000 is still sitting there in front of me. There is one difference – there was $8,000 interest and a debt that should be GONE by now. Where had the time Gone?
See this is where the thoughts came from…
This afternoon, I listened to Dave Ramsey’s radio show on my way home from work and heard him say something like – the time will pass anyway. The debt might still be there but how big will it be two years from now, three years from now. Maybe it will be nearly paid off. Maybe it will be paid off.
If you don’t work intensely to pay it off – how much will you owe? Remember, the time will pass no matter what. (this is complete paraphrase but this is how I heard it)
The thing is – it was stupid of me to consolidate a student loan then not keep up with payments. I am current now but not paying when I was out of work (difficult with no income but that’s another post, another day) cost me close to $12,000 all together.
My original student loans totalled $18,000 ~ if I had stayed focused, made different choices in areas of work, housing, cars so that I could pay my student loans simply on time each month. I would not have $24,000 worth of student loans now. In fact, if I had simply paid each month according to the original plan – the balance would be zero.
Stupid? Yep – instead of my balance being ZERO, it’s well over 23K. Steady, focused effort is what makes progress. Intense, steady, laser targeted effort get’s you there FASTER. Learn from my mistakes.
I think it’s time to come clean on some common but totally useless decisions that have cost me both money and peace of mind over the last twenty years. We are not talking about money mogul mistakes. Money moguls can afford to make the type of mistakes I’ve made. Some of us can’t afford to lose even $500 let alone 10K or more.
This is just an intro to my personal story of screwed up thinking and decisions about my student loans. Go ahead – I’d love for you to subscribe and jump in with comments, questions, even stories of your own… Tam
Tags: dave ramsey, debt, decisions, financial decisions, money, Money Mistakes, student loans, stupid stupid mistakes, thinking
