I came across a story that highlights the banshee-like nature of the infamous “debt free scream”.
The Internet forum poster complained on a public forum about having to shell out more money to fix his car… which was falling apart at the seams. But… he was in “good shape” financially because he was “sooo clooose” to being debt free:
Well it looks like there’s another problem, but my mechanic can’t diagnose it since he can’t tell if the part is bad or just wet from all the rain; I’m waiting for everything to dry out for a couple days.
He restated his advice on getting a new car soon, especially since the rust in getting to the body, but I’m resistant since I’m sooo clooose to being debt-free, and would like to enjoy a stint of that for a few years. I’d like to wait until I get my own place, at least, as then I might be able to take a car out of the equation and wait even longer.
(I want to wait as long as possible so I can reasonably afford the nicest car possible, a treat after holding onto my POS first car so far past its life cycle.)
We’ll see. It’s going to be quite a mental challenge getting back into Plano today. (Maybe unintentionally exciting!)
I dunno… to me it sorta sounds like he’s deeply indebted to his car’s future problems and also his mechanic, who will need to be paid on the regular just to keep the thing going.
I get it.
Being in debt can be dangerous but it can also give you the leverage you need to save more money while taking less risk. What’s weirdo is when the quest for debt-free causes you to be chained to things that clearly aren’t working. The debt-free lifestyle typically only works if everything goes according to plan, and if nothing comes up that causes you to go into more debt.
The problem is… life never stops. As soon as you solve one problem, another one pops up.
A natural solution for this is the proper use and implementation of a good life insurance policy.
… unless you don’t like life insurance for some reason. In that case, I can’t help ya.
But, assuming you’re not against the idea, then using the “shadow banking” functions embedded in a life insurance policy, and using policy debt is a decent tool… as long as you know what you’re doing with it.