Lower your debt ceiling and get your life back

Surrounded by easy credit, most people haven’t figured out their limit

Ask some people what their debt ceiling is (the most amount of consumer debt they’d be willing to take on), and they’ll tell you, “As much as I can borrow.”

My personal debt ceiling is zip, zero, zilch. But in a world where people have grown up surrounded by plastic, where they’ve watched their parents use credit to buy everything, and where they’ve been handed more rope than they could have imagined, is it any wonder so many people haven’t figured out their debt ceiling?

Off they go charging through life. When a card fills up, they apply for and get another. Eventually they get a credit line or two. And, of course, they have overdraft protection.

Some wind up at a pay-advance store.

All the while they hike higher and higher up Mount Debt until eventually they run out of air.

So, do you have a debt ceiling? What do you think contributed to you having a debt ceiling? If you don’t have a debt ceiling, why do you think that is? Do you think that keeping your debt in different piles helps to make you feel less close to your debt ceiling? What would you be prepared to go into debt for? What would you not be prepared to go into debt for? Do you feel like you’ve used too much credit? If you had it to do over, what would you do differently when using credit?

If you think you have a problem with debt, the first step is to say it out loud. If you aren’t prepared to admit you’re in trouble, if you aren’t prepared to add up the mess you’re in, then you’re not ready for help yet.

If you want things to change, start by saying, “I have a problem with my debt.”

Start writing down every penny you spend. Whether it’s $1.25 for coffee or $600 on a fabulous new pair of shoes, write it down. This is how you become accountable for forfeiting your future in the name of immediate pleasure.

Look over your list at night and ask yourself why you’re really buying. Did you get a rush? Did you feel pleasure? How are you feeling now?

Switch from credit to cash. It’s way easier to charge something than it is to fork over cold, hard cash, particularly when you’re getting to the bottom of the jar.

Commit to paying off your debt. Allocate a fixed amount to each debt, paying off the most expensive (read: highest interest) debt first while you make smaller payments on the other debts.

Once your first debt is paid off, roll that payment to your next most expensive debt.

Keep going till you’re out of the hole. Don’t have the money to make a dent in your debt? Get another job, a better job. Make more money!

The time has come to pay up. So suck it up and get your life back.