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Wednesday, March 8, 2017

No Patti, you are not alone!



"Ya know, we (all 3 of us) are scarily alike in our situations......I am so glad I am not alone."


These snippets from a comment left by Patti on yesterday's post really struck a chord with me. She is 100% completely right! When my husband and I embarked on this journey to get out of debt, I felt very much alone. The majority of blogs seemed to be written by people far younger than us. Even most of those doing their debt free screams on the Dave Ramsey show seemed to be the younger crowd. God bless them for being smarter than us. If we could turn back the clock 20+ years I know we would do things differently but we can't. We must deal with where we are now and we are. 


What I have, however, come to realize is that although it often feels like we are alone, we really are not! People in the 50+ age bracket do have debt and unfortunately some of us have a lot of it! While I have zero statistics to back this up, I feel I have something more concrete...hearing it first hand from others our age who are in debt. Let me share just a little from three I know well (names changed to protect their identity!) 

  1. Bill and Rachel. A couple in their early 60s. They owe $200K+ on their mortgage, have credit card debt and a hefty car loan. Rachel feels they will always have debt and even goes as far as saying mortgage debt is good debt for tax purposes. 
  2. Harry and Denise. A couple in their late 50s. Harry works with my husband and says he will never be able to afford to quit working as they still have mortgage debt and imply that they also have auto loans. 
  3. Peter and Jan. A couple both turning 65 this year. They took Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace course many years ago. Less than a year ago they also took on a bigger mortgage. The house needs a lot of work which Jan says they can't currently afford to do. Thankfully no other debt, but Jan also says Peter will need to continue working several more years. 
While obviously I don't know everything about the finances of these friends, what they have shared with me is alarming. In all three of these cases, debt continues to be part of their lives. Scarier yet is that unless they get into attack mode, this debt will no doubt follow them into what is supposed to be their golden retirement years. While obviously I can't point fingers because my husband and I are also carrying a boat load of debt, our story doesn't need to (and won't!) end that way. Why? Because we finally drew that line in the sand and said ENOUGH! 

We are all given choices in life. We can continue on as my aforementioned friends, or we can join others like Patti who have chosen to do something about their debt. No Patti, you are not alone! There are others, including myself, who will walk along side of you as we continue conquering our debts. We CAN do this!

Lucy

12 comments:

  1. I have been seriously trying to get out of debt for 30 years. It is finally happening.

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    1. Always great to hear of others finally doing it! Keep us posted as to your progress!

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    2. 30 years is a long time.....if only we knew then what we know now.

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    3. Sure is, but we are all getter smarter by taking control! Can't wait to see where we are a year from now!

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    4. I'm sorry, "out my window" that came out wrong...
      KUDOS!!!! I am so impressed that we can still see the light after 30 years (its been that long for me as well) and its not an oncoming train.

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  2. I love the fact that you are documenting this journey. You guys are absolutely not alone, and just because you're doing this in a different season of life doesn't make it any less amazing! I know several people your age that think that just because of their age, there isn't any hope, that it's too late. I can point them to your story with a hearty, "See? No, it's not!" Thank you, thank you, thank you, for doing this, and don't give up!

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    Replies
    1. Thank you for your comment and kind words, Kyle. Yes, we might be late to the show, but we will be applauding at the end!

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    2. Thanks,Kyle! Is Steward and Slave the name of your Blog?

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    3. His blog can be found at https://stewardandslave.com

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  3. You.Are.Awesome! Thank you for making me feel "not alone"!

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    Replies
    1. You're vey welcome! Happy to share this journey with you!

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