Man Vs. Debt

[infomama]

As I was fiddling around trying to find a cheap hacked together airline ticket I ran across this guys site www.manvsdebt.com
Got me thinking. I have a mountain of stuff to get rid of and i probably don't need half of what I have in cabinets. I have some debt to pay off. I'm not about to sell my house and get an RV but at this time of year when it's so easy so load up our Amazon carts and click away. I think this is worth a deeper look.

[crayonblue]

That's totally awesome!!!! No, I wouldn't be enthused to live in an RV with kids but how cool that they are doing what they want.

DH always said that once we were out of debt, we could do whatever we wanted. So, that's what we did. Paid off the student loads, paid off the cars, sold the house, sold all the crap and eventually moved cross-country all by ourselves to California! Except for what fit in two small moving pods, we started all over. We have zero interest in buying a home again because there is just something absolutely freeing about being able to do whatever you want.

[infomama]

Found this..good stuff
http://manvsdebt.com/24-quick-action-you-can-do-today/

[mezzona]

we didn't go as far as he did, but we did get rid of a lot of things when we up and moved. we have done the clean slate part so many times. we still get rid of things every month. we have a lot of work to do still, but we are trying. we got rid of our debt. we originally got started on this path when we started reading the zenhabits blog. anyway, it is so much work, is really a lifestyle change, and both of us had to be on the same page.

[zoestargrove]

I'm really glad you posted this. Thank you for bringing back some perspective on what I've been working towards this past year.

[♥ms.pacman♥]

wow, that's pretty amazing. i was impressed with that (extremely short!!) list of things his family owned.

this actually makes me think of my parents, who left their home country to move to the US (i was 3 years old). they literally sold EVERYTHING they had except for 2 suitcases (mostly clothes, a few keepsakes like photo albums). they shipped nothing. My mom was 33, the same age as I am now. I cannot even begin to imagine the idea of selling everything that DH & I own except for the absolute bare essentials that would fit in a couple suitcases, and starting completely over. Definitely a life change for sure. Nowadays its' something almost unheard of and revolutionary but I'm sure fifty, a hundred years ago tons of people did this sort of thing all the time.

anyway, thanks you for posting. that guy and his family are inspiring. i often think maybe that's why life is so much more stressful these days (vs. decades ago)...and i honestly think it's because we have so much more space, and so much STUFF and it takes FOREVER to manage it (organizing it, cleaning it, etc). i do often think about how it would be nice, after the kiddos go off to college and we retire, selling most of our stuff, moving back to a tiny apt in CA and just spending the whole time relaxing on the beach or traveling the world and living an easier, simpler, enjoyable life!

[lhafer]

I would totally be up for something like this, but alas, DH would not be!! He's too much in his comfort zone. I bring up just dropping everything and moving somewhere...anywhere...and I get chirping crickets as a response.

We have debt that we've accumulated lately and need to pay off. I want to go the old school way of paying cash for everything, and DH wants to use the CC to pay for everything to get the points. To him he sees it as the same thing. I don't. I find it very frustrating.

What exaclty to they do to generate money?

[niccig]

I want to go the old school way of paying cash for everything, and DH wants to use the CC to pay for everything to get the points. To him he sees it as the same thing. I don't. I find it very frustrating.


We have the same issue in our house. Over the years, I've managed to wear DH down. We pay off CC in full, plan ahead for big bills like property tax and car insurance, and we have an emergency fund. I had to fight for each of those, but after it was in place, I have heard DH comment positively about the changes to friends/family.

I still wish we were more on the same page, but it takes time for us to get there.

[infomama]

What exaclty to they do to generate money?

If you click on "our finances" he lays everything out.

[Simon]

We have done smiilar things like sell off or donate 90% of our possessions, though not since having kids. I think it would be harder now because even if the kids don't *need* a ton of toys, I want them to have lots of options to play with and experience different things.