Debt is bad... take it from me. No really... take my debt, please!
I have heard the adage that money is the root of all evil. (It's actually "The love of..." but who's splitting hairs?)
I also know that money (or lack thereof) is the largest single contributor to marital disharmony and leads to more breakups than any other issue in marriage.
From the Deseret News:
A top leader of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints encouraged this year's graduates of Brigham Young University to avoid going into debt.
Elder Robert D. Hales, a member of the church's Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, told the crowd in the Marriott Center for Thursday's commencement rites they should perform "plastic surgery" on their credit cards.
Unless you can pay off the balance every month, he told graduates, the plastic cards should be cut up and discarded.
"If you had to go into debt to obtain your education, I encourage you to repay your debts as soon as possible," he said. "Then go forward with commitment not to finance on credit any item of any kind, except perhaps a house and vehicle that are well within your means."
Debt also inhibits a person's ability to give "both temporal and spiritual service," the theme of Elder Hales' commencement address.
Truer words never spoken. So with that in mind, I hereby shun debt. Debt, I REBUKE THEE! Get thee behind me, credit cards!
Too bad it's easier said than done.
Without having to pay the minimum monthly payments on my own credit cards, I would have a lot of extra money every month. I would be able to fund my children's education. Instead I am funding a trip to Burger King... and a vacation... and a new bike for each kid at Christmas.
So I say to debt, away with thee! Eventually... Eventually I will be able to dig myself out of the debt hole which I have dug for myself.