Debt Killed My Freedom To Create
Give me $1.00 to spend on business inventory and I'll spend $1.10 and justify it every time.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Research shows if a consumer carries $2,000 in debt on a $3,000 cc limit, they will carry $4,000 in debt on a $5,000 cc limit. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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I think I became numb to the idea of owing money. I began to justify the spending. I would tell Jill, it's business debt, it's different. Jill never bought into my theory. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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I was always justifying the debt, making the minimum payments but never seeing the balance go down. I can remember telling myself, this is the weekend we pay off a card, this is the month we get ahead, this is the year we pay it all off. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Owing money to high-interest credit cards changed me. It caused me to leverage my mental health. It left me unable to rest, read, write and explore. Owing caused me to push the business rather than allow the business to unfold. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Sometimes I look out my window and imagine all the people walking up and down Olympic with little word bubbles floating above their heads. In that bubble is the amount of debt they owe or don't owe. Can you imagine? Would we be surprised? Would we be embarrassed?⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Do we know as a nation what it is like to be free from owing, free from debt?⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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I often think about what it was like to be under that kind of pressure for years and the relief I felt when it was behind me. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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I distinctly remember feeling lighter as I organized my work output for the week. I felt inspired to sew personal projects just for fun and I savored the time I had to read and write and relax. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Greenpath is a free debt consulting organization funded 100% by private donors. They were established in the 1960s and have lovely people who help Americans get out of debt. www.greenpath.com