Modern day slaves are not in chains, they are in debts!
Get good grades
Go to college
Get a job
Work your ass off for that promotion
New house, new BMW, debt
Get another promotion
Better house, better car
Get old
Look in the mirror and wonder what happened
Die
-Rat Race
I read this statement a few days back and it put the rat race and the debt problem in perspective. I also realised why I agree with it so much…
Flashback
Stories always inspire us. So let me tell you my story which dates back almost 15 years ago. After spending much of the first 5 years of my professional life in pursuing for a bigger home, fancier car, bigger this, fancier that, ‘rat race’ got the better of me and was suffocating, till broke free of it. Life could not have been happier and more satisfying since then.
I remember that time, the debt instalment crippled me, made me fearful to speak my mind out, and truly contribute by being me. I felt trapped most of the time and did not realise it was my own doing and then one day, just as we took the possession of the ‘new-big home’, my family said they do not want to move as they did not want to change from their present location. I was really annoyed that here I was slaving through everything so that we could have a bigger home, not that our present one is small ☺, and no one else seems to want it. That evening the penny dropped. The new big home was not something we needed; it was just my ‘want’, all because I was stuck in the rat race. Within days of this realisation, I sold the BIG home and paid up the debt and I live debt free to date.
Sharing a few tips for my journal of life to help you live a debt free, stress free life.
- The right money mindset
A big part of financial freedom is having your heart and mind free from worry. And to do that, you can’t just wish you didn’t have debt. It’s important to take action and do what it takes to make your financial independence a reality. The way to break out of the cartel of debt forever is to know your income, make a budget and stick to it. A little self-control and the right mindset can go a long way. Part of the secret to staying within your budget is believing you can stay within your budget. Have the right money mindset.
- Learn to live in financial peace
Life is not about acquisition of stuff. One of the basic to building wealth is living on less than you earn. Just because you can afford to buy something doesn’t mean you should. If you have trouble living on less than you make, practice separating your needs from your wants and greed. Before you make a big purchase, ask yourself, “Do I need this, or do I just want it?” This will give you time to pause and really think about how you’re handling your money. Let your wants inspire you to be a better version of you, inspire you to work hard and not push you towards a pile of debts. Always think before you spend.
- Don’t have to be a miser, just be wiser with your money.
You can save money and enjoy life at the same time. Achieving financial freedom doesn’t mean you have to deny yourself to the point where you’re miserable. You can have an excellent quality of life while squirreling away cash for a rainy day. You can have a good quality of life if you know when and where not to spend and balance your spending, giving and saving. Important note: never forget to balance and give back..
Today, I travel, live well, give back, spread cheer wherever I go and most importantly am ‘happy’…. That’s because I moved out of the rat race, I am debt free and consciously choose to be so. I plan my life- budget of spending and saving and stick to it. But most importantly, I am mindful to not let greed or wants which are a camouflage of rat race do not influence our decisions anymore and we are truly happy and free to be.
“The trouble with rat race is that even if you win, you are still a rat’. And actually, my own thinking says, it is a whirlpool that you get stuck in you actually never win …… it is further corroborated by Wikipedia, which define ‘rate race’ as “an endless, self-defeating, or pointless pursuit. It conjures up the image of the futile efforts of a lab rat trying to escape while running around a maze or in a wheel.”
The only WIN in a rate race is to get out of it!
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