What is it that drives you?

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-14-2008
What is it that drives you?
7
Wed, 06-24-2009 - 2:26pm

I was thinking the other day. What is it that drives you to be so obsessive and persistent in this quest to pay down debt? What do you hope to achieve and what do you really want from your finances in the future?

I want.............

1. To ultimately feel secure. Right now if one or two things go wrong my whole plan is altered. I do not want to have to worry in the future. I want to be secure in my house, and business--repair it when I want to, maybe travel or just enjoy life. I am not sure if men like money for power but I am a woman and want I security. (I want to build my own security, but I still want it)

2. I kinda like the pay off of paying something off. It is a high like no other and I look forward to getting that boost from reaching a savings goal in the future.(pat on the back stuff!!)

3. I want my kids to work hard and learn to save for something and then buy it. I believe this lesson is becoming a lost art.

Just some big picture things to think about.


iVillage Member
Registered: 10-01-2008
Wed, 06-24-2009 - 2:51pm

Failure.

Norma


"Patience is the best remedy for every trouble"- Plautus


iVillage Member
Registered: 11-17-2007
Wed, 06-24-2009 - 3:00pm

My goal is simple and this is what drives me.
I do not want to leave this world and leave Raymond a ton of debt I can control. Simple as that.

There will be debt I can not control but as long as I can control the amount while I am able I want it gone. Personally, in my name I only owe around 2,000.00. I have money in the bank to cover that amount.

The rest is in Raymond's name. I have set it up like that.

So the houses are free and clear of all possible liens from Credit cards at this point.

I will be around 8,999.00 next month or a little lower then that. And that is manageable even for Raymond. 198.00 payment.

Mary Ann

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-25-2009
Wed, 06-24-2009 - 7:43pm

I hate owing people anything, be it money, favor, or even a cup of sugar! ;-) At the same time, I realized my education is a good investment, so I had not objection of getting a hefty student loan. The sooner I pay it off, the sooner I cease owing people (in the case, the bank) money, not to mention the savings on interest.

In the short term, say in five years, once the loan is pay off, I will have more disposable income for travel. I have also been saving like crazy for retirement; and will have the house paid off before that time. So yes, ultimately, security.

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-10-2003
Thu, 06-25-2009 - 8:38am

For me its two things:


1) As mentioned earlier, security. I grew up in a very financially unstable home. I never want to go through that again and I will work my butt off to get to that point.


2) It sickens me to see how much money I send every month to the stupid CC's. If they were gone I would have an extra $500 minimum each month (more when I get my raise!!!) That is a huge amount of money that could be used for so many things, including achieving goal number #1.


3) This may sound dumb, but the faster I pay off my CC, the faster I can put the SUV payment on it, lol. My CC is at 5.9% and they often send me offers for 0.9% for a year. My SUV payment is at 8.9%. Once the CC is cleared of all other charges, the SUV payment is going on there and I can stick it to the man so to speak! Even if I do nothing else but continue making the same payment I am now at 0.9% interest vs 9% I will pay it off several months earlier


Bex -


"Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is a gift -thats why its called the present."


Bex -

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2005
Thu, 06-25-2009 - 9:05am

I was thinking the other day. What is it that drives you to be so obsessive and persistent in this quest to pay down debt? What do you hope to achieve and what do you really want from your finances in the future?


Well right now what is driving me is to get my son's education paid for without him needing to take out student loans.

Avatar for sohappilyme
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Thu, 06-25-2009 - 9:13am

The first thing that brought me to the point of wanted to be debt free was my hubby. He's worked his butt off for almost 12 years now to support me and our kids, and even today we have to have side work to make ends meet. I just really want him to not have to hear me tell him how much we need to pay a bill. I want to pay them like "normal" people without trying to figure out what we can do to cover it, although I'm thrilled that we have the resources to cover it! To take that worry and pressure off of him, however, would be worth every single penny we pinch and then some. He's a truly amazing man and I'm looking forward to the day when he really can put his feet up and rest without even thinking about where the next side job is coming from.

Otherwise, it's my our house. The 7 of us live in 1500 sf - 3 bed and 1 bath - so the idea of spreading out is, um, appealing. We're building it ourselves (only thing we aren't doing is the foundation) so there's plenty of hard work and sweat equity involved.

Long term, however, I want to pay off the mortgage, fund a hefty retirement, and get together enough to help the kids out for whichever path they decide to take. I don't want or need anything crazy. Just us, as we are, with fewer worries. =c)

Sarah


sahm, wahm, homeschooling mom to

Sarah
iVillage Member
Registered: 07-05-2006
Thu, 06-25-2009 - 9:52am
What drives me to get my money under control is the desire for less stress in my life. All my money problems cause so much stress for me. The bills rolling in that I know I can't afford to pay. The items that I truly need, but can't get. The people calling me because of late payments. It's just too much and I want freedom! I envision a life where all my bills are paid on time. Where I don't owe anybody anything, where I can buy my kids clothes if they need them or go on a family vacation that was planned and already payed for. I envision a large savings, some padding where if my heater breaks or my car needs new tires, then all my plans aren't blown to pieces. I want to stop worrying about money because it's always on my mind. Every decision I make is based on money and I'm sick of it.