We live in a debt-ridden society, and a majority are caught in the debt trap. If you want to achieve freedom from debt, you must be willing to carefully examine your general attitude towards debt.
What are your thoughts about spending money you don’t have? What are you borrowing for? How much are you paying in interest? At your current rate of paying down debt, how long will it take for you to become debt-free? Are you trying to fit your lifestyle with that of others?
The inspirational quotes below are all about debt.
Note that there’s a difference between taking on debt for business (i.e. using other people’s money to make even more money) and piling on debt from your day-to-day living expenses. The latter is the problem.
Are there any similar wise sayings and lessons about debt that have motivated you to change your lifestyle, live frugally, and pay off debt as fast as you can? Leave them in the comments!
How To Get Out of Debt Fast
1. There are but two ways of paying debt: Increase of industry in raising income, increase of thrift in laying out. — Thomas Carlyle
Getting out of debt is no easy task. When you are so deep in high-interest payments that you barely touch the principal, debt freedom sounds like a pipe dream. A starting point to improving your finances is to earn more than you spend…or in other words, let your expenses be less than your income.
2. There are no shortcuts when it comes to getting out of debt. — Dave Ramsey
One equation you should understand is: Assets – Liabilities = Equity. Equity is what you have left after all your debts are accounted for. For a day-to-day example, equity is what’s left after you deduct your total mortgage payments from your initial mortgage loan.
3. A creditor is worse than a slave-owner; for the master owns only your person, but a creditor owns your dignity, and can command it. — Victor Hugo
When they say that “debt is crippling,” you can take that both literally and figuratively. Credit card debt is one of the worst debt burdens anyone can take on.
4. If you have debt, I’m willing to bet that general clutter is a problem for you too. — Suze Orman
Everyone’s situation is unique and there are different reasons why people end up drowning in debt. However, many fall into the debt trap because they can’t stop buying things they don’t need.
5. The second vice is lying. The first is running in debt. — Benjamin Franklin
Debt is not a good thing – period!
6. Where debt is dumb, cash is king, and the paid-off home mortgage has taken the place of the BMW as the status symbol of choice. — Dave Ramsey
YOLO may mean you need a BMW to impress your friends, neighbours, and family, even when you cannot afford it. However, the financially-smart man and woman know that there’s not much utility to be had for trying to impress the “Joneses.”
7. Annual income, twenty pounds; annual expenditure, nineteen pounds; result, happiness. Annual income, twenty pounds; annual expenditure, twenty-one pounds; result, misery. — Charles Dickens
When you spend more than you earn, you give birth to a baby called, Debt. Debt grows like no other and will only bring you misery.
8. His brow is wet with honest sweat,
He earns whate’er he can,
And looks the whole world in the face,
For he owes not any man. — Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (The Village Blacksmith)
Getting into debt is not always a by-product of one’s employment or status in society. Rich people becoming dirt poor and filing for bankruptcy is something that happens every day. Sometimes, self-pride and a love of freedom are all that’s needed.
9. A mortgage casts a shadow on the sunniest field. — Robert Green Ingersoll
A mortgage is not a bad thing as long as you are not buying more house than you can afford. A home can be a great investment when done right. That being said, paying off a mortgage definitely makes sunshine appear brighter.
10. Blessed are the young, for they shall inherit the national debt. — Herbert Hoover
When national debts rise through the roof, politicians look the other way probably because they do not plan to be around when payback time comes knocking. The fact is that someone – our children and children’s children, will have to pay up.
11. Interest works night and day; in fair weather and in foul. It gnaws at a man’s substance with invisible teeth. — Henry Ward Beecher
High-interest debt (credit cards) can be difficult to get out of. This is because if all you pay is the minimum payment, your principal will never get paid down. As per Albert Einstein, “Compound interest is the eighth wonder of the world. He who understands it, earns it … he who doesn’t … pays it.”
12. Debt is like any other trap, easy enough to get into, but hard enough to get out of. — Henry Wheeler Shaw
Who doesn’t like free money? The fact is that it is easier to spend money than it is to earn it.
13. A Debt Problem Is, At Its Core, a Budgeting Problem. — Natalie Pace
Start by creating a budget and then stick to your budget. The first step of living a debt-free life is to know what you can and cannot spend.
14. Nowadays people can be divided into three classes – the haves the have-nots and the have-not-paid-for-what-they-haves. — Earl Wilson
Live within your means. While borrowing is almost inevitable for the average Joe, have a plan to pay back your debt quickly. Avoid credit card debt by all reasonable means possible.
15. If you think nobody cares if you’re alive, try missing a couple of car payments. — Earl Wilson
Expecting your debt to take care of itself is not a valid plan for living debt-free. Your creditor is going to get paid. If you do not pay your debts, your credit record (and ability to borrow, buy a home, find a job…) will become damaged, making your life even more miserable.
16. What can be added to the happiness of a man who is in health, out of debt, and has a clear conscience? — Adam Smith
Becoming debt-free feels good and opens up other doors of opportunities.
17. The man who never has money enough to pay his debts, has too much of something else. — James Lendall Basford
When you stop buying what you don’t need in order to impress people who don’t give a hoot about you, your net worth will increase.
18. Oh, for the good old days when people would stop Christmas shopping when they ran out of money. –Author Unknown
Again, live within your means. If living to impress others is keeping you in debt, rethink your lifestyle.
19. I say to you never involve yourself in debt, and become no man’s surety. — Andrew Jackson
Be extra careful when you guarantee another man’s debt. So many friendships and relationships have fallen apart over the inability to pay a debt. Most people at some point will need the help of another, however, take time to consider the price you may have to pay down the line.
20. One of the greatest disservices you can do a man is to lend him money that he can’t pay back. — Jesse Jones
This is the other angle to the previous quote. Sometimes, you should only give people money that you are willing to forego.
21. Never spend your money before you have it. — Thomas Jefferson
Buying on credit is easy and is encouraged in today’s world. When credit was not so easy, people generally lived within their means.
22. Many delight more in giving of presents than in paying their debts. — Sir Philip Sidney
This again goes without saying. Don’t live your life for the sole purpose of fitting in with the crowd.
23. Interest on debts grow without rain. — Yiddish Proverb
Again, compound interest can make or doom anyone. If you are paying it on debt, you will suffer. If you are earning it, you will become wealthy.
24. Beware of Little Expenses – A Small Leak will Sink a Great Ship. — Benjamin Franklin
Track your spending to know where your money is going. You may be surprised at how much money you are wasting on frivolities, and how much you can save by cutting back.
25. Slight was the thing I bought,
Small was the debt I thought,
Poor was the loan at best – God! but the interest! — Paul Laurence Dunbar (The Debt)
Always pay off high-interest debt first. Do it before you consider anything else, including investing.
When you owe on a credit card or payday loan, the only time in your favour was yesterday…because, as of today you already owe more!
