rat

my thoughts on non-essential debt (i.e., anything other than a house mortgage or car note*) run tandem with my thoughts on eating in restaurants.

if you can't afford to tip your waiter generously with the money** on hand when you walk in the door to the restaurant, regardless of what you order, you have no business eating there.

subsequently, if i can't afford to pay 20% interest on whatever I buy, with money I have immediately available to me, I have no business using my credit card. If I can afford to pay that 20% interest right away, then by all means I'll have the cash on me at the time of purchase.


*I consider a car note essential debt for two reasons: most of us don't have 10k in available assets (I'm 20) to just slap down cash for the automobile; it takes automobile transportation to commute to work in a reasonable amount of time for most of us.

**by money on hand, I mean cash (physical bills) or a debit card with no interest tied directly to a savings/checking account.

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