New here? You may want upgrades via email or RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
One or two times a year, my wife and I devote a Saturday combing the neighborhood thrift shops looking for deals. Kris is mainly following clothing. I target novels — especially personal-finance books. On one recent trip, I picked up a two-dollar replica of , a 1988 publication from Jerrrold Mundis.
How to escape Debt is constructed on the principles of Debtors Anonymous, a twelve-step software based in 1971 to help those who fight compulsive debt. Mundis was a debtor, and he based this book on his expertise. This is not only theoretical information from the mind of some Wall Street fund whiz who hasn’t struggled; this publication comprises real methods and real stories from real people.
The debt spiral
The very first section of How to Escape Debt is illustrative. It catalogs the various kinds of debts and the various kinds of debtors. Mundis contrasts between Licensed debtors (those who debt early and frequently), difficulty debtors (those who debt repeatedly, but not compulsively), also “reasonable” debtors (those who debt just occasionally and with a plan).
Mundis notes lots of Licensed debtors and issue debtors frequently make excuses for their decisions. They handle debt as if it were inevitable. However, he makes it clear: yours is not a special case. He writes:
You got into consideration largely as a consequence of…twisted perceptions and attitudes, which resulted in harmful behavior patterns. […] Simple recognition — watching them for what they truly are — is a huge portion of freeing yourself. They have no more real substance compared to shadows on a dark night; if you shine the light of conscious awareness on them, you begin to neutralize them. The remaining part of the job is to substitute them with realistic and healthy visions.
This may seem like odd stuff to see in a personal-finance novel, but I believe that is one reason How to escape Debt is so powerful. It does not focus on facts and figures; it targets behavior. I believe that money is all about mind than it is about mathematics, and Mundis appears to concur.
Escaping the debt spiral
The next part of the novel describes how to stop the debt spiral, the way to stabilize your life. In accordance with Mundis, the secret is: Do not accept any debt. Not for practically any reason. It is possible to not get out of debt by borrowing more money, Mundis says, so just for now — just this one day — do not incur any new debt. ”
Again Mundis notes individuals who struggle with debt frequently make excuses. “However, I have to carry on more debt because…” He urges visitors to lose this sort of thinking. He recommends repeating the following mantra every morning:
Countless others have already freed themselves out of debt. I’m just the same as them. I will do it too. I am doing this. I’m doing it today.
I understand that some of you probably consider affirmations lame. But there is real power to this. Mundis pulls the study to cognitive-behavioral therapy to help individuals build positive emotional patterns.
However, this book is not about mind games. It is filled with plenty of functional points, too. Though Mundis pre-dates Dave Ramsey by 15 years, he offers similar suggestions for tackling debt. His plan includes the following actions:
- Cease debting. From that day forward, do not take any new debt for virtually any reason.
- Track spending. Mundis advocates tracking every penny spent and then using this information to draft a monthly spending plan.
- Destroy charge cards. “A charge card is really a hand grenade,” Mundis writes. “It’s instant debt” Like me, he believes that individuals who fight debt should not carry charge cards. Yes, they can be used responsibly, but if you’re not one of those who will exercise self-control, you’re better off with them.
- Remove your debts. Working with a debt snowball-like strategy, the author encourages visitors to slowly tackle their debt, even when they’re only able to repay a little every month.
- Build a contingency fund. As your debt decreases and you also build “margin”, then establish a contingency fund. This is just like Dave Ramsey’s crisis fund, and can be there to protect you from potential issues.
The very first portion of the book describes the next part offers practical hints. The third element is conceptual. It’s here that Mundis discusses how debting behavior more fully. The author’s message is simple and effective: You can’t create results without doing it. It is activity that delivers results, not needing. However, not every activity will deliver the results you would like. It is important to remember that each activity is a victory, regardless of the outcome.
Freedom, prosperity, and prosperity
The final part of the book provides actual methods for defeating debt. There’s a great deal of meat here. And during it all, Mundis highlights the importance of equilibrium.
“Debt repayment is not created at the expense of the level of your life,” he writes. “You are devoted to repaying each creditor in full, but you also come; that they come next.” This is not a license to spend like mad. It is just permission to treat yourself as an individual being.
Mundis suggests that you start small, particularly if you’re struggling. Give each creditor some of the total you are able to pay. If you’re able to just pay $50 a month, then split that $50 among the people you own in proportion to how much you really spend them. He also warns readers not to be discouraged. Though debt repayment can seem daunting at the start, it will not take forever.
It just seems that way. Payments nearly always start small. They increase as time passes. The process builds on itself ; in the conclusion, repayment is often rapid and dramatic.
This was certainly true in my life. I set out to get out of debt in five years, but that I had been completed in just over three. Many GRS readers report similar results. The absolute most crucial thing is to get started.
Decision
attempts to go beyond tap advice to get to the heart of why we spend and the reason why we gather debt. Mundis wants to get behind the mathematics, to force you to analyze your attitudes, beliefs, and ideas. I believe his approach is spot-on. I wish I would read this book years ago.
If you have tried Dave Ramsey without success, then read this. Even when you’re still on Ramsey’s “baby steps”, then How to escape Debt is worth studying. It is 20 years old, but the info is classic, and most public libraries ought to have a copy. (Or perhaps you may locate it for two dollars at a nearby thrift shop!)
For one more look at this publication, check out the review It Is Your Money! Update: The author stopped by to make a comment!