other people's money

The rich rule over the poor,
and the borrower is slave to the lender.
~Proverbs 22:7

I was never good with my money when I was growing up. I have distinct memories from high school around tax time in the spring. I would look at the W-2 and take note of the gross income from that year and then I would ponder the number of dollars sitting in my bank account. Even at the measly $4.25/hr wages I was earning, the difference between those 2 numbers was shockingly large. "Where did it all go?" Sadly that question did not linger long in my brain. Maybe I would have clued into the fact that I could actually have money if only I didn't spend it like a meth-fiend.

Through college I started get the idea that debt = bad. True, this is a rather simplistic equation but I was a college student and I needed things to spelled out plainly. My lesson wasn't put into practice until a year or so AFTER college. Yep, right around the time that I moved out on my own. That, my friend, was a reality check. Yet, even then I still have so much further to go.

The borrower is slave to the lender. I have been a slave since I was in college (and I still am) but I refuse to let it continue. I absolutely hate borrowing money. Maybe it's my foolish pride getting in the way, or my thoroughly American individualism kicking in, but I hate asking for money. It's not mine and I like to think that I have more dignity than to grovel.

After this house thing is settled, I will do all I can to be free.