Don't daydream your way into debt
It's easy to get carried away with visions of the life you wish you had, Hamm writes, but don't let daydreaming get in the way of financial reality.
The 54-foot mosaic pool lined with 24-karat gold, of the South Beach mansion formerly owned by fashion designer Gianni Versace in Miami Beach, Fla.
Gaston De Cardenas/Reuters/File
I am really looking forward to the day where we move into the country. I dream about it, in fact.
I don’t really loathe where we currently live, but recent construction has taken away the nice view that I used to have out of my office window.
I like to think about wandering in the woods every day, enjoying a great view whenever I want it, collecting mushrooms in the spring…
It’s a vision that I daydream about.
Right now, we have enough cash on hand to buy the piece of land we want. We could break ground pretty quickly thereafter if we were willing to incur some debt.
Here’s the problem: we never, ever want to be in debt again. Period. Debt is not something we want to have in our lives.
So, we wait.
It would be so simple to give into that daydream. We could be moving into the house we want by the middle of next summer. I could have that view really, really soon.
To have that view, though, means going down a financial avenue that I don’t want to go down again.
I want tomorrow’s life today, but the sensible part of me knows I don’t need it. In fact, to have that vision in my head, I’d have to introduce things back into my life that I simply don’t want there.
I imagine hearing the birds in the trees and the wind through the leaves, but I don’t think about getting the debt bills in the mail.
I imagine the wide open spaces outside my front door and the great view out of my office window, but I don’t think about being tied to work because we don’t have plenty of money in the bank.
As beautiful as that daydream is, it’s not a picture of the full reality of how things would be.
I’d far rather wait around until the time comes when we can do it right. I’d like to own that house I dream of, but I’d like to own it without the stress that comes with going into debt for it.
For that, I’ll wait.
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