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How to Protect Your Dreams from Dying in the Dump!

by MJ DeMarco · 16 comments

The other day I went to the county dump to drop off some yard trash.   As I rolled through, I couldn’t but help look at the mountain of discards.

Here is a picture.

Take a deep, long look.

I see lawn furniture.  Stoves.  A wagon.  Old refrigerators.  A wine cooler.  Old bikes.  An outdoor fireplace.

Just think, every piece of JUNK on this garbage heap was once NEW.  Someone paid money for each and everything here, and now it lies in a garbage pile.

I wonder … how many people are still PAYING for the stuff that sits here?

How many people couldn’t wait to buy “whatever” and now, fast forward, its final burial place is at the county dump?

When I look at the dump, not only do I see garbage, but I also see dead dreams.  Do you know what KILLS dreams?

Debt.

I wonder, did the DEBT to purchase this crap DIE with the product as well?   Probably not.

Debt steals freedom and limits your choices.

Just ask any college graduate with 6-figures in student loan debts how *free* he feels.  Ask any homeowner who is behind on their mortgage and can’t find a job.  You see, debt takes away your opportunities and eats at your freedom.  Hit the FastlaneForum.com — post after post presents the same conundrum – “I’d like to start a business and take a risk, but I have bills to pay!”

That my friend, is debt.

So the next time you’re buying that great gadget on credit, ask yourself a few questions …

Is this purchase going to steal my freedom and limit my choices?  (Wow, you look great in that new BMW — too bad you’re enslaved to it!)  Will this purchase end up at the county dump in a year?  Will this hideous furniture end-up on Craigslist?  Will this ugly-ass Ed Hardy shirt be out-of-style in 2 weeks and end-up at Goodwill?  Is this purchase going to invigorate my dreams or erode them?

I’m all for living how you want to live, just don’t mortgage your long-term freedom for short-term pleasure.   Don’t let your dreams die in the dump.

~ MJ

Tagged as: debt, dreams



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  • http://www.thefastlaneforum.com/fastlane-articles/32779-how-protect-your-dreams-dying-dump.html#post168816 How to Protect Your Dreams from Dying in the Dump

    [...] Protect Your Dreams from Dying in the Dump A visit to the county dump turned introspective… How to Protect Your Dreams from Dying in the Dump! Reply With [...]

  • Jered

    No kidding, I have about 20k in student load debt and I’m not even finished with college!  I told my wife I am not borrowing any more money for school…I will only go if it’s paid for.  The loan debt holds us down so much, making payment after payment is exhausting.  Great post, MJ.

  • Ralphkaeppeli

    Thanks for an other great article, MJ!
    I couldn’t agree with you more: “DEBT kills dreams” when I read that, I am thinking about the “American Dream”. Could it be, that we live this dream the exact wrong way around: instead of producing value first and then enjoying the merits of that work, we consume first without thinking about how we can give more back, than we receive.
    The American government does the exact same thing and it has brought the “greatest country in the world” to the brink of bankruptcy.

  • http://www.themillionairefastlane.com MJ DeMarco

    Ralph, couldn’t have said it better myself and unfortunately, this disposition is trending up, not down — especially in the younger generation.

  • Mrmikebailey

    I’m amazed how many people I talk to my age who have credit card debt. I’m 21. And then i have other friends who cant go out to lunch without checking their bank accounts first, but they have all the latest gadgets. It really is trending to the younger generation.

  • http://twitter.com/read2learn_blog Read2Learn Lounge

    I learned this the hard way when I was 18. I finanaced a $25,000 car like an idiot. I was bored with that car after about 6 months, plus I wanted to quit my job because I hated it.

    The only reason I stayed at the job for another year was because of that stupid car. It reminds me of that movie Fight Club. Tyler Durden said something to the effect of “The things you own eventually own you.”

    I never financed a car again after that and never will.

  • http://www.themillionairefastlane.com MJ DeMarco

    Sounds quite like my story!  Cars are nice, just be able to afford them.  

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=16200528 Eric Olivencia

    HMMM… this really makes you think. I can now see all the same things I spent on my debt that now lies in my closet collecting dust. I was once in $20K worth of cc debt and car loans and it took me two years to be debt free!!! I love it, but I am still trying to stop my spending habbit. Im not in debt over the stuff I buy, but like that picture one day it will wind up ind the garbage heap

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Bill-Mohl/100001940732928 Bill Mohl

    Guess who congress/puppets  and their controllers/fortune500 firms are filled with: Harvard, Yale, Stanford and all the “prestigious” college graduates…if the “greatest” country in the world can be run down by “educated” people where are we all headed? While I respect college and have an MBA what I have learnt from street smarts and $20 leadership, money and management books from Amazon/Local library (e.g. The Millionaire Fastlane) is amazingly better than what my college professors taught…times are changing so fast college curricula cannot keep pace…

  • guest

    rofl - Will this ugly-ass Ed Hardy shirt be out-of-style in 2 weeks and end-up at Goodwill?  

  • http://www.themillionairefastlane.com MJ DeMarco

     Ha, I speak from experience brother!

  • http://www.themillionairefastlane.com MJ DeMarco

     Ha, I speak from experience brother!

  • http://customizedfatlossreviews.net Customized Fat Loss

    It really amazes me that there are some countries that still make use of the furniture and things Americans have thrown in their trash. I think it really goes to show that one man’s treasure is another one’s junk. 

  • http://probodybuildingdiets.com Jack’s Bodybuilding Diets

    good write up! it’s true, what’s the use of having all those good fortune when you obviously know that you are enslaved to it. What hurts the most is when you bought a thing with credit but it ended up broken even you pay the full amount  of it.

    - Jack Leak

  • Sandjunkie28

    No doubt! My wife and I are financially disciplined, but we went out and bought a travel trailer about a year and half ago. The payment is small and manageable, but I hate having that debt. We resolved to pay it off by February of 2012. It makes me happy that on a single income we can focus and payoff $18k in a few short months, but it kills me to think of what else we could achieve with that money if we didn’t have the debt! No more! Cash from here on out!

    On another note, the Government wants us enslaved to debt. What is the Government’s solution to the economic crisis? “Go forth, sheep, and spend money you don’t have to get the markets moving again!”

  • Phillip

    great words of wisdom Demarco.

    this shows us that we must give something to society first(produce value) before we take something away from society(consume material items).

    EQUITY is king. 

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