The American Dream

A buddy I work out with always says something to the effect of “That’s right, I’m just living the dream”… I always laugh because this guy is one of those funny types - always a comedian. Good guy really…

But in all honesty, he’s young. He’s recently married, just put an offer on a house and just rolled up in his wife’s brand new Toyota Urban Highlander for about $30k. Now, I’m not claiming to know how much the kid makes or what his wife makes but in decisions they’ve made over the past 2 months, they are now roughly $250k in debt. And as of late, I would have to agree that they are living the “American Dream”.

My wife and I are fighting tooth and nail to get out of debt completely and not have all the black heavy clouds floating over us every paycheck as we write away all of our hard earned income… It is my dream to be debt free as fast as possible - my uncle always says that you’ll never be rich while paying interest on anything. I couldn’t agree more.

So it seems that the current American dream has turned away from being free and just living carefree, and is now get the biggest, most expensive anything, keep up with the Jones’ and lower your retirement savings contributions to almost nothing so that you can work longer, harder, and have the least amount of enjoyment possible while you claw through the last 30 years of debt you’ve accumulated.

Thanks, but no thanks! I don’t want any part of that dream - I love America and I am very much a patriot, but I can’t see where getting that much into debt is a positive thing. I am living the dream, but I guess not the American version - I’m living the Tipton Dream as it were.

I’m not meaning to dogg my buddy or what they’ve done, it just seems overwhelming that we accept going into $250k worth of debt in less than 2 months as the norm. I know they need a house, and there’s some things that you are just going to have to go into debt over, but it just doesn’t seem right. I am not suggesting that I have all the answers, but I know I want out of debt as fast as possible, and I know that it takes YEARS to get out of debt you got into with a 10 second signature. so as for me and mine, I’m selling my house and I’m not purchasing anything near a new vehicle until I can pay cash for it. That said, I’m blessed to be in a position to make enough money on the sale of my house to get out of debt - and get another house - but the fact is that the American Dream is a dream full of debt and dark clouds looming over those who take the bait.

I don’t know how to fix the problem of that Dream, except to say I’m not dreaming that one - I love my freedom, and that includes freedom from all kinda debt. If you are interested, I have several sites linked on the right that will give more ideas about money and how to manage it - And you might also look at the Dave Ramsey plan. I’m trying to learn how to manage my money, and I’m hoping all of you will too… We are going to have to strong arm this new version of the American Dream …

Be Blessed.