Why Getting Out of Debt May Not Be a Good Idea

Poof! Your debt is gone.

I think 90% of the folks buying lottery tickets today are thinking that very thought.

Instant gratification. Total rescue.

But if you were suddenly pulled out of debt by some extraordinary force, how do you know you won't just fall back in? The truth is you not only don't know it, not for sure.

If your debt was caused by a disaster, calamity (including medical problem), you may not get in trouble again. Likewise, if you are choking on student loans but are now working and living a different way, you might not succumb to debt again.

But if your debt was the result of a lot of bad and trivial decisions--too many meals out, too quick to grab for plastic, too many toys--you won't get out of debt even if your debt could be erased today.

If your lifestyle created this debt, then know this: your lifestyle creates debt. You are living in such a way that you make debt. If your debt disappeared, you'd just make more.

Unless you have single-event debt (that is, debt caused by a specific and extraordinary set of circumstances which are not currently repeating themselves), you shouldn't worry so much right this minute as to how to get out of debt as much as how did I get into debt in the first place?

The cool thing is there is a quick way out. Know why? The way you get out is the way you stay out and the way you get out is by not doing what you're doing. So figure out why you're making debt, stop it, and you'll not only get out of debt, you'll be able to stay out of debt.