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Replace Your Credit Cards with a Debit/Check Card

 

Being in debt really means living beyond one's means.  It's the cause of many of life's struggles and of considerable unhappiness. It often creates a stress that ruins relationships, careers and one's health. Having to pay off a debt often results in regrettable decisions - those that try to increase one's means.  It consumes a lot of energy and diverts one's attention from one's life.  There is something about being in debt that casts a pall over one's life and there is something about having no debt that is freeing, calming and invigorating.

Here are some snippets from a talk that Warren Buffet, one of America's most successful investors and someone who rarely speaks in public, had with some University of Nebraska students:

  • "My advice for you is if you can't afford it, don't buy it"To begin their careers with modest savings, rather than debts. "Having anything to get ahead of the game instead of behind the game is enormously important."The best way to prepare for a financial future "is to get the full use out of your talents. They can't tax what's in your head."It's better to enter a low-paying profession they enjoy rather than a lucrative field they might not like.
  • "The information revolution argues for a terrific future for the world and especially for this country."

Whereas credit cards charge interest and sometimes have annual fees, debit or check cards have neither and deduct funds directly from one's account.  It's easy to always know where one stands financially.