Down with the Naysayers!

I have never been afraid of a little hard work. Even when I wake a young tyke, I would push around my bubble mower for hours just workin' up a sweat (that's little me in the picture!). There was a period of time when I was a little lazy (circa middle school/high school), but when I got into college, my attitude on life totally changed, and I got busy.

Since I've been out of college, my work ethic has gotten even stronger. I'm constantly looking for ways at work to earn a few extra dollars, and even though I teach full time, I've been looking for a part time job on the weekends. Why? Because I have an evil "friend" named Sallie Mae. I want this heifer out of my life.

There are people out there in the world who are lazy. They say they "can't" pay off their debt. It's not that they can't; it's that they won't. If you roll up your sleeves and work hard, you can do anything. And maybe my philosophy sounds a little like pulling oneself up by his/her own bootstraps (o.m.g. imagine that!), but if you don't decide to take control of your financial life, who the heck will?

Now, I know times are hard, but when are times ever *not* going to be hard? Oh, that's right, WHEN YOUR FINANCIAL LIFE IS ON AUTO PILOT. You have two choices: kill your debt by karate chopping it each chance you get, or let it hang around, dragging you down for decades.

The latter just sounds depressing. I'm committed to working my buns off to kill Sallie Mae, and then I'm going to sit back and reap the benefits of being debt free. Can you imagine your life without minimum payments? I can. If I decide down the road that I don't like my job, I can quit. I can work minimum wage and stay comfortably afloat. I could follow my dream of writing. See, being debt free gives you choices.

So I say DOWN WITH THE NAYSAYERS! You can do this!