Miller and I have not made the best decisions when it came to finances. We have three cars and too many credit cards to count. It was fun and dandy when we bought those 3 cars and drove them off the lot...until the first car payment arrived. Oh and don't forget...the insurance bill as well. All our cars have a 5 year fix rate loan on them. 5 years doesn't seem like a long time when that car salesman is selling you the car...but if you think about it, 5 years is 60 months! 60!! We are finally close to paying off our first car, but the other two cars, we still have an eternity to go. By the time we pay off these other cars and own it right out, the cars will be old and dingy.
At least our car payments have a "series finale" date..so to speak. Credit card debt is literally NEVER ENDING. How and why people thought it was an awesome idea to spend someone else's money just so you can pay them back twice as much...is now beyond what I can fathom. Currently, Miller and I can only afford barely the minimum payment on each card. The finance charges alone on these cards make up the majority, if not the entire, minimum payment. So...I keep making payments on the cards, but the debt never seem to decrease. Funny world we live in. It's like we're tripping on acid and we like torture ourselves in this downward spiral of credit card debt. The damn bunny with the dam clock. Why do you have to look so interesting?
I love seeing the various "credit card consolidation solution" commercials. They all show people pulling their hairs out while scrambling through their bills. Then they pose a few questions to the viewers: 1) Are you drowning in credit card debt? 2) Do you owe more than $10,000 in credit card debt? 3) Do you feel like there is no way out? I drive Miller crazy because I will scream "YES, YES, and YES" every time I see or hear those commercials. If only life was so easy and some "magical" company can "flick their magic wand" and make my debt go bye-bye.
Then there are the almighty utility bills that you have no choice to not pay - electric, gas, water, trash. Thankfully, my landlord pays my water and trash bill. The electric and gas bill, not so much. Sometimes I wish we're back in the cavemen days and we didn't need electricity or gas. You can't even decide to "cut out" these bills because they're called UTILITIES for a reason. We need them to live in today's day and age. Can we really live without running cold and hot water? Can we really live with just candle light and a campfire to cook our food? Technically, yes. But, realistically, no.
Last but not least, bills that some would consider "luxuries". I'm typing this blog in the comfort of my own home. That means, I have the internet and I have a bill to go with that! Then there is the cell phone bill. We do not have a landline like many 21st Century people, so we kinda have to have a cell phone to keep in contact with the world. We don't have text messaging of any form on our phones, we can't even receive text in order to avoid people texting us and costing us money. We also still have cable. Why you ask? Simple. We're humans. We lack the ability to be "bored". I know this does not justify having the luxury of having cable...but I we might go insane if we don't have some form of entertainment.
There you have it. End of the month. Oh the joy!
-Emma
