Our 4-Hour Workweek

J.D. Roth at Get Rich Slowly was asked the question by one of his readers, “What motivated you to take control of your finances?”

Here’s J.D.’s response:

I started to answer but, as conversations will, our discussion lost its focus. I never gave a complete response. I thought about the question for the rest of the day, though, and concluded that for me, money represents freedom. In his book "Debt is Slavery", Michael Mihalik writes:

"Too many people hate their jobs but are afraid to leave, because they wouldn’t be able to pay their mortgage, credit card bills, car loans, or boat loans. Debt can turn a free, happy person into a bitter human being. Debt can turn you into a slave."

For fifteen years, I felt like a slave. Debt was the dominating force in my life. My choices were limited by the fact that I owed tens of thousands of dollars. For a long time, this burden only weakened me — I took on more debt in a futile attempt to ease the pain with more stuff.

Eventually I realized that what I wanted was freedom — freedom to work and live where I wanted, freedom to travel, freedom to retire early — and that the only way I could achieve this freedom was by eliminating debt. My non-mortgage debt is gone now, but this desire for freedom remains my primary motivation. It’s why I’m willing to live frugally. It’s why I want a huge emergency fund. It’s why I want to pay off the mortgage.

Click here for J.D.'s complete post.

Pierre Cutler
Our 4-Hour Workweek