Getting that Debt Monkey Off Of Your Back
The following post is part of a series thought of by the blogger at First Gen American.com, and the basic idea is to tie personal finance with primates.
Do you have a Debt Monkey on your back? I think it’s time to get it off, don’t you?
I had a debt monkey on my back, and although it was an expensive one, I also consider it a friendly, helpful one. I consider the monkey on my back friendly because it helped to kept me warm and away from the elements. It also put stability in my kid’s lives and make them happy. It’s name was “Home Mortgage“, and after 10 years it went away quietly and peacefully. In some ways I kind of miss it and the predictability of its existence. I’d say my monkey was equivalent to a Curious George type of monkey… Friendly and helpful, but also expensive in ways.
While my encounter with debt was pleasant, I have one friend (Mr Penny), that has a debt monkey the size of “King Kong”. The amount of debt wasn’t much different that mine (over $100,000), the problems is that his “King Kong” debt monkey isn’t friendly at all and doesn’t help improve my friend’s finances. His monkey’s name is “Credit Card” debt! Credit Card debt is often times a one hit spending wonder! It give you pleasure the moment you borrow the money to purchase something, but then after the initial purchase, you have diminishing returns. The only way to keep this monkey happy is then to buy some other new expensive toy. And the process continues until some owners of this type of monkey has caused 6 figure debt accumulation (not a good place to be)!
A better approach is to control your debt but live a balanced life! Don’t let your monkey become a monster that runs crazy in the city buying whatever may get in its way!
Well, I’ve monkied around enough with this post…
What kind of monkey do you have on your back, or grabbing for your wallet?
-MR
Love the article and analogy. I hard linked this one back to my master article. I’ll also link the others as they come in.
Your monkey definitely gave something back to you. Some debt monkeys just take and give nothing back in return.
https://firstgenamerican.com/2010/10/25/why-gorillas-dont-have-401k-plans/
You had a fun idea!
I can’t wait to read the articles by the other in the group 🙂
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Your monkey does sound very nice and friendly. I currently have the same monkey on my back, and he has not scurried away yet. I am so glad I do not carry around a King Kong, that would be horrific.
I also mentioned Curious George in my monkey post!
Great analogy!
In my case it could be because he’s gone that I have nostalgic feeling. He we was still on my back, I’m sure my feeling would be different 🙂
These day, the only monkey I like on my back is my little girl!
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Haha, I’d prefer no monkeys on my back tbh 😉
🙂 Yes, that’s the best choice!
But for most people (at least those that want to be homeowners) a mortgage is necessary. 🙁
Money Reasons,
I think you may be the first person I have heard say that you miss your mortgage monkey. I guess if he wasn’t so sweet though, you would feel differently 🙂
I think it was the simplicity of where to allocate any extra money.
While investing has a much greater return potential, it also requires a lot more thinking 😉
So I don’t miss the debt, just the easiness of the payment system. I even have to pay my own real estate taxes and home insurance (oh the horror)…
I can totally relate to how mindless it is to pay down mortgage debt. I won’t miss having the balance but I will miss how easy it is to allocate extra funds.
Thanks!
It was fun, to a degree. I had to write it late Sunday night though since I was on vacation during this past weekend.
I think it came out okay though…
I like the analogy. You may miss him, but I’m sure it feels great to have him gone!
I enjoyed writing my monkey post, and reading the others. You guys are so creative!
I agree, I enjoyed them all! Sandy had a great idea, and I’m sure she’ll have more 🙂
I’m a big buffett fan, so I like the tie-in to him that you had on your site!
I love the analogy you used for credit card debt – “It’s a one hit wonder” that’s so true. Credit card debt isn’t helpful in any sense of the word and the immediate gratification of a purchase quickly fades, but that expense lingers for months!
Yeah, without decent willpower and control, credit cards can be dangerous for financial health!
While I personally like credit cards, I don’t advocate them for everybody!
We still have the mortgage monkey on our back, but only 6 years or less to go…
Nice, it goes quickly… Of the types of problem monkeys, a mortgage is one of the less ones
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I agree credit card debt is the worst.It has such huge interests that one end up paying for ages to get rid of it.
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