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I have been thinking about a few of my friends who have credit card debt and a couple of things spring into mind. Firstly, they seem to be living a very decent middle class American Lifestyle. By that I mean a nice house (most around $250,000 to $500,000). I additionally observed the following :

1. Many are in the process of some major decorations on their home - whether it be doing their yard, installing a patio. And some are certainly taking out a home equity line of credit.

2. Many have either bought or lease a new car - Here is another observation : Many of them are leasing new cars. I just wonder why don’t they buy a second hand car and take a loan? I’m certain it’s cheaper that way. And many of them are fancy foreign luxury cars as well!

3. Most take “normal vacations” like renting an apartment at the beach or shore for a month.

4. Many of them produce purchases every month that goes into decorating their homes.

So here’s what I’m wondering? - whether they are all have credit card debt, why don’t they manufacture a little sacrifice and taking a less expensive vacation, get a second hand car or put off decorating or doing something with their homes?

Now, many have told me that they are embarking on a debt reduction program - AKA - they are paying more than their minimum every month on their credit card bills and at some point in the future, they will pay off their credit card debt.

So, you can’t say that

they have no plan. It’s perhaps that looking at their existing lifestyle, they could perhaps be a little more aggressive in their debt reduction plan.

So how about myself? - Now firstly, I have no credit card debt. But I do have a mortgage and have just taken out an auto loan on my new lexus! And I certain do live a “normal lifestyle”, although my home is relatively new and unlike many humans, I do not have many fix ups to do.

But thereupon, I keep wondering, whether I sacrifice my lifestyle, I could pay off my mortgage faster and even perhaps reach my retirement goals earlier.

Which brings us to the $6mm question: How Much Are You Willing To Sacrifice Your Lifestyle to Achieve Your Financial Goals?

After thinking about it for a while, I realize that whether you have credit card debt or not, whether you have a huge mortgage or not is irrelevant, we are have some financial goals to meet whether it is debt reduction, building an emergency fund and saving for retirement.

The more sacrifice you invent (in terms of lifestyle and money), the faster you will reach your goals. But having said that, I additionally feel that for some public, any heavy sacrifice may not be worth it. It may be the case that unless your income increases dramatically, putting too much of a crimp on one’s lifestyle may not be worth the effort (because we may end up living too frugally for our liking).

What do you folks think about that?

Orginal post by Mr Credit Card