debt

Get. out. of. debt. . . like, now.

(If you can, that is.)

I listened to a sermon the other day that compared debt to slavery (actually, it was Proverbs 22:7 that made the comparison), and I remember thinking, "Okay, so debt isn't the best thing in the world, but 'slavery'? That's a little extreme. I mean, everyone has a mortgage, and pretty much all of our friends have had some kind of school debt at one time or another. We financed a car, and nothing bad has happened to us."

Adrian and I discussed it and decided that yes, paying down our debt is probably the best use of any extra money we have right now, but we're not going to go crazy and try to get rid of it all next month or anything. We've made peace with our debt.

And then today happened. And now I am completely disgusted at our debt.

Let me explain. For a while now, we've been trying to get rid of Adrian's ridiculous 50 minute commute. We know that either he has to find a job closer to home, or we have to find a home closer to his job. It's been looking like the latter is our best option, so we've been looking at houses on and off. Every time we get close to one, it seems, something goes wrong, and we have to walk away. Then we found today's house.

Cute little 3 bedroom, 2 bath, in immaculate condition, with plenty of space for a growing family, on 1/2 acre, within walking distance of Adrian's job. And the price was right. Or so we thought. We knew where our 3 1/2 percent down was coming from, and the money that would go back into our pockets with no 50 minute commute (gas, insurance, car repairs, the cost of owning a second car) would more than make up for a slightly higher mortgage payment. Then we called the FHA people to talk shop.

They rejected us. Because of our debt. Apparently, your total debt, mortgage included, can only equal a certain percentage of your total income. And ours was way too high. After he recovered from the shock, Adrian asked, "So, based on your program's system, how much house can we afford?" Her answer: less than we currently have.

I've never felt so much like a slave in my life.

Seriously. If you can, get. out. of. debt.