Of all the factors which negatively impact my life and prolong my years as a wage-slave, debt is by far the biggest and most formidable.

Debt will kill you slowly.

I have rated “eliminating my personal debt,” as the most important part of my plan to get back on track. Nothing can be accomplished, and no progress or decisions can be made, as long as I remain in debt.

Why? Because servicing this debt takes a good portion of my monthly disposable income. This is not improving since I am not making any dent in the actual principal amount. Because of this, I am “owned.” A person that is owned has very few choices in life. And when it really comes down to it, what I want more than anything is the freedom to choose.

I have $18,343.22 in outstanding credit card debt as I am writing this. 80% of it is a balance on my main charge card, and the other 20% is made up of balances I keep on department store cards. Does that sound shocking? Well, I am certainly not proud of it. It is embarrassing, to tell the truth. I share this with you simply because, for all intents and purposes, I am still writing this anonymously. Ah, the freedom of anonymity.

I make no excuses for it. In fact, I can’t really tell you how it got to this point. I mean, I’m hardly what you would call “irresponsible.” In fact, I was very good at handling my finances earlier in life. I had no credit card debt and would always make sure that I paid off the entire balance every month. This balance has accumulated slowly and has taken years to get to this point.

I might also add that it was not all spent on materialistic junk. Some was spent on trying to get a couple small businesses off the ground, and some was spent on things like car repairs and house repairs. Interestingly enough, the bank kept increasing my credit limit. It made me feel important in a way.

As we speak, I am funneling every last cent into paying off the credit cards. I am starting with the department store cards first, as they generate 28% interest per year and my main credit card is only 12%. I have about $3400 in outstanding principal between 3 department stores. I will start paying the minimum on my main card, and then everything else will go towards the store cards. Once they are paid off, I’ll concentrate on the big one.

I’m starting to cut back on a lot of things now. I’m taking a lunch to work and we haven’t gone out for a while. While this may work in the long run, I don’t think it will be enough to get me where I want to be quickly enough. Donna thinks I’ve lost my mind.

I think I need to start thinking bigger. I can’t reduce this debt by cutting out my morning coffee break; unless, of course, I want to retire with this company. I simply have too many expenses, plain and simple.

One thing I know for sure is that we live in a neighborhood which is probably beyond our means. There is nothing special about it. It is not a rich or even upper-middle class area, but it is the very most we can afford. It’s between middle class and upper middle class; lower upper middle class, if that makes any sense. We would not be living here if not for the low mortgage rates of the past few years. In 3 years we will be renewing at a much higher rate, I am sure.

I know most of our neighbors on the street and from conversations we have had, I can tell you that I am in the lower end of the wage earners.

Eliminating this debt must come first. There is little I can do unless I take care of this first. If I were to quit my job with this amount of debt, I would be in big trouble. It doesn’t take a genius to figure that one out.

I don’t want to be in the situation where I am being chased by bill-collectors. They are very aggressive these days, and also have much more power than they used to. They can, and will, make your life a living hell. I am not prepared to put myself through that nightmare.

I would like to keep my credit-rating on the positive side. While it is not five-star at the moment, it is still in good standing.

Bankruptcy is not an option either.

First of all, my debt is not really high enough to consider this. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not a small amount, but it is certainly not worth the cost of bankruptcy. If I was absolutely over my head and there was no practical way to repay the debt, then I might consider that option. The debt balance would have to be much higher.

Secondly, I simply do not want my credit shattered for the next seven years.

Thirdly, I think I am a better person than that. I realize that many people who declare bankruptcy are in dire straights and it really is their only option (that’s why we have it), but in my case, I feel that there is a way to pay it off, and that I should do everything in my power to do so legitimately.

So here is my debt elimination plan:

I have two ways to decrease my amount of debt. One, I can take in more money and two, I can decrease my expenses. How simple is that? Amazingly, I’m probably one of the millions that haven’t got that simple message. Sounds simple, but making this a reality may take more than I imagine.

Now increasing my income will be difficult. I’m pretty much at the top of my pay scale for the job that I do. The last thing I want to do is bid for a promotion. I’m ok where I am for now. Some overtime is available after 5 and on weekends. I’ve not worked much lately, because of my long commute.

If I take all that is available, I can add 20 hours to my work-week. This will in effect, increase my pay by 50%. Oh yeah, I almost forgot, it will also put me in a higher tax bracket and the government will want more. Ok, so let’s say after tax, the increase will be 30%. That’s the most I can do to increase my income.

This will probably take its toll on me very quickly. It’s all I can do to stomach that place for 40 hours a week as it is, let alone 60.

Another option is to take a part-time job outside of the company. Well, if I’m going to work extra hours, I’ll work for $40/hr doing overtime in my current job, rather than working for $10/hr at a 7-11.

If I lived in the city, I could easily convert my commuting time into overtime. That is a definite bonus. It would mean selling the house, but that may not be a bad idea in itself.

So the next part of this is the expenses side. It is where I believe I can make a huge difference. There are many things I have now that I can do without. Money can be raised here through the sale of assets, and money can be saved here by eliminating on-going expenses.

The first item on the chopping block would be the house. Selling the house would free up about $50,000 in equity. In the event that Donna and I go our separate ways (which seems more likely with each passing day), it would still be 25k that I could use for debt relief. This alone would render me debt-free with enough left over to bank away for a rainy day.

If the house was sold, there would be no need for a car, as I would try to move within walking distance of my job. I would not receive anything for the car, as it is leased, but it would free up another $500/month. I would, however, have to pay out the lease, which could be pricey.

Selling miscellaneous items would generate at least 5k. There are a lot of frivolous items here. I’ve accumulated many, many things that I would not have a need for. It’s a shame that the items would sell for pennies on the dollar in most cases. Ah well, we never said this would be easy.

The final move to cut expenses would be to move to a small bachelor apartment (or even a room) in the city.

I know what you’re thinking. This will be more than enough to pay off my debts. This is true, but paying off my debts will just be a start. I’m going to have to accumulate as much money as I can to cushion the impact of quitting my job.

My plan for escaping the clutches of the rat-race is really only part (albeit, a large part) of an overall self-improvement program that I’ve set up for myself.

My goals are as follows:

Get out of debt.
Lead a healthier lifestyle.
Lose the hyper-consumption attitude.
Practice the less-is-more philosophy.
Become financially self-sufficient.
Quit my job.
Give back to the community.

If you were to ask me what it is that I want out of life, I couldn’t tell you at the present time. I do know, however, that I was not meant to live this way. My gut feeling is very strong in that regard.

The above list is roughly the order I intend to roll out this plan. I’m not sure of every little detail at the moment, therefore I cannot tell you exactly what I will do step-by-step. I wish I could be more tangible here, but this will be a “work in progress” and I’m sure that the plan will be tweaked several times. It will become clearer as time passes. I will be posting a daily account of anything relevant.

I have written a separate page outlining my thoughts and plans concerning debt. This is my number one priority and it is something that must be dealt with very soon.

I have also included a separate page in which I discuss following a healthier lifestyle. This centers on diet and exercise mainly.

Starting immediately, I will try to get by with less. I intend to sell most of the high-priced “junk” which I have accumulated over the years.

I intend to scale back my living expenses in a major way. This will enable me to bank much of what I make from my job. The money will be invested in relatively safe vehicles; T-bills and that sort of thing.

I intend to explore alternate sources of income. Realistically, I could not expect to live off of my savings and a few small investments, indefinitely. Starting a business of my own is one possibility which I have considered.

When I am satisfied that I have a sufficient amount of money saved, I will quit my job.

I will spend much of my post wage-slave hours volunteering my time and simply enjoying life.

Why do I need to do things in a certain order?

Well, let me use the following analogy:

When I was a teenager, I worked one summer for a tree arborist. The first job that our crew was assigned to was the removal of a very old, diseased oak tree on a busy street in the down-town area. There was very little room to work. We barely had room to park the trucks. The tree was massive.

I could not see any way we could bring this oak down; at least not without causing major damage to the surrounding houses.

I was not directly involved with the tree cutting. My job was to carry the branches over to the chipper. I did have a great vantage point from where to see the more experienced workers in action. I was amazed at how the problem was approached.

You see, the tree was not cut down per say, in fact, it was “disassembled” very slowly starting with the smallest branches and working towards the larger. This pain-staking process continued for most of the day. Finally, there was nothing left but the main trunk. This was then cut down in small sections, starting at the top. It took a while, but the job was completed without any problems whatsoever.

Quitting my job before having things in place would be like simply chopping down the big oak. There would be a lot of damage and would involve much more hardship than necessary.

Eliminating my debt, liquidating my assets, decreasing my expenses, and building up my bank account are things that I need to have in place before I finally tell the corporate world to stick it.

Yes, most days I feel like quitting my miserable job, but I’m also not reckless. I don’t want to end up homeless and broke.

What’s my long-term plan? I mean, not many people retire at 44. Well, as I mentioned earlier, I don’t really know myself. I do know, however, that I can’t spend one more hour than is necessary doing what I am doing now. I still have 20 years left until I can officially retire. This corporation is not getting it. I refuse to let that happen.

Will I work for another company? Highly unlikely. Once I exit the rat race, I believe there will be no going back.

Am I having a mid-life crisis? Probably. But that can be a good thing.

Am I being immature and irresponsible? Maybe, but I tend to look at it as self-actualization. We are so conditioned by what society deems to be appropriate, that I believe we lose site of what makes us happy.

I look at it this way: nothing will change in the next 20 years unless I decide to make a change. In 20 years I’ll still be working as a wage-slave. I’ll still be owned by the corporation and the bank. I’ll be living the same over-indulgent lifestyle and likely in much poorer health; that’s if I live that long. At 64 my options will be very limited or non-existent. This way, I have the rest of my life to make choices and enjoy my freedom. Yeah, it’s risky and I could lose everything, but that’s a gamble I’m willing to take. I love the idea of not knowing what is around the next corner.

By the way, if you are genuinely happy in what you do and don’t mind the 9-5 lifestyle, then by all means, enjoy. It really comes down to a personal choice and I can only speak for myself in this regard.

What exactly do I mean by “trapped?” Well, for me, being trapped means that I no longer have many choices in how I live my life. I am caught up in a so-called “successful” lifestyle which consists of hyper-consumption, keep up with the Joneses, and chase that new promotion existence.

Much of the pressure to maintain this level of “success” comes from family, friends, neighbors, and society in general. It was established long ago that the measure of a person is in what they do for a living. After all, what is the first question many of us ask about someone we don’t know? Exactly! “What do you do?” As in, what do you do to make a living? This is so entrenched into our society that many of us probably don’t even realize we do it.

People are rated on the spot by what they do. For many it gets to be a competition, especially amongst our siblings. I can tell you that anytime my family gets together, most of the talk is about how successful each person has become.

One disturbing trend which seems to be more evident these days is the “keep up with the Joneses” syndrome. More and more, we tend to rate people by what they have. We have become consumed by the consumer lifestyle.

It’s now common for most families in my neighborhood to have at least two cars. Many have boats, big-screen TV’s, 3000 square foot homes (all with central air), and the list goes on… Why do people need this? Do we really need houses that large? Do we need 60″ TV’s? Do we really need all those extra toys?

We had a record breaking amount of smog warnings this summer. Most of this is generated from coal-burning electrical plants and automobile exhaust. Can’t we understand that as the population increases, we should be conserving more, not spending our resources like a drunken sailor? Larger homes require more energy to heat and cool. More cars per household will be more cars on the road carrying only a single person and adding to our problems.

We don’t seem to care though. We will continue to burn through this planet’s reserves at record levels all in the name of improving our lifestyle. What other species takes so much more than it needs, all in the name of comfort?

What price do we pay for all the frills? Well, for me, each dollar I spend for things I don’t really need, is a dollar away from my ultimate goal, which is having choices and enjoying freedom.

I have come to realize that for each non-essential item I purchase, I must remain within the system that much longer. It equals more hours at work, more interest paid to the bank, more taxes paid to the government – and a deeper hole. It represents less money for investing and achieving a foot-hold to dig myself out.

I’m not a conspiracy theorist, but could you imagine a better way to keep the masses in check? This ensures that each and every one of us will get up in the morning, go to work, pay bills and taxes, and contribute towards the economy, even if we hate what we do. That’s the end of my extremism, I promise.