Just Eat Your Vegetables!
Friday night I made what I thought was a delicious dinner: Corned Beef Roast with carrots and potatoes in the crockpot. My husband and I quickly gobbled up our meal between talking about our day. My daughter got a pass on dinner, because she wasn’t feeling well. My son ate the corned beef with no problem. He balked at eating the potatoes and carrots though.
Long after my husband and I had loaded our plates into the dishwasher, my son was still struggling to eat the vegetables we asked him to eat. We heard excuse after excuse as to why he couldn’t eat his vegetables.
- My tummy hurts!
- I ate enough vegetables at lunch.
- I need to get ready for my soccer game tomorrow.
- I accidently dropped them on the floor. (My personal favorite…and yes, we dished him up some more).
Then came the bargaining.
- I won’t play on the Wii tomorrow.
- I want to go play with the neighbor.
- I promise to…(insert one of 10 different promises)
It took him an hour to finally eat his veggies. By then, of course, they were cold and kind of nasty. I wondered why he didn’t just get it over with, instead of wasting so much time.
You might be wondering what this story is doing on a personal finance blog, and I’m getting to that right now.
When it comes to doing something unpleasant, like paying off debt, we tend to make excuses as to why we can’t do it.
- I can’t afford to make extra payments (even though I drink coffee at Starbucks everyday)
- I need to buy (insert name of item here) before I start paying down my debt.
- The credit card companies are out to get the little man, and I’m getting them back by not paying my debt (that I promised to pay when I signed my name).
- I’ll pay it back after I get a better job.
The reality is, like a child who doesn’t want to eat his vegetables, we just don’t want to pay off our debt. We might want to have it paid off, but we don’t want to go through the process of writing a check every month. Not when we can imagine a hundred different ways we could use the money instead.
But here’s the thing. Like that child who doesn’t want to eat his vegetables, it would be better if we’d just grit our teeth and pay it off. We’d save money in interest. We could get beyond our debt and on with the rest of our lives sooner.
If we wait, the debt is still there, and the interest will continue to add up. The debt, like the vegetables, gets nastier and harder to deal with, the longer we wait.
So what’s it going to be? Are you going to drag your feet until the debt gets worse before you face the inevitable truth that the debt still must be repaid? Or will you make a commitment to pay it off as soon as you can, so you can get it over with and get on with your life? I’m going to get it over with!
Photo by shadytrees.
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Author
By Lynnae McCoy, on Apr 20, 2009
I'm Lynnae, wife of one and stay-at-home mom of two. I'm committed to getting out of debt by being frugal with my choices in life.
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We need to visualize the pleasure and satisfaction we will feel for paying off the debt as greater than the pain of actually paying off the debt . . .
It’s a “recipe for healthy living”. Great analogy! Hope you got some rest and are feeling better.
We don’t have debt but I loved the analogy just the same. Sounds just like dinner with our 3 year old.
You are right on. There have been times that I have hated to pay debts, but I always feel better once they are paid. There is something fulfilling in watching the balance due drop as payments are made; it is definitely a state of mind that I have battled for.
My grandfather has a saying – sometimes you just have to hold your nose and do it. And “it” could be something as arduous as climbing out of debt, or as tough as eating broccoli with no cheese sauce (a constant struggle in our household!). I often think of that saying when I’m preparing to do something I really don’t want to do.
Cute analogy !
I love the feeling I get when we pay something off. Just yesterday I told my husband it was time to get the truck paid off, so that is my goal now.
We only lack a few thousand on it, and I think if we put forth the effort we can get it paid off by the end of this year. Now, I’m feeling even more motivated to do it thanks to your post.
BTW, the roast and veggies look really good. :)
Great analogy – though who wouldn’t love carots & potatoes?
First off, that dinner sounds delish.
Second, what a brilliant way to pose the problem of debt. I’m definitely using that one when explaining debt to my kids! Thanks!
Oh so true my friend! I remember a couple we were counseling. They lost their house but had a great stereo system because he thought he “deserved” to do something nice for himself. Sort of like eating his dessert and skipping the vegetables!
Great analogy!
I love how your dinner experience correlates with finance. It’s a great analogy!!
Thanks for sharing!