Pride Just Gets in the Way
- Posted by JvW on August 21st, 2009 filed in Uncategorized
There is no use for pride when it comes to your finances. Whether it is paying down debt or keeping afloat after a job loss, you are not too good for anything (as long as it’s legal) that pays. Hopefully the situation never arises where you have to swallow your pride, but if it does, then take a big gulp.
Pride gets no pleasure out of having something, only out of having more of it than the next man.
-C. S. Lewis
Too Much Pride
A few months ago, one of my coworkers (B) was let go from our company. Since then, he has kept in touch with most of the people who work here. B has not yet found a permanent new job, but is looking for a similar position to the one he lost. When it was suggested to him to take a job in retail, his response was, “I don’t think I’d like working retail.”
Now, I am not privy to his financial situation, but just taking this at face value, B is acting too proud for his own good. WIth a wife and two young children at home, liking your job is less important than paying the bills. I’m just glad he didn’t say this to me or I would have had difficulty biting my tongue.
Money Doesn’t Have to be Taboo
Most people have a hard time talking about money - unless they are bragging about having gobs and gobs of it. Since I started this blog, I have shed all pretenses about money and have no problems discussing how much things cost or how much debt we have (obviously, it’s all right there in the Debt-O-Meter). Why do people keep secrets like this? Why do we want others to suffer as we have? I hope that in telling my stories that one person can learn enough from one of my mistakes to not make the same mistake herself. In turn, I love reading about others’ financial experiences and I’m glad they’re not too proud to tell me how they screwed something up!
Swallow Your Pride
This may just be the hardest part. When we first started paying off our debt, I worked a second job for almost 2 years to contribute extra payments. Because of this, we were able to pay off over $38,000 in credit card debt in 28 months - including some major setbacks. I had to first accept the fact that I was NOT too good to work nights & weekends for $8.50/hr because it was helping my family. My second job brought in about $15,000 in that time frame - a sizeable chunk of our outstanding debt. Was sucking it up worth it? You betcha.
August 22nd, 2009 at 11:38 am
I remember when you were working two jobs…it was an act of responsibility, especially since you had very little free time!
You are right, hopefully “B” won’t wait too long before finding a job. Although, he is probably like others, not taking a job because his unemployment pays more.