An office worker invests in quality of life. Each item she buys has a very reasonable reason: This bag is durable, that shoe is good for health, that course helps to develop herself. But in total, the cost for her "quality of life" is so high that the quality of sleep begins to decline, because of worrying about paying off debts.
The interesting thing is that debt never appears with a scary face from the beginning. It comes very politely, divided into smaller portions, installments, preferential interest rates, flexible terms. It makes you feel like you are in control of everything. Like eating a buffet, a little bit of each dish, it feels insignificant. When you get up, you realize your stomach has become too heavy.
In essence, debt is not just about lack of money. It is a consequence of something more difficult to control when greed is disguised under very beautiful names such as "enjoy", "invest", "worth it". Humans always have a very admirable ability: Turning desires into needs and turning needs into... obligations.
You need a phone to contact. But you want a better one to work effectively. Then you find yourself "worth it". In the end, you find it unreasonable not to buy it.
And so a debt is born, very logical. When you don't have a debt, you work to live. When you have a debt, you start living to work. Each job decision no longer revolves around whether you like it or not, but revolves around whether it has enough money to "carry" the previous choices or not.
Perhaps, the most difficult thing is not earning more money. But stopping at the right time, before "wanting" to turn into "debt". Because if not, you will find yourself running very fast, doing a lot, but the destination is not freedom, but a list of things to pay. And ironically, in that journey, the thing you owe the most is not money. But time and your own peace.
