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G rowing up I was raised in a family where my parents didn’t
have much debt and didn’t use credit cards. We didn’t get
everything that we wanted, but we certainly didn’t go with-
out. My brother and I were taught that you worked hard and saved
up your money for what you wanted. Credit cards weren’t even dis-
cussed as it wasn’t a way of life.
I remember shopping for my first car. I had driven a few hand-me-
downs that were on their last leg, but now it was time for me to look
at a“new to me”car. My parents had already advised against getting
a new car or even a fancy one. I needed one that was reliable and
solid. My car needed to be practical and get me through college.
We finally found a 1989 Buick Regal that met all the requirements,
and I bought it. I can tell you now, over 20 years later, I still talk about
what a great car that was. I would have kept it until it didn’t run
anymore, but I got hit about a month before I graduated from radi-
ography school, totaling my car. My parents had an old Ford Ranger
that they loaned me to get around until everything was settled from
the accident and I could get a different car.
Fast forward a couple of months, and I had graduated and landed
my first “real” job. I had worked my way through school, but now I
was making more money than I had ever made before! If I remem-
ber correctly, I was making just under $14/hour. If you asked me, I
had hit the lottery. I had been sent to ultrasound training, so I would
be looking at another raise, plus call once I was trained. This “hit the
lottery”mindset, along with a belief that I had worked hard and de-
served a nice car laid the foundation for a series of decisions I would
later come to regret.
Since I was looking for a car again, I turned to my dad for advice,
who advised me to proceed carefully and resist the urge to get into
car payments. I had often depended on the wise counsel of my
parents, but this advice directly contradicted my desire! You see, I
had found the car that I wanted. It was a Mitsubishi Galant, and the
payments were only going to be $284/month. I justified that first
debt because I had a great job and the payment wouldn’t be hard to
make on my current salary.
My parents came down and looked at the car. They agreed it was
a nice car, but challenged me to consider if I really needed to spend
that much money and take on the burden of car payments. Well,
I can tell you that my answer then is different than what I would
answer today. I got the car. I LOVED that car. It was sporty, had a
sunroof (my first one EVER) and was a beautiful dark green. I swear,
when I looked at that car, it sparkled, just like in the commercials. It
was a great car. Do I regret getting the car? Not necessarily, but I
do regret the wheels of motion that were put in place by that one
decision.
Because I was now comfortable with having debt, it was easy to
begin adding to that debt. The summer that my husband and I got
married, we took a trip to Michigan for a NASCAR race with some
friends who had gotten us the tickets as a wedding present. We
needed a vehicle that would comfortably fit us all in there. Neither
my small sporty car nor my husband’s Jeep were big enough, so we
decided that we both had good jobs and could afford it, so we trad-
ed in the Jeep and got a brand-new Dodge Dakota and more debt.
Soon we also had a house and a Lowe’s card. Then we wanted new
furniture, so we financed some from Furniture Row. Then we had
another card, this one for our glasses and contacts. We had a baby,
and I needed new clothes. So that added a Maurice’s card and other
store cards to my wallet.
Can you see the trend? I woke up one day, 27 years old, with a
toddler and a baby on the way, perplexed because although both
Back Before I Knew Better
BY EMILY BARBER