**A real thing that happened about a year ago**

 

Me: Oh we will need to use your credit card to rent the car, mine are all maxed out.

Friend: Oh I don’t have a credit card anymore….I paid them off and cancelled them.

Me: You paid them off.

Friend: Yeah.

Me: And cancelled them.

Friend: Yeah.

Me: You have no credit card debt anymore.

Friend: Yeah.

And here, Dear Reader, is where I had the opportunity to congratulate my friend who had worked her ass off to pay off her credit card debt. I had the perfect moment to say “That’s amazing! Great job!”

But obviously. I didn’t do that. Instead…

Me: Wow. Must be nice.

And I gave a snotty sniff and started trying to figure out how to pay off enough of my credit cards to charge a rental car.

UGH THAT’S SO HORRIBLE.

WHY DID I SAY THAT.

Why was my immediate reaction jealousy and not total excitement for my sweet friend and her accomplishments?

Probably because I’ve felt like crap about my own debt for so long.

Probably because I’ve been scared to dive in, to be desperate, to really look my debt mountain in the face and be honest about my situation.

 

Probably because acknowledging debt means doing something about it.

Acknowledging debt means change, sacrifice, and hard work.

Acknowledging debt makes me wonder if I’m even strong enough to fix the problem.

Am I?

So instead I was snotty, and lost an opportunity to celebrate my amazing friend. I’m determined to never let that happen again. It’s time to face up to my own debt reality.

The kicker is that this friend has been the most encouraging person in my own struggles to pay off debt. She cheers me on with every little accomplishment and I know the second I pay off my credit cards she will be the first in line to celebrate with victory sushi and some OLD scotch.

I’m looking forward to that day.

Bring on the mountain, I’m ready to crush that son of a bitch.