American Express on How to Get out of Debt

My wife and I are...how do I say this...pursuing aggressive financial goals. Jessica is a stay-at-home mother, which means the mouth-to-job ratio is 3:1. At the same time, we're working to pay off debt accrued during the first few years of our marriage, and we are trying to pay it off at a torrid pace. This makes for a difficult position. We have had to learn to live well below our means and embrace a very simple lifestyle. I will spare you the boring details, but I would be willing to bet that most Americans would not sacrifice as much as we have. But then, perhaps most Americans don't have the singularly focused drive that we do, either.

Some people do have what it takes, though, and American Express found a few who fit the bill for a radio ad I heard tonight. They found five women who joined together to pay off a combined $50,000 in debt. Good for them, I thought. But in the ad they were extolling the virtues of having an AmEx credit card. With an AmEx card, they said, you can pay off your debt, still live the extravagant lifestyle you want and be able to "buy the things that you deserve." I could not believe what I was hearing! Here are these ladies who somehow managed to pay off a huge amount of debt and learn nothing while doing it. There was obviously no lasting lifestyle change. There was obviously very little thought as to why they were in debt to begin with. When the money they got to promote AmEx runs out, I would expect them to go right back into the hole--thus very likely paying back their patrons with interest.

I'm not saying that the approach my wife and I are taking to eliminate debt is the apex of human ingenuity, but we are at least trying to embody Proverbs 30:8, "Give me neither poverty nor riches." We understand that, much like trying to dig yourself out of a hole, using a credit card will in no way lower your debt. We understand that extravagant spending on a middle-class paycheck is foolish. (Remember Dave Ramsey's quote: "Don't try to keep up with the Joneses--they're broke, too!") And we certainly understand that on this earth we deserve nothing more than a handful of basic, God-given rights--nothing that can be purchased with a credit card.

As for us, we will continue to live the simple life, enjoying simple pleasures. We will pay off our debt and never return to it. We will continue to learn of the pleasures of faith and family that no amount of money could ever buy. And we will kindly show American Express what they can do with their precious plastic card.