Not all slave masters have the same rights and bondage has it’s benefits. Slavery is anytime where one has obligations therefore slavery is a necessary part of life. As the Apostle Paul said, he was a slave to God.

I am eager to read the book since I have had it suggested to me more than once.

We’ve paid off $56,000 of $63k on a household income of $55k annually in 24 months and will be debt free very shortly. It IS possible to save 50 % of your income, you just have to decide that you’re going to, then find the way to do it.

Let the “sophisticated” broke people have their theories about good debt and playing the money game. I’ll settle for being a rich, debt-free simpleton.

Obviously when the government puts you in eternal debt as they do with property tax they have prevented your ability to acquire liberty.

Being forced into debt with property tax means we can never be free. Because of property tax you can never own your home and you can never be free from debt. If you cant own your home what can you own? Althought this book has hit the nail on the head the fact is our government has made liberty impossible by stealing the ownership of our homes.

Perhaps the greatest lie ever told is the American Dream of home ownership as property tax clearly prohibits ownership making it impossible to ever become free from debt. Property tax is the evolution of serfdom where kings and lords have been replaced by rulers of the State. This medieval extortion, collected on unrealized capital gains, makes the peoples homes into investments of the State. Property tax forces the people into government servitude in order to keep their homes. Clearly as in the past, modern day serfdom is intended to prevent the people from ever acquiring liberty. With property tax the people must pay with government currency. Gone are the good old days when you could pay with chickens, some other farm product or manual labor.

To Troy:

I couldn’t disagree with your comment more. Debt makes other people richer. That’s all there is to it. There are fundamentals in finance, and when you try to obscure them you’re just setting yourself up for long term trouble. Debt does restrict freedom, the clear intent of the author’s use of the word slavery. When you take on a mortgage, you give away a piece of it to some faceless bank. Which is better, to wait and pay for property entirely in cash or get it now and tie yourself down while helping to enrich banksters? Likewise, why get a car loan instead of using cash to purchase the car you can afford.

Maybe debt is a good tool for creating illusions, but then I don’t believe that illusions have value.

Debt is slavery? Not so much. Cute title intended to garner interest, and it works. Debt is debt. It is a tool, as all money is. Most people do not know how it works, or how to use it, but debt is not inherently bad, just improper use of it.

Slavery is “The state of one bound in servitude as the property of a slaveholder or household.”

That generally means being a slave is by force, not choice. Debt is not by force, all by choice.

The problem most people have with debt is they do not understand it. Most people live paycheck to paycheck. They use debt not as a tool, but as a crutch to live beyond their means. Debt is not bad, spending more to live than you have or earn is. But that is not as catchy a title.

Think what you would do if you needed to move: what would be quicker: selling your house and car, or ending your leases?

I do understand that people survive at every level, so that in general one could reposition to a lower place and still get along. For some incomes, though, that lower level looks too unattractive. For example, some people will cut by going from steak to chicken. Others will go from chicken down to eggs. Yet others will cut out the eggs and eat only potatoes. Finally, those already having only potatoes will eat every other day.

Debt for investing purposes is a very valid strategy.

It’s what makes the world go round economically.

However on the side of those who think of debt as slavery let us translate the word mortgage from it’s word roots:
Mort = Death
Gage = Grip
Mortgage = Deathgrip…

We all know we don’t remember everything. Who over 40 remembers they’re college years in great detail? I know I saw hundreds of bands, but I can’t remember more than a dozen or so.

At least if you buy a bit of land you know you’re going to be able to walk about it next year, rather than wondering where it went.

Don’t buy anything with debt though, quite agree.

@ Ken Who says you can’t spend money for fun? Part of you’re budget, once you’ve got an emergency fund, and the debt is paid off should be put towards vacations or other fun stuff. The only point is you don’t go nuts on it, you plan for it and save for it and not go back into debt for it. It sounds like you’re considering this a debt diet. But no diet really works if you get to your goal weight, then stop exercising and start pigging out in celebration. If you do it right, you can probably ease back on the intensity a bit and it should be easier to maintain your lifestyle while still meeting your goals. Hopefully through the process you learned that you control what you choose to spend your money on, so lay out a plan forward to hopefully include some mind blowing trips and excursions.

I started with saving 10% of my gross pay from every paycheck (in a retirement plan) and putting another 10% (sometimes more) towards paying down debt (mortgage and some student loans – my car was already paid off 8 years ago).

Every year, as I got a raise, I applied the full amount of my raise to my savings. So every year, my savings rate went up at least 3%-5% (and one year as much as 10%). I applied the full amount of bonuses to paying down debt.

By maintaining the same standard of living (and eating the impact of inflation, which I didn’t really notice in most cases), after 8 years I have reached a savings rate of 50% (and I am now almost completely free of debt).

My 50% savings gets allocated as follows:
15% 401k (plus what my employer kicks in)
10% Index funds in my taxable account
10% Employee Stock Purchase Plan
5% Roth IRA
5% High-yield savings account
5% Purchase of I-Bonds via Treasury Direct

All of this is done via direct deposit or other withholding, so I am never tempted to spend the money.

I am 36 now and I expect to be able to retire with my current standard of living in 10-15 years.

Now, if I want to do something other than read, do crosswords or walk the dog, where to I get the money?

Trent makes a good point about going to Disney World with his six year old vs the flat screen (although I bet a few hours with the six year old and a Wii and the flat screen might be fun) but that’s about priorities not about time.

Frugality is good, debt is bad (I’m personally on the Dave Ramsey diet)but at what point do you say, “I wanna have some fun!” and spend money to do it!

Now that’s marketing at its finest!