---> Downgrading your Lifestyle!<---

**~ Sabr ~** · 05-21-2012

Downgrading your lifestyle is far better than taking a loan to lead a lifestyle you cannot afford.

The temporary luxuries of a loan are long forgotten when the stress of the burden of repayment sets in.

We are taught to avoid taking loans as far as possible unless there is a dire necessity and we have the ability to pay back.

An unnecessary loan often suffocates, strangles & returns to haunt us in a way that we had never imagined.

Many people incur debts simply because they want to lead a lifestyle they cannot yet afford. They enjoy the use of what does not really belong to them and may never be theirs.

Such people end up paying throughout their lives with the constant risk of losing "their belongings" if for some reason they cannot cope with payments.

Lead a simple life, work hard, always live within your means, be happy with what the Almighty has apportioned for you and try never to incur a debt.

Earning your money "before" paying for what you want is better than craving to make use of what does not belong to you and slaving to keep up with payments!

Food for thought.

**Who Am I?** · 05-21-2012

Unfortunately, debt has become a way of life for the average American citizen. Most people here end up in debt for most of their adult lives: mortgage payments, credit card payments, student loans, medical bills, etc. I read somewhere that the average American pays something like $20000 of credit card debt by the end of their working life.

It's all part of the vast conspiracy, a form of economic slavery to keep the average working-class citizen endebted to the government...

**M.I.A.** · 05-21-2012

i just downgraded my mobile phone.

not out of choice i might add.

the funny thing is that my old phone is still really good..compared to the new ones.

what was not funny is that the phone company did not give me any loyalty discount or upgrade and iv been with them the best part of a decade!

in the end, lower monthly cost and a two year old phone. they phoned me a few days after i cancelled my contract.

now i just have to figure out how to downgrade my insurance costs.. im not jacky chan or anything.

anyway im going to give my new phone away to offset my carbon footprint.. actually to offset zakat if possible.

anyway im grateful after being ungrateful.

i know there are people in more difficult situations.

**glo** · 05-21-2012

Nice thread, Haafizah! I agree with the sentiment.

Apart from our mortgage (which we paid off within 10 years) I have never owned a credit card or had any loan/debt of any kind. If we can't afford something, we either a) go without or b) save up for it.

What troubles me is that our children are now taught by society that debt is normal. University students can expect to leave uni with a high debt hanging over them ... I don't like that at all ...

**~ Sabr ~** · 05-21-2012

^ That's one of the many reasons why I didn't go to university.

**dysphoricrocker** · 05-23-2012

Salaam.

I work part time for a debt collection company and i can tell you, where i am from, debts are a big problem. Other than the inevitable such as study loans and housing loans, some people even take loans to gamble, buy electronic stuffs and even to get married! It's such a disease here. And it has caused many ppl to fall into bankruptcy.

It's probably the lifestyle and social pressure, everyone wants what the other guy has so that they won't be looked down upon.