Reject Society and you’ll pay off your debts a lot faster.

I’m not here to push some socialist agenda on you. As I said in previous articles I’m one of the most pro-capitalist guys you can meet. Seriously. Now what I am about to say is at odds with my economic philosophy but there is a method in my madness. I’m here trying to make a difference in your life by encouraging you to take new approaches to getting out of debt. If you want to pay off your debt in the quickest time possible then the easiest way to do it is to reject society or more accurately reject the consumerist aspects of society.

This isn’t a new idea and I have to admit that I got the seeds of this idea from the ‘Buy Nothing Day’ movement. The idea behind the ‘Buy Nothing Day’ is to raise consumer awareness and get people to focus on consuming less and producing less waste. If you are in debt then by rejecting consumerism (for a while at least) you are achieving two things. The first is that you will, by default, have a lot more cash. The second is you will be doing your bit to help the environment as you will be consuming less and therefore less packaging is needed.

Reject Society? How exactly do I do that?

Its not as hard as you think and it doesn’t involve walking round waving a placard with ‘The end is near’ written on it. The easiest way to reject consumerism is to do nothing or do very little. More specifically continue to do your job, continue to meet your friends, continue on as normal except only shop for the necessities in life. Quit visiting the mall for the sake of it. Stop using your credit cards, stop taking out loans, Start shopping in discount stores, start buying own brand products, stop being a label junky, bring your lunch into work, buy in bulk, if you want something save hard for it. Make credit your enemy.

There doesn’t have to be much change in your day to day activities. In fact no one has to know that you have decided to take a break from consumerist society for a while. Your friends won’t know, your neighbors won’t know or care, your workmates won’t know. Take a little time out to recharge your batteries and recharge your finances. Reject materialism. Invest time in yourself, in developing your relationships with your friends and family. These things don’t cost money and in the long run you will get a much better return that you will on a hundred pairs of shoes or the latest SUV. By investing time in yourself and your relationships you are making a stand for who you really are when all the trappings of consumerism are stripped away. I’m sure you’re a lot different type of person than the person that the marketers have you typecast as.

Why am I advocating such an extreme lifestyle change?

Simple really – it has been extreme spending that has caused people’s debt problems and in most cases it will take extreme action to rectify their financial situations. Remember you don’t have to live this lifestyle forever, you just have to do it until you are back on track. Long enough for you to see that there is an alternative to the constant merry go round of work – spend – debt – work. You can break the cycle and by not buying into the marketers crap you will see the world around you in a totally different light. One where the true value to be had is in the relationships we build not in the things we buy.

Be selfish about your motive for rejecting consumerism. Remember no one is going to help you out of debt only YOU. By adopting a self-centered approach you will achieve debt freedom a lot quicker. Ironic I know but debt freedom is all about you and your financial situation not about that of your neighbors or friends. Look to the future and to the time and place where the stress of debt no longer exists for you. This is the place you want to go and by rejecting consumerism and material things you are going to get there a lot quicker than you thought possible. Of course once you reach that point you can spend spend spend – but that’s a whole different article.