Does Living Debt-Free Mean Living in Poverty?

Living in debt-free DOESN'T mean living in poverty. The definition of "debt", as taken from The Free Online Dictionary, is as follows:

debt (dt)
n.
1. Something owed, such as money, goods, or services.
a. An obligation or liability to pay or render something to someone else.
b. The condition of owing: a young family always in debt.
3. An offense requiring forgiveness or reparation; a trespass.

So, living debt-free doesn't mean living in poverty at ALL, it simply means to not "owe" or have an obligation or liability to pay or render something to someone else. It means to live without the condition of owing! To me, living debt free means no credit card bills to pay, no car payments to make, and, depending on where you're at in your family life, no mortgage to pay. Simply, living debt-free means not incurring bills that you can't comfortably pay every month. Doing without unneccessary bills to improve your quality of living and your financial health.Living debt-free doesn't mean you have nothing or own nothing, it simply means not having huge recurring expenses to pay for what you do have. It means not spending every last dime you have, and promising every last dime you're going to get, to "keep up with Jones's" or to live in a set lifestyle. Living debt-free means living comfortably within your means. Living debt-free means that you owe no one anything. What a concept in this day and age!

It's extremely difficult to live without debt in this day and age, and once you've incurred debts, it's even harder to get to the point of not having debt. But it can be done! There are many websites and books out there to help people to get out of debt and live debt-free, but my favorites are the "Tightwad Gazette" books by Amy Dacyczyn, and the website "Tightwad Central" at www.tightwad.com. Amy Dacyczyn's books have lots of helpful information and guidelines for living debt-free, getting out of debt, living frugally, and saving money.

There are numerous budgeting websites out there, some of the best include:
Budget101.com - This is a great site for learning to budget and tips and tricks for living within your means.
OurFamilyBudget.Com- This site has a great worksheet for budgeting and tips and tricks for saving money, repairing credit, and investing.
BetterBudgeting.Com- This is a free money saving tips ezine, and the website has budgeting articles, worksheets, calculators, and they even have a 5-week budgeting class for $15.00.

There are lots of resources out there, and guides to help you budget, get rid of debt and live a debt-free life. All you have to do is look, and find the one that works best for you! Living a debt-free life is so much simpler than living with the stress of debt or bills you can't afford.