“He that dies pays all debts.” –William Shakespeare, The Tempest
During 2004-05, I was studying Master's at Palampur. I had secured a monthly scholarship of Rs. 8,000 by Govt of India for these studies. I thought of having a great time during my studies with this much of money!
About six months passed. The scholarship was not yet given to me. My pocket money and whatever I had was exhausted. I had also taken money from all my close friends.
I had promised my parents that I don't need money from them as I has secured a scholarship.
Every week I was visiting the concerned person disbursing the scholarship. His answer was "your scholarship is yet to arrive from Delhi".
I had to pay for hostel bill, mess bill, semester fees, and few other survival expenses. My pockets were always empty.
I knew nobody there personally. There was not a single person from even my native state of Karnataka.
I was not in a position to pay back all those friends from whom I had taken loan in the past. The promised timelines have been passing.
All this put me in a very tight spot. I was left with no option. I started developing deep shame when it came to talk to the friends who had lent me money.
I felt doubts about whether I will ever get the scholarship.
Shame grew and feelings of guilt also joined my misery.
I could not pay mess bills, hostel rent and semester fees.
Our hostel warden warned me to leave the hostel as it was against hostel rules.
I was so angry! I told the Warden that I will pay when my scholarship is received.
Smoking and drinking alcohol was very common in Palampur as well as the students of the College.
I don't remember the beginning, but I had started to smoke and drinking regularly. This gave some relief from the sense of shame and guilt around the debts.
Fortunately, Dr. Avinash Tambotra, who was a Senior at my Department as well as a roommate, had seen what I was going through.
He was from a financially well off family. He started paying my mess bills, hostel bills and semester fees. I had not even asked him. I don't know why he helped me.
This continued for 3 semesters (18 months). Around this time, the scholarship money was received.
Immediately, I paid off all the debts. I felt so overjoyed. The feelings of shame, guilt and anger resolved.
From the remaining money, I bought a phone and sent a large chunk to my brother for his studies.
This time, I kept some money for myself.
I had learnt a lesson that debt/loan is a very very bad experience. Debt also negatively affects relationships. Debt was also a shared reality with some of my friends. With them, either I had taken a loan or I had lent them a loan. The situation was always either one of these. The moment I stopped taking debt and minimized, I eventually was unable to lend them the money also. After this, the friend also vanished. I doubt whether he was ever a friend of mine or vice-versa.
Since then, few more times I had been into debt and the experiences have been same. It never felt good in debt. The car loan, bike loan, business loan, loan from relatives and friends for various reasons always lead me into shame, guilt and anger.
In 2018, after experiencing multiple debts and loans, I realized that the best way to live is t live within my means. Since then, I have stopped myself from falling into the trap of debt. Infact, I never want to take a debt again. This has brought tremendous positivity in my life.
I have closed multiple bank accounts, closed the credit card, no more own a ATM card and have adopted minimalism so that I will never end up in a desperate financial need. Some of the major lessons I learnt from being in debt or giving loans are:
Whenever I was quick to borrow (desperate), I was slow to pay.
Every time I was borrowing money, I was losing a bit of my future self.
I felt better to go to bed hungry, than wake up in debt.
I was sacrificing future, to meet the desires of present.
The joy of freedom from debt is much better than even earning lots of money.
I felt very poor when I was in debt/loan.
I grew richer in mental and physical wellbeing by lowering debt.
Instead of satisfying all my desires even at the cost of getting into a debt, eliminating unnecessary wants and minimizing needs worked better.
My financial problems and debt were fixed by fixing myself.
Debt creates stress; stress creates behaviours that don't lead to happiness.
There are no shortcuts when it comes to getting out of debt.
I felt that whoever had lent me money, owned me and my dignity too.
Debt increased my chances of lying.
I was happier if my expenses were lower than my income.
I was miserable when my expenses were higher than earnings.
Debt is like any other trap, easy enough to get into, but hard enough to get out of.
Physical health and lack of debt gave me clear conscience.
Interest on debts always grows.
When I did not pay the debt in time, I lost the creditor friend. Similarly, whenever I lent a money to a friend who is unable to pay back as promised, I don’t feel connected to him anymore.
Nowadays, most of the people have multiple loans. This may look natural as everyone around is in the same situation. However, this eventually leads to stress, mental health effects and physical diseases.
Here, I have listed the scientific studies that have proved the serious effects of debt on health and well-being. Click the sentences to read the full articles. I hope this will motivate you to take steps to adopt a debt free life.
These are some of the studies I could find. The effects can be much graver.
Our decision to live free of debts and EMIs (including life insurance, health insurance, mutual funds etc) has given us a very peaceful life.
We discovered that Minimalism is a solution for debt. Minimalism philosophy of living reduces the expenses and risks of debt. I will soon write our experiences on Minimalistic Philosophy of Living.
Take Care
Madhukar Dama