Close the window
It’s the middle of February. The temperature gauge on the back porch has so much ice on it you can’t even see exactly how cold it is, but you figure it’s probably better not to know. The wind is blowing and snow is swirling around making it look like it’s snowing even though it’s not. The trees are bare and scraping against the house in the wind. You pull your robe a little tighter. You bump the thermostat up a few more degrees even though you are already dreading the heating bill that’s coming your way.
The thought of the upcoming heating bill stresses you out and you feel like you need some air. So you go into the living room and open all the windows.
Why?! Why would you do that? You already can’t afford your heating bill. You are chilly in your home and opening the window is only going to make things worse! You are struggling to pay bills but instead of finding a way to make things cheaper you are just making them more expensive.
Paying interest is like heating a home with the windows open. Your money is just flying out the window.
If you are struggling to pay your bills and cover your necessities paying interest only makes them more expensive. Making them more expensive only means you struggle more. More struggling means more things financed. It’s a vicious circle.
Close the window!
Ashley
Hi, I'm primary author and founder of Money Talks. My passion in life is to help you make the most of your money. If you enjoy this site I encourage you to sign up for our newsletter.
Follow Me:
Did you enjoy this post? Why not leave a comment below and continue the conversation, or subscribe to my feed and get articles like this delivered automatically to your feed reader.
Comments
Nice analogy. Taking those steps to get out of debt really does stop the debt cycle. P.S. I’m so glad I don’t get icicles on my patio in February! 
That’s a terrific analogy, Ashley. I think there are so many things, financially, that people do because everybody else is doing it so it must be ok, or because the banks are allowed to do it so it must be ok. Well, the banks make their money off interest, so sure, they’re gonna let you do that stuff. Just like the heating company makes their money of heat, so yes, if they could, they’d push you to open windows too!
Great message. So simple, and so effective…and potentially very difficult without some objective friendly coaching.
Great comparison. I live in Canada, where winter is literally 5 months long. So cold. I gotta move to California (preferrably San Diego).
When we were paying off the credit card debt, we had a temperature gauge chart that we’d fill in every month to see how much closer we were to zero. Even though we were throwing hundreds of dollars at it each month, the line didn’t go up proportionately because of the interest factor. It was a helpful awakening.
After we moved in, my father-in-law and I spent a day blowing extra insulation into the attic. One of the neighbors, whom I’d never met, came over and asked about it. He said that his house was always cold in the winter.
Fast forward to the winter, and I could see that one of the windows was open. Mind you, Michigan winters are cold and this wasn’t during a ‘warm stretch’ (of which there are few anyways), this was during single digit temps. And it wasn’t just a one time thing, either!
Had I seen that in advance of our conversation, I probably would have told him to skip the extra insulation and just shut the darn window!