How Broke is broke?

[meph]

Originally Posted by bluecuracao

However, all that was a cakewalk compared to facing no income, yet having a mortgage to pay for. Being on the brink of foreclosure--twice--had been the most stress I have ever encountered. When you have absolutely nothing, you have more freedom to move around. But when you have this one thing, you fight tooth and nail for it; because if you lose it, you'll be right back at square one with little chance of getting past it again.

This sums up part of what I'm about to say. If having no money (that's what this about, right?) doesn't keep you from being happy and you're not starving, then you're not broke.

Of course you'd have to have no possessions or responsibilities. Even when I was broke and making 137 bucks a week, I did have a roof over my head and my bills were paid. But if my plumbing broke down I couldn't pay for the parts to fix it and I certainly couldn't pay for someone to fix it. I also had bills for electric and water so those had to be paid.

So it's down to what you need the money for and how you view debts.

I'm reminded of one of those TV preachers (Reverend Ike) who had someone crying about a huge bank debt coming due in a few days and he could lose his business. He told the guy that he didn't have a problem, the bank did.

But when you have freedom to make your own decisions and can afford (and I dont mean this in strictly monetary terms!) to make your destiny as you wish, the money isn't the primary impetus.

Being stuck in a dead-end job with no prospects scares me more than being broke. I can always go someplace and make more money.