How do you describe your debt?

On the phone to my mom the other day, she mentioned throwing money at debt. I joked that I don’t like to throw money at debt. Then it just flutters ineffectually to the ground. Instead, I prefer to put my money on or against debt.

We laughed and moved on to another subject, but it got me thinking about the lingo of debt reduction.

Lately, I have avoided saying that we’ll throw money at debt. Something about the phrase just irks me. Strange, really, since I used to say it all the time.

I tried to figure out why, and my mind immediately jumped to “throwing money” at a problem. It’s what people do when they want to remain uninvolved and blameless – when they just want the problem to go away.

With that kind of connotation, no wonder I don’t like the phrase anymore!

My brain being how it is, though, it didn’t just stop at my own linguistic quirks. I started thinking about how other people describe debt and their debt reduction efforts. All around the PF blogosphere, you will find stories of debt that has been (or is being) conquered. People seem to think of it as a beast to be beaten, a dragon to be slain. Inherent in that kind of description is a challenge, motivating us into action.

But is that really the best way to talk about debt?

I’m tempted to say it’s once again about responsibility. In just about any culture’s lore, beasts, monsters and dragons happen to people. The creatures are essentially inflicted on innocent, blameless villagers.

Meanwhile, most of the people with debt had an active role in its creation. So isn’t it a tad revisionist to picture yourself as a white knight? Or, at least, as an underdog still brave enough to face the beast?

Then again, the image of charging forward, crusading for safety… Well, that’s a pretty powerful motivator. It might be what keeps people going in periods of would-be frugal burnout.

So are we using these images to absolve ourselves of the blame? Or is it just to keep us going?

I wonder if the same result could be achieved by picturing it as a mountain to climb. Though I suppose that’s still got the “conquer” attitude toward it.

There’s another problem, too: While you climb a mountain, it stays intact. At least a monster can be slain. Mountains only erode over millennia – and that’s hardly inspiring.

Personally, I’m not very imaginative in this area. Whenever I picture debt, it’s basically an amorphous blob. It casts a very large, very depressing shadow over us. As a whole, the thing feels very menacing – as though it would swallow us up given half the chance.

So, as we make payments, the cloud shrinks and seems to recede. The shadows aren’t quite as dark. And we get a little closer to the sunshine that lies just outside the pall cast by our debt.

I need to know what you guys think. Does the image matter, so long as it spurs you forward? How do you picture/talk about your debt?

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