Debt is Really Annoying When you Want to Buy Fun Things

Debt can be really annoying.

I’ve been having that thought a lot recently while on vacation with my family.

Let me explain.

With three young kids, I haven’t focused much on personal hobbies lately. However, being on vacation has allowed me to focus on some fun stuff, like biking and golfing.

The annoying part?

Hobbies can be expensive.

I went for a great bike ride the other day. It was challenging and fun. I felt accomplished and fit. These are feelings I’d like to replicate as much as possible.

So, when I got home, I started looking for a new bike online.

The next day, I played golf. Same thing happened. Had a great time. Hit some good shots. Felt encouraged and excited about my golf game slowly improving.

So, I went home and started shopping for new golf clubs.

Whether it was biking or golfing, I realized how important hobbies are for all of us. I had fun and distracted myself from the stresses of life.

I was tempted to buy a new bike or new golf clubs as a way to motivate myself to continue those hobbies.

But, I’m not going to buy the bike or the golf clubs.

At least not until I accomplish my 2025 money goals.

Which brings us back to why I’ve been thinking lately about how annoying debt is.

My main 2025 money goal is to eliminate HELOC debt.

At the beginning of the year, my wife and I talked about our money goals for the rest of the year.

After talking it through together and weighing all our options, we came up with these three goals for 2025: 

1. Our first goal is to continuing paying down our mortgage debt. We used HELOCs to help us acquire some of our properties. Now that we’ve determined that “enough is enough,” we’re focused on paying back these loans.
2. Our second goal is to build up our emergency savings. We mostly ignored our emergency savings between 2017 and 2024. It was risky and led to some touch-and-go moments that we’d like to avoid moving forward.
3. Our third goal is to boost our contributions to our kids’ college savings accounts. We use what’s called a “529 college savings plan.” 529 plans are state-sponsored, tax-advantaged investment accounts. We use Illinois’ 529 plan because we receive a tax break as Illinois residents. Just about every state offers a 529 plan. They are a great way to save for college.

With our plan in place ahead of time, we know where every dollar is going before we earn it. This takes the anxiety out of trying to figure it out after the money has already hit our bank account. 

With less than half of the year remaining, we’ve made great progress on our goals. But, we still have a ways to go.

We still have HELOC debt to pay off. And until that debt is gone, I’m not buying a new bike or new golf clubs.

It’s important to me that I stay disciplined and stay on track with my goals.

Even though I’m happy that I used HELOCs to build my real estate portfolio, I’ve felt how heavy that debt load can be.

Now that the end is in sight, I don’t want to jeopardize my progress by buying expensive toys that I don’t really need right now.

I can still go biking without a new bike. I can still play golf without new clubs.

Most importantly, I know that the emotional high I’ll get from buying something new will dissipate quickly. And, I’ll still have that debt to carry around.

So, for now, I’m passing on the bike and the golf clubs. I did make a note in my journal that these are things I might like to buy when the time is right.

Until then, I’ll continue to prioritize my money goals and work to eliminate my HELOC debt.

Student loan delinquencies continue to rise.

According to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, student loan delinquencies continue to rise:

Missed federal student loan payments that were not previously reported to credit bureaus between 2020Q2 and 2024Q4 are now appearing in credit reports.

Consequently, student loan delinquency rates continued to rise. In the second quarter of 2025, 10.2% of aggregate student debt was reported as 90+ days delinquent.

You may not have HELOC debt like me, but the odds are that as a young lawyer or professional, you have student loan debt to pay off.

You may have to make spending choices like I did with the new bike or new golf clubs.

Debt from student loans and financial freedom go hand-in-hand for most professionals. Maybe a better way to put it is that student loans can be a major obstacle on your path to financial freedom.

Of course, the more education you’ve received, the more student loans you likely have.

Whether you have student loan debt from college or graduate school, it’s important to have a plan to pay that debt off. 

All debt acts as a roadblock to financial freedom.

Student loans are no different.

They’re a weight that we carry around long before we even make the first repayment. Sometimes that weight feels so heavy, it’s hard to imagine it ever going away.

And as much as we wish we could, we can’t ignore our student loans.

It was easy to forget about student loans during the pandemic. Now, student loans are once again a major financial obstacle for many lawyers and professionals.

One way or the other, we have to get rid of them.

And when we do get rid of them for good, there might not be a better personal finance feeling in the world.

Personally, I’ll never forget the day I made my last payment and shared the news with my future wife and family.

To help you have that same feeling of accomplishment, I wrote about my top 10 student loan tips for lawyers and professionals.

You can check out the full post here.

Top 10 Student Loan Tips for Lawyers and Professionals

1. Locate all your loans.
2. Sign up for automatic payments.
3. Do not miss a payment.
4. Consider using Debt Snowball or Debt Avalanche.
5. Make an extra monthly payment.
6. Create a BAT that generates fuel for your student loans.
7. Make more money and use that money for your loans.
8. Take a tax deduction and use your tax refund for your loans.
9. Consider a loan consolidation.
10. Look for ongoing scholarship opportunities.

Have you ever felt how annoying debt can be?

Whether it’s HELOC debt or student loan debt, all debt can feel really annoying. Debt can stop us from doing the things we really want to do in life.

I don’t regret taking out student loans. I also don’t regret using HELOCs to build my real estate portfolio.

It’s true that I wouldn’t be where I am today without my education and my rental properties.

Still, I have to make choices with my limited dollars. I took on the obligation of paying back my debts, and until I do so, fun things are going to have to wait.

When I finally do buy that bike or those golf clubs, it’s going to feel even better knowing I didn’t sacrifice my goals to get them.

Have you made certain spending choices because of debt?

How did you think about and eventually decide whether to move forward with that purchase?

Let us know in the comments below.