The Rough Ashlar of Debt

Debt is the rough ashlar — the unhewn stone that crushes the Brother who carries it without striking it. Every interest payment is the chisel of another man working on YOUR life, shaping your hours into HIS profit. The Master Mason picks up the chisel himself.

List every debt by interest rate, not by balance. The smallest debt is rarely the most dangerous. The 27% credit card devours faster than the 4% mortgage, even if the mortgage be ten times larger. Strike the highest rate first. This is called the Avalanche, and it is the geometrically correct method.

But know this: psychology eats geometry for breakfast. If thou art weak of will, the Snowball — striking smallest first — gives thee the small wins that keep thee in the fight. Choose the method that thou wilt actually FOLLOW. A perfect plan abandoned is worse than an imperfect plan completed.

Debt is not always evil. Debt taken on a depreciating consumable — a vacation, a meal, a fashion — is parasitic. Debt taken on a producing asset — a rental property, a business line of credit, an education that yields a measurable return — is leverage. The Brother distinguishes the two before he signs.