Avoid debt like the plague. It already reared its ugly head twice in the first paragraph. When you look at the crap out there that ruins people, most of it is

Avoid debt like the plague. It already reared its ugly head twice in the first paragraph. When you look at the crap out there that ruins people, most of it is finance (rent-a-center, subprime mtg, payday loans, easy-credit car loans, student loans, etc), and it's a death-spiral.