Because most of what you’ve been taught about “good debt” and “bad debt” came from the people who profit from it.

It’s the most expensive — just stretched over the longest timeline. Even at a low rate, you’ll pay back two to three times what you borrowed. Cheap interest isn’t the same as cheap money because time compounds profit for the bank, not for you.

A 6% car loan doesn’t cost the same as a 6% mortgage or credit card. Each product calculates interest differently. Comparing them by rate alone is like comparing miles to minutes — it doesn’t tell the whole story.

A refinance can make sense, but most people trade a short-term win for a long-term loss. Lowering your rate by 1% doesn’t help if you add 10 years to your clock. You didn’t beat the bank — you gave them more time to win.

Not always. If your timing is off, extra payments can sit in an escrow account, doing nothing for months. Banks take your money in precise amounts, and anything beyond that can earn them more profit before it even touches your balance.

Budgets are great for awareness, not acceleration. They tell you where your money goes, not how to make it move faster. You need structure, timing, and flow — not just categories.

They’re motivational tools, not mathematical solutions. Paying off the smallest balance or highest rate helps psychologically, but it’s not the fastest way to eliminate debt. If you want the fastest route, you need a dynamic plan that adapts as your situation changes.

This is one of the system’s biggest lies. Banks want you to believe you can only do one because they profit from both sides of the equation. The truth is you can do both, with the same dollar, when you understand how to structure your flow.

The minimum isn’t a safety net — it’s a trap. It’s designed to keep you paying interest forever. If you only pay the minimum on a $10,000 credit card at 24%, it could take 28 years and cost more than $30,000 total.

Debt isn’t a rite of passage — it’s a product. It exists because it’s profitable. When you start seeing debt as a product sold to you, not as something you need, you finally take back control.

The Financial Minimalist Plan

At Financial Minimalist, we teach Tacoma families to question everything they’ve been told about money because most of it was designed to keep them paying longer. You don’t need more income. You don’t need to just work harder. You need structure that makes your money work twice — once to eliminate debt and again to build wealth.

“When you learn how the system profits from time, you can start profiting from it instead.”

• The bank’s rules are designed to keep you paying, not progressing.
• Time, not interest, is what makes debt expensive.
• You can build wealth and eliminate debt simultaneously.
• Static plans fail — dynamic flow wins.
• Financial freedom isn’t about less spending; it’s about smarter structure.

You’ve been following their rules long enough. It’s time to write your own. Debt isn’t the cost of living — it’s the cost of following a system that wasn’t built for your freedom.