I’m delighted to have my Element, but I am getting tired of all the finance paperwork. Because I have good credit and a strong financial history, my bank and the car dealership are both trying to get me to finance with them. But they aren’t willing to give me a rock-bottom interest rate until the other under-bids them.

It’s a thrill to get 3% knocked off an already low interest rate, but I am tired of the endless phone calls back and forth. Each is shaving off a quarter of a percent at a time, and it’s just getting annoying. Today I did the math, and a quarter of a percent only saves me a few hundred dollars over the life of the loan. So this afternoon I decided to go with my bank, even though the dealership offered me a better loan. I’ve been banking with Wells Fargo for four years now, and I’d rather finance with them and build a better relationship with them. The more I bank with them, the better it gets for my checkbook.

A few times a year I’ll read an article in the paper that Americans are totally in debt, especially when compared to other countries. This used to make me embarrassed to be an American, that maybe we were greedy and foolish. But I am seeing that part of being successful is daring to go in debt. You borrow money to make money. As you pay back that money, your credit grows, and you are able to borrow more. As long as you are responsible with your borrowed money, debt can work out great.

For the past several years, I’ve been too busy working full time and traveling every weekend to make grande financial moves. I made basic financial decisions, like saving a lot while spending little. I made a couple real estate investments, bought a few cars, and upgraded my home. All of those qualify as financial decisions, but I wanted to get books and learn more about things like the stock market and banking. Now that I am traveling less, it is exciting to do finally do those things.