50+ of the Best Debt Free Quotes to Motivate You to Finally Dump Your Debt

Sometimes the best motivator is a swift kick in the butt from some cold hard truth! Here are the best debt-free quotes to do just that!

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Debt quotes

“Rich people plan for three generations. Poor people plan for Saturday night.”
– Gloria Steinem

“Overspending while trying to raise one’s status is a condition of economic materialism which hurts people financially, because it usually results in unnecessary debt. One does not raise social strata by buying things but instead by acquiring enough wealth to qualify for the next category of wealth.”
– Zachariah Renfro

“When you buy a bigger house, another luxury car, or a fancy boat, you are showing people that you used to have money.”
– Christopher Manske

“Rich people have small TVs and big libraries, and poor people have small libraries and big TVs.”
– Zig Ziglar

“[Credit is a system whereby] a person who can’t pay, gets another person who can’t pay, to guarantee that he can pay.”
– Charles Dickens

“Every time you borrow money, you’re robbing your future self.”
– Nathan W. Morris

“A Debt Problem Is, At Its Core, a Budgeting Problem.”
– Natalie Pace

“The basic thing with frugality is: IF YOU CAN’T AFFORD IT, DON’T BUY IT.”
– Harken Headers

“Know what you own, and know why you own it.”
– Peter Lynch

“Some debts are fun when you are acquiring them, but none are fun when you set about retiring them.”
– Ogden Nash

“Students who acquire large debts putting themselves through school are unlikely to think about changing society. When you trap people in a system of debt, they can’t afford the time to think.”
– Noam Chomsky

“A good name is still to be preferred over great riches. Especially it is to be preferred to the appearance of riches, acquired with nothing down and nothing to pay for 2 months.”
– Ezra Taft Benson

“To grasp why people bury themselves in debt, you don’t need to study interest rate: you need to study the history of greed, insecurity, and optimism.”
– Morgan Housel

“Before borrowing money from a friend, decide which you need most.”
– American Proverb

“No man’s credit is as good as his money.”
– E.W. Howe

“Speak not of my debts unless you mean to pay them.”
– George Herbert

“Creditors have better memories than debtors.”
– Benjamin Franklin

“It is the debtor that is ruined by hard times.”
– Rutherford B. Hayes

“Debt can turn a free, happy person into a bitter human being.”
– Michael Mihalik

“Debt on anything that depreciates is disastrous.”
– Orrin Woodward

“The man who never has money enough to pay his debts has too much of something else.”
– James Lendall Basford

“Some people use one half their ingenuity to get into debt, and the other half to avoid paying it.”
– George D Prentice

“Debt is one person’s liability, but another person’s asset.”
– Paul Krugman

“It’s good to have money and the things that money can buy, but it’s good, too, to check up once in a while and make sure that you haven’t lost the things that money can’t buy.”
– George Lorimer

“In God we trust; all others must pay cash.”
– unknown

“The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is slave to the lender.”
– Proverbs 22:7

“Ten million dollars after I’d become a star, I was deeply in debt.”
– Sammy Davis Jr

“Do not accustom yourself to consider debt only as an inconvenience; you will find it a calamity.”
– Samuel Johnson

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“A creditor is worse than a slave-owner; for the master owns only your person, but a creditor owns your dignity and can command it.”
– Victor Hugo

“One of the greatest disservices you can do a man is to lend him money that he can’t pay back.”
– Jesse H Jones

“Debt is like any other trap, easy enough to get into, but hard enough to get out of.”
– Josh Billings

“Wars in old times were made to get slaves. The modern implement of imposing slavery is debt.”
– Ezra Pound

“Don’t let your mouth write a check that your ass can’t cash, son.”
– Charles Portis

“There are no shortcuts when it comes to getting out of debt.”
– Dave Ramsey

You can’t talk about debt without have Dave Ramsey be a part of it! He is the debt payoff king, and for good reason! He has helped tens of thousands of people payoff debt and build wealth with his baby step process.

“Debt is a prolific mother of folly and of crime.”
– Benjamin Disraeli

“Debt basically enables people to live a lie.”
– Rachel Cruze

“Words pay no debts.”
– William Shakespeare

“Credit buying is much like being drunk. The buzz happens immediately and gives you a lift… The hangover comes the day after.”
– Joyce Brothers 

“Christmas is the season when you buy this year’s gifts with next year’s money.”
– unknown

“Rich people believe ‘I create my life.” Poor people believe ‘Life happens to me'”
– T. Harv Eker

“Home life ceases to be free and beautiful as soon as it is founded on borrowing and debt.”
– Henrik Ibsen

“The decision to go into debt alters the course condition of your life. You no longer own it. You are owned.”
– Dave Ramsey

Quotes are something that helps us put ourselves in a better mindset, be it a revelation, motivation, etc. Yet, sometimes we need something more than a quote. Positive money affirmations are a great way to help yourself see the light at the end of the tunnel and help you get there!

Being “debt free” quotes

Some of these quotes talk about the peace that debt freedom can bring, while others are more “motivational quotes” to inspire those on their debt free journey!

“What can be added to the happiness of a man who is in health, out of debt, and has a clear conscience?”
– Adam Smith

“Out of debt, out of danger.”
– Jerry Voorhis

“I make myself rich by making my wants few.”
– Henry David Thoreau

“His brow is wet with honest sweat; he earns whate’er he can, And looks the whole world in the face, For he owes not any man.” 
– Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

“It always seems impossible until it’s done.”
– Nelson Mandela

“Pay off your debt first. Freedom from debt is worth more than any amount you can earn.”
– Mark Cuban

“A healthy and debt free living person is the richest and the happiest.”
– Sushmitha Maddula

“Sometimes we’re tested not to show our weaknesses, but to discover our strengths.”
– unknown

“Tough times don’t last. Tough people do.”
– unknown

“Don’t be pushed around by the fears in your mind. Be led by the dreams in your heart.”
– Roy T Bennett

“Perseverance is the hard work you do after you get tired of doing the hard work you already did.”
– Newt Gingrich

“Learning is never done without errors and defeat.”
– Vladimir Lenin

America the great (debtor)

It’s common knowledge that Americans are deep in debt; student loan debt, credit card debt, a payday loan, car loans, etc. Yet it’s staggering when we see the actual amount. As of Sept 2020, Nerdwallet found that the average US household held debt of $145,085, to the turn of $14.35 trillion nationwide.

That figure includes all debt, but when people talk about debt, they are mostly talking about high-interest debt, such as credit card debt. According to the same study, the average household carries $7,027 on their cards, and they’ll pay an average of $1,155 in interest this year (2020).

Can you imagine taking $1,155 of your paycheck and flushing it down the toilet? Ugh! (If that’s not motivation to get out of the debt trap, then I don’t know what is).

You need to buckle down and start cutting your expenses. Now, I do want to say that some credit card purchases are a must-spend, things like car repair when it’s your only mode of transportation to get to work. A new HVAC system, when yours died in the middle of winter. Those things are necessary, and I understand and support those that need to do it.

But debt that is frivolous, the unchecked spending habits, is what makes my heart hurt – new iPhones, excess clothes, eating out 5 nights a week, all that consumer debt is what is dragging Americans down.

So what do we do? We change! It’s the only option.

What to do when you’re in debt

Firstly, recognize that this is a societal issue, we were never taught how to properly handle our money. We weren’t taught how to budget or to understand net worth is, or what a credit score is for. Yet commercials and clever marketing taught us how to shop. It’s sad.

So the first step is to recognize, then the next step is to get a plan of action, and you do that by learning. Little by little day after day. Just keep learning more about personal finance and making small tweaks. As the saying goes, “you can’t beat someone who doesn’t quit.” Soon financial freedom will be within your reach.

At the end of the day

Yes, clichés are so cliché. But that doesn’t stop them from being right/true! People for centuries have been talking about the negative effects of debt; no one talks about how great it is. Yet, in today’s age, so many of us find ourselves in debt, looking for a way out.

I hope you found a little bit of inspiration on this page of debt quotes, maybe a new mantra to help you when times are hard. Either way, know that other people have struggled with debt, and many have overcome it. You will too!

Soon enough, you could be sharing your own story, writing your own debt free quotes to inspire others. Yes, you can and will live a debt-free life! It’s one of the most powerful financial goals that someone can achieve, and soon it will be you!

Articles related to The Best Debt Free Quotes:

• Budgeting Quotes to Inspire You and Your Bottom Line!
• 5 Tips on How to Stay Motivated While Saving Money (just like a Pro)!
• Debt Payoff – This is How You Do It!
• How to Drastically Cut Your Expenses

Which of the debt free quotes are your favorite?