If you’ve lived long enough you’ve probably purchased something—furniture, an automobile, a home—through an installment or monthly payment program. It’s a common and popular method of paying for something in equal monthly payments until it’s paid off, ultimately giving you ownership.
Installment plans can be very useful and beneficial; however, they’re not without cost. If you add up all your payments, that number minus the initial purchase price constitutes the interest, or cost, of your installment plan. In other words, many small amounts add up to a large enough amount to pay total.
The same concept effectively is killing many people today in the use and abuse of drugs and alcohol. Our society is fighting an epidemic of addiction, most recently our addiction to opioids that is killing 70-80,000 people a year. It’s not just drugs that are killing us: more-accepted and subtle addictions/causes of death (from the greatest) are cigarettes, poor diet and physical inactivity, and alcohol.
Death by installment!
Take the time to take inventory of your lifestyle and make the necessary changes to your installment plans. Days turn into weeks then months and years. Whether your lifestyle is healthy or unhealthy, over time, it all adds up.