uccess With Money
uccess With Money
Your Personal Guide to Achieving Success With Your Money and Your Life
A lot of people come to a point where they think they would like to get out of debt. Sadly, even when they make a stab at it they usually fail. You don’t need to be one of them.
You have gotten off to a good start. You have learned what you really need to know for success. You have started on the journey.
How can you be sure you will continue to complete success? That is the point of this final article in this debt elimination series.
They start. Almost everyone who has a lot of debt has experienced times when under the pressures of too many obligations they decided they had to do something about it. Then followed a few weeks or months of intense and often unpleasant efforts to reduce debts.
They get discouraged. Under these circumstances progress often seems so slight it is hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Because the initial effort that is exerted releases some of the pressures caused by debt, interest falls away and old habits return.
They quit. Unfortunately, after a while when enthusiasm has declined enough the whole plan just falls apart. That is until the pressure of debt gets overwhelming again. Then the cycle repeats itself.
They are not you. If you are following the plan described in the previous articles of this series this should not happen to you. Nevertheless, it is important to keep several things in mind and take several proactive steps to assure that we stay on the right path.
I can’t overstate the importance of having a clear and appropriate vision of your goal in becoming free from debt. Without a clear goal success is unlikely; with it success is almost inevitable.
If your goal is to escape the pressure of having too many bills you will have the drive to get started. But you will drop the program when the pressure dies down.
If your goal is to be able to live in prosperity and to achieve real financial freedom, you will enjoy the process from the beginning. And as you complete each step of your plan you will gain in enthusiasm.
Here is a visual that you might want to use. Make two spending plans. One is a description of your current spending including all our your debts.
Start the second the same but erase all the current debts. No more credit cards, loans of any kind, or mortgage payments.
Now take the amount you are currently paying on those debts and add in equal amounts showing an increase (perhaps double the current amount) for discretionary spending plus fully funding your IRA, etc.
Now put these up side by side. Compare the two. Think about how different your life will be living debt free. If you keep your focus on this goal you will have all the motivation you need to go all the way.
Almost every aspect of financial success is impacted negatively by the short sighted view most people have acquired.
It is harder to imagine anything more destructive than the prevalent desire for immediate gratification. Everyone wants everything and they want it now!
Very few projects call for patience and persistence more than your debt elimination program. At first progress will seem very slow. The first few months, even the first year or two can be discouraging without focusing on the long view.
But as individual debts are paid off and the amount being paid on them are added to payments on others, your payoffs will accelerate. At first you are paying mostly interest, but as you go along you will be knocking off the principle.
Focus on your goal. Be patient. Keep in mind that there is probably no one thing you can do to improve your life more than to become debt free.
When I was a kid and tried to blame one of my decisions on a friend, my mom would say, “I suppose if he told you to go jump in a lake you would do it!” I always groaned.
Now I find myself saying something that probably sounds just as dumb to my grandchildren when they want to do something foolish with their money. I say, “Why don’t you just go flush your money down the toilet?”
People always tend to listen to people they know, instead of listening to people who know. When it comes to money it is really tragic.
Most people accept blindly the views of friends and associates. Especially when even a casual glance should tell us that the financial choices of those they are listening to are anything but productive.
There are people who know, people whose advice can be trusted, at least to a degree. They are the ones who are successful with their own money.
That doesn’t mean they appear to be wealthy. A lot of people who have lots of “things ”are in as bad shape as anyone else. Often people who appear to be of meager means are managing quite successfully.
Unfortunately, one of the biggest problems most people face when they start to take control of their own finances comes from the resulting conflicts with others who don’t understand. Especially family and close friends.
Others are threatened by anyone who doesn’t find it necessary to borrow money. Even more by those who happen to have more than a few dollars in savings. It may be guilt, but for whatever reason they seem unable to accept it.
The best advice I can give here is to trust yourself. And keep your mouth shut!
Nevertheless, if you can find someone who shares your views or someone who has a proven record of success with money, enlist their support. It can be a real source of encouragement.
There are numerous steps a person can take to strengthen their commitment to debt retirement and to their financial program in general.
First, make sure that you instill into your thinking a solid concept of what you are doing and why. If you have a long history of spending more than you earn and building debt you have to work hard for a while to change your usual thinking about money.
One way to do that is to read this series of articles over several times. You might want to read each of them once a week for a month, then once a month for about six months. It takes regular reinforcement for a period to permanently change your thinking on anything new.
You may want to read some other resources about debt reduction and elimination. There are several good books and articles that can help. Anything you can do to reinforce your new thinking is helpful.
A second thing you can do, and really should do, is to check your environment for negative influences. Keep in mind that most people are anything but successful in the way they handle their money. You no longer choose to be one of them.
If your friends or family members are not dealing effectively with their money, do not even discuss money with them. As suggested before, if you want to talk with others, look for someone who will be supportive.
People don’t need to be “rich ”to be successful but look for someone who spends less than they earn and have growing savings. That is the mark of someone who is in control of their money instead of being its slave.
Watch your personal habits, too. Shopping is not a hobby. If you have a habit of “window shopping” trade it in for photography, bird watching, gardening, or anything else you can enjoy.
The third step you can take is a long term one—to stabilize your new lifestyle with positive reinforcements. Starting is half done, they say, but only half. You have to maintain your course.
Every month when you do your financial review and planning session, include specific steps to help keep you on target. When you review your overall financial picture pay special attention to your debt reduction figures.
Assure yourself that you are on course and plan for any adjustments that need to be made. Remind yourself of the positive benefits you are gaining by eliminating debt.
When you reach specific milestones you may want to celebrate somehow. Just don’t spend any money doing so unless you can pay for it. With cash.
This is the final article in this series on eliminating debt. If you apply what you learn here it is only a matter of time until you will be free from debt.
If you start with the amount of debt most people do it rarely can happen over night, but it is within the capacity of anyone who sets out to achieve it.
I wish you great success in becoming debt free. Let me know how you do.
Our monthly newsletter is a key part of the Success With Money program.
Annually review each of the ten key laws of money.
Receive monthly action steps to move yourself forward toward success.
(privacy protected)