Hello all! Yesterday's email by JD Roth on how he got out of debt really hit home at exactly the right time for me! I am going through many changes in my life right now, but the underlying curse is my continuing DEBT! I cut and pasted most of the post into my daily journal, and by noon I had cut up my credit card, cancelled my health club membership, organic food delivery, and (sadly) my cleaning lady. I tried to cancel Sirius satellite radio (instead they gave me 2 months for free), and phoned my cell phone company to get a better rate for my teenage son and I. Whew!
About 3 years ago I had a similar Monday morning, self-inspired, in which I phoned up the bank to consolidate all my debts. I ended up keeping one credit card as eveyone will tell you you do need it. I lowered the limit (actually the bank guy did), and thought I was on my way to being debt free. I kept up with my payments, but discovered how easy it was to increase my limit on my credit card (I think it was Christmas). I had changed banks during this transaction, and they kindly :roll: included "overdraft" in my new account. The system was working with me!
A year ago I needed a new (used) car. I cleverly talked the new bank into giving me a new loan for MUCH more than I needed so that I could get a lower interest rate! YIKES!!!!! You can see the road I've been headed down.
So yesterday morning's post was a kick in the pants that I needed. I have many excuses for being where I am. But at the end of the day, we're all responsible for our own lot in life. This is my first post on ZenHabits, and I'd love to share the challenge I'm facing with someone in a similar situation. Or if you just have some thoughts on the subject you'd like to share, words of encouragement, etc.. I'd love to hear from you!
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Hi my friend......Top marks to you for taking control of your life..it will be so rewarding to be Debt free (or as debt free as you can be in todays consumer driven society). Its really about taking a stand and saying i'm not going to follow the crowd..i dont need all the latest stuff that you say i need...i'm going to live my life at the level i decide to...
As the debt goes down you'll find that you dont necessarily have to work as many hours to have a rewarding lifestyle...and you'll have more time to enjoy life....maybe spend more time with your son.....thats what i did and i've never looked back...
Take comfort thats theres hundreds of thousands of people just like us all over the planet in the same situation..its just very few of them actually achieve what youve just done....
Stay focused and keep chipping away at that debt...and let us know just how well youre doing..
Kind Regards
As the debt goes down you'll find that you dont necessarily have to work as many hours to have a rewarding lifestyle...and you'll have more time to enjoy life....maybe spend more time with your son.....thats what i did and i've never looked back...
Take comfort thats theres hundreds of thousands of people just like us all over the planet in the same situation..its just very few of them actually achieve what youve just done....
Stay focused and keep chipping away at that debt...and let us know just how well youre doing..
Kind Regards
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I've hit this realization a few weeks ago and have been doing a lot of reading on how to tackle my debt. I have about $45k not including the house between 2 cars (13k and 9.5k), a credit card (3.1k), a student loan (15k), and a loan to myself from my retirement I needed when I got the house (4.9k?). (Rough estimates) I've made plans to have the two cars and the credit card paid before the end of 2009. Even then it's very hard to be patient, I wish I had this all done right NOW so I could be enjoying my extra money instead of sending it all away.
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Best wishes to all of you. I have about 5k in student loan debt right now, but that's it. It shouldn't take me long to pay it off once I have my degree.
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"Its really about taking a stand and saying i'm not going to follow the crowd..i dont need all the latest stuff that you say i need...i'm going to live my life at the level i decide to..."
I've taken this excerpt from your post, oceanwindsong, and pasted it in my daily diary that I keep in Word. I think the root of the problem with overextending myself is somehow not feeling content with myself and what I have/am. At some very basic level I feel I "deserve" a better life than I have, and giving myself things (including services, travel) will make me feel better. At the same time, I'm not totally unconscious of sabotaging my success by falling into the trap. There's an element of danger, excitement, flirting with "can I get away with this?" that provides some primeval thrill.
True confessions! Here I am trying to start a new business while on "sabbatical" from work in order to look after my parents in another city as they move into nursing home care. Talk about trying to put your life in perspective! This has to be a complete lifestyle change, like changing your eating style instead of dieting. How does one reinforce the connection between knowing what I need to do, and resisting the immediate gratification temptation?
Having a credit card in two parts is a good start I guess. I'm too terrified of bouncing a rent cheque for my office to ask the bank to remove my "overdraft"! I guess that's where the $1000 in the bank (savings account) comes in.
I totally understand your frustration, Adam. It does seem unfair to be in this position. I find myself drawn to the sidewalk signs outside of variety stores, reminding us that 6/49 Lottery is now up to $30 million. Once I pay for that one ticket, I spend moments every day fantasizing about how I'm going to tackle my debt "once I win"! Meanwhile, it's an even worse scam to take our money (usually those of us who are in need one way or another), and feed our gambling urges. So many aspects of our society support debt. So thanks, oceanwindsong, for the new mantra!
I've taken this excerpt from your post, oceanwindsong, and pasted it in my daily diary that I keep in Word. I think the root of the problem with overextending myself is somehow not feeling content with myself and what I have/am. At some very basic level I feel I "deserve" a better life than I have, and giving myself things (including services, travel) will make me feel better. At the same time, I'm not totally unconscious of sabotaging my success by falling into the trap. There's an element of danger, excitement, flirting with "can I get away with this?" that provides some primeval thrill.
True confessions! Here I am trying to start a new business while on "sabbatical" from work in order to look after my parents in another city as they move into nursing home care. Talk about trying to put your life in perspective! This has to be a complete lifestyle change, like changing your eating style instead of dieting. How does one reinforce the connection between knowing what I need to do, and resisting the immediate gratification temptation?
Having a credit card in two parts is a good start I guess. I'm too terrified of bouncing a rent cheque for my office to ask the bank to remove my "overdraft"! I guess that's where the $1000 in the bank (savings account) comes in.
I totally understand your frustration, Adam. It does seem unfair to be in this position. I find myself drawn to the sidewalk signs outside of variety stores, reminding us that 6/49 Lottery is now up to $30 million. Once I pay for that one ticket, I spend moments every day fantasizing about how I'm going to tackle my debt "once I win"! Meanwhile, it's an even worse scam to take our money (usually those of us who are in need one way or another), and feed our gambling urges. So many aspects of our society support debt. So thanks, oceanwindsong, for the new mantra!
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You are welcome my friend...glad i could give you some small guidance..
You've touched on an important point. 'Instant gratifiaction' is just that...the pleasure lasts for an instant and then is gone.
Many people live their lives linking one instant to the next...before they know it their life is over and they wonder what it was all about...
I like to use the image that our journey through life is like a long bus trip. We get on when we are born and we get off when we die.Between these two stops, various people get on and off as they come into and go out of our lives..the instant gratifications are fleeting pleasurable images out the bus window that flash by..one blink and their gone.
Remember , youre on that bus for the rest of your life, while those images come and go.
I guess the point i'm trying to make is that you need to live your whole life..not just bits of it. Go for the whole life experince..starting your own business, taking care of your parents..work it all into one big plan..set yourself goals and keep to them...the rewards will be many times greater than that 1 minute lottery win daydream...
Best of luck to you...let us know what you decide...keep in touch
Kind Regards..
You've touched on an important point. 'Instant gratifiaction' is just that...the pleasure lasts for an instant and then is gone.
Many people live their lives linking one instant to the next...before they know it their life is over and they wonder what it was all about...
I like to use the image that our journey through life is like a long bus trip. We get on when we are born and we get off when we die.Between these two stops, various people get on and off as they come into and go out of our lives..the instant gratifications are fleeting pleasurable images out the bus window that flash by..one blink and their gone.
Remember , youre on that bus for the rest of your life, while those images come and go.
I guess the point i'm trying to make is that you need to live your whole life..not just bits of it. Go for the whole life experince..starting your own business, taking care of your parents..work it all into one big plan..set yourself goals and keep to them...the rewards will be many times greater than that 1 minute lottery win daydream...
Best of luck to you...let us know what you decide...keep in touch
Kind Regards..
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Ocean, I like your bus analogy. Instant gratification is like watching something fly by through a window. And your analogy expresses the truth of how important our relationships in life are. Those people are on the bus with us for a long time. They are much more important than anything zooming by outside of the bus. Someone once said, "your happiness in life is directly connected to the quality of your relationships." I think they are right.
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The reason I'm so impatient is because I want to take action. There's only so many times you can redo your budget or check over your bills again. You just have to be patient, sit, and wait for the bills to come in, and then the paycheck to take care of them. I want to do something. So I'm looking for things to sell, since it is an actual activity and it will help pay my debts. I've calculated things out over and over trying to anticipate what I'll be spending every month. A great help in this for me was a neat feature in Excel. When I open it at first there's a tab on the left that says 'office online' and you can enter a search term. Search for "Loan Calculator with extra payments". It'll download the template for you and you can put in the information for your various loans, see the amortization table, and enter extra payments as you wish to see how early you can pay things off. [/i]
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