Simple Facts To Face To Get Out Of Debt
Tuesday, December 1st, 2009 Subscribe To Our Feed
Recently I had a conversation with a friend who, for the last year or so, has really made an effort in getting a hold of her financial situation. During our conversation we came to the conclusion that in our Western culture, being in debt is so acceptable that unless you truly resolve to not play the game, you will remain in debt.
As she knows that I write for this site, I said to her that at times I feel frustrated as to what to contribute as there is only so many ways that you can say - “If you want to get out of debt, simply quit spending more than you make.” But it has to be a decision that first, you make, and second you stick to come hell or high-water.
Just as with dieting, you won’t be successful if you don’t resist the donuts that show up at the office, or the decadent slice of chocolate cake that’s shouting out your name. Same here, if you are sincere about wanting to get out of debt, you are going to have to stick with your decision even when you walk passed your favorite store and see the 50 Percent Off Entire Stock sign hanging in the window.
If we stick with our dieting comparison, to really maximize your success, it’s going to take a lifestyle change. You have to change your food choices, cut out excess, maybe change the time of day in which you eat, and to really like what you see in the end - you’re going to have to exercise.
So too with getting out of debt, it’s going to take a lifestyle change, or more so, a management change. You will have to go through the exercise process of creating a budget - or at least, go through the process to know exactly what your fixed expenses are and what your variable expenses are. You will then have to compare the sum of those values with your net income to determine how much of the variable spending has to be trimmed, or alternatively, what you are going to do to generate more income.
The option of doing something to generate more income is not something that should be quickly dismissed. In his book Rich Dad Poor Dad, Robert Kiyosaki talks about the mentality of the rich not being ‘I can’t afford it’, but rather ‘How can I get it.’ This outlook is liberating rather than restrictive. The minute you give yourself an ‘I can’t’ or restrict yourself, psychologically you start to want it more.
So really it just all boils down to this: everything has a cost. Plain and simple. Then you have to decide what it’s worth to you and what price you’re willing to pay. Back to the diet. If you tell yourself you can’t have the chocolate cake, you’re going to want it all the more. So instead if you assess the cost at 500 calories, is having to skip supper, or having to increase your exercise time, or staying where you are at, an acceptable price to pay for the brief pleasure of the chocolate cake.
If there is something that you really want to buy, rather than telling yourself you can’t, what can you do to make the purchase? If getting out of debt is your true desire, then what in your current budget gets cut, or what can you do to generate some income to purchase the item?
If you can’t recall a time of someone pointing a gun at your head, forcing you to buy something on credit, then you alone are responsible for your debt. If you lived by the principle of purchasing only that which you paid cash for, you wouldn’t be reading articles on this site. So the question to you is what are you prepared to do to turn things around? Start thinking, think outside the box, write an action plan down, stick to it and watch your life turn around.
Over the next while, we plan on posting articles that might generate some ideas on ways to increase your income. Please feel free to leave a comment with ideas or strategies which have worked for you.
Technorati Tags: debt relief, get out of debt
Related Tags: No Tags
Possible Related Posts
