I admit, we have not always been the best with our money. There was a time when it took way too much time to use coupons, we bought on impulse and we had debt. It was like a ball and chain literally weighing us down. Each month we had more going out than coming in and we felt like we were always one step ahead and then two steps back. That is no way to live. Then, we found a solution (*hint: it was not "make more money"). We made a plan and a budget.
I hated the idea of a budget, I mean really hated it. I resisted bad at first. Once I realized a budget was not a restraint but a key to financial freedom, I changed my attitude toward it. My husband and I sat down and honestly assessed our situation. We wrote down all our expenses and all our income and compared the two. That was hard to do. We did not play the blame game. We came up with solutions instead. We trimmed a few 'extras' we did not want to trim but we wanted to be out of debt worse than having the 'extras'. We made a monthly budget we could both live with. That was the first step.
I will be blogging a lot more about this subject, not because we are perfect at it but because we have learned a lot and I want to share what we have learned with others. Today, we are debt free except our mortgage, which we have never borrowed against, so just our true first mortgage. We have paid off all our debts, step by step, and I can't even express the freedom that gives us! We have a savings account that continues to grow instead of shrink each month. We are not panicked when the tax bill comes or the doctor bills.
One key program that helped us in a HUGE way is Dave Ramsey. His Financial Peace University is an amazing program. I HIGHLY recommend this to everyone. It is important to go through this with a group of people if at all possible. It is hard at first. But, it is so great to know you are not alone, too poor or too far in debt to be helped. And, in the end, it WILL work and you WILL be free from debt that weighs you down!
P.S. I don't get any 'kickback' for promoting this...I just know it works!
http://www.daveramsey.com/home/
*Stay tuned for much more on this subject....
