"What is it you really want, when do you want it
and what are youwilling to do to attain it?"
Throughout this story I am going to give you challenges. It's up to your todetermine if you will accept them. Though I will challenge you that ff you choose not to dosomething with the challenges, then I will proffer my personalopinion that you really aren't ready to start working towards whatyou want.
1)Get out a piece of paper and write down your ultimate goal. Post itsomewhere, your fridge or maybe as your screen saver on yourcomputer. You have to be able to define what you want and when youwant it.
I looked around and found our original goal “Wehope to sell our home in three years (thiswas written in 2013),and purchase another home with only the equity. Completely debt free.This will be more of a self sustainable homestead.”
Whenwe first wrote this down, we weren't even convinced we wanted tomove. Our plan changed in respect to how we decided to accomplish ourgoal. But ultimately, deep down we wanted to get out of the city, wewanted to be debt free and wanted to be as self sustaining a possibleon our new property.
2)Now the biggie, what are you willing to do to attain what you want?You may say anything, butareyoureallyto evaluate your spending patterns? Thiswill show you what is really important to you at this moment inyour life.
Atthis point I embarked on a personal challenge where I could onlyspend $250 for one month. Iinvite you to do the same.
Exceptions:the mortgage payment, bills that need to be paid. But I wrote downthose bills in detail. This will help you face the reality of yourdebt.
Eachweek:Everything else came from that $250. I wrote down how much I spentand what I spent it on. At the same time I was determined to payattention to what I was really doing.
Itreally was a tough challenge & I learned a lot about my spendinghabits, which honestly were pretty good. After the challenge I wasable to seeI normal bought to many things I didn't really need and I ate out tooften. I actually found I could live on about 20% less if I curtailedthese habits. I started paying cash for everything, whenI ran out of money, I had to stop spending.Whenyou think about it, this is what ourgreat-grandparents did. They didn't have credit cards, they paidcash, when they ran out of money, they stopped spending. Iwould really like to hear from you. If you are out of debt(completely or except for something like your mortgage) would youshare that with us on the Perky Gramma Teaches community facebook page? Whatworked for you? Mychallenge to you is are you willing to do these two items this month?Again,let me know. I would love to hear your weekly updates.
Iknow it may seem insurmountable, but you areABLEdo it. It is simply one of those things you decide to do itornot. I know some are without jobs, some are getting assistance, someare on social security here. Don't tell me what you can't do, tell mewhat you CAN do!
Onelast thing. I am not going to ask you to spend money. That woulddefeat the purpose. There will be just few exceptions for a book ortwo. The first exception is I have known so many people that havesuccessfully gotten their finances under control with Dave Ramsey'smethods & books. I highly recommend you purchase these two books linked below, to startgetting your finances in order. I don't agree with everything hesuggests, but you will see that later.
I participate in the Amazon Associate program, where I receive a small % commission for linking products that I recommend. I only recommend products I personally used and like.Your support is very appreciated,anything you choose to purchase through my link, is helping me to be able to share more things that I do with you.Perky Gramma Teaches Amazon link.
In case you missed the other posts:
"Home, Debt, Free, Home"
Chapter 1:You Must Be Rich
CHALLENGE: What is it you really want and what are you willing to do to attain it?.
LESSON: A Beanie Baby is Not A Need
Chapter 2:Soul Crushing Debt
Chapter 3: 4 Keys to Find Cash and Make Your Money Work for You.
“Ifyou think you can do a thing
or think you can't do a thing, you'reright.”
(attributedto Henry Ford)
Feel free to join our community atPerky Gramma Teaches on Facebook. We have a nice little group of people and we share various vintage skills & tips. It's all about the journey of farming/homesteading.
I participate in the Amazon Associate program. I receive a small % commission onpurchases made here. It doesn't cost you anything extra & if you are going to buy something from Amazon (doesn't have to be these specific items) though my store, your purchase helps me to have time to write this blog. I really appreciate your support.
