In Search of Financial Peace #bettermyself

February 24, 2012 in Personal with 3 Comments

As I continue to work my way through the ways I intend on bettering meself this year and into the future I think this is one of the biggest items on the list.

I dream of one day reaching Financial Peace; to not have to worry about money. I dream of being out of debt and not being slave to the lender.

I have accrued more debt than I would have liked over the years, but I am not as bad of as most. I have taken the Dave Ramsey Financial Peace class and read his books, but it all seems so easy when he says it. Actually doing it is a entirely different story.

It is hard when Christmas or a birthday comes around not to put a little here or there on a credit card to get a gift with the mentality of you will pay it off next month. The reality is you will seldom have the opportunity to pay it off the next month. life just happpens and something else always seems to come up!

You must have a plan when you want to stay financially fit and these are some of the things that I plan on using to get me financially fit:

  • Budget – This is the cornerstone to our family getting out of debt. The key is to make the budget and STICK TO IT! So first off the budget has to be established and adhesred to.
  • Emergency Fund – We have to come up with the emergency fund that when “Life Happens” I do not have to use the credit cards, but have some spare cash to take care of it.
  • Be Wise – Use some wisdom that I have gained by getting into this…such as not making impulse buys and really discerning if the item is a need or a want.
  • Income Streams – I would like to generate some different income streams apart from my day job.
  • No Credit – DO away with using the credit cards. If we do not have the cash to do it then we will just have to wait.
  • Cash – Use cash as much as possible. There is just something that hurts a little more when you push cash out there instead of using a debit card.

So those are some of the way that our family plans on becoming more financially stable this year and in the years to come.

What as helped you stay financially fit?

  • http://billgrandi.com bill (cycleguy)

    Adam: so glad and proud that you are starting while young. It was in 2005, at the age of 52 that I decided to get out of debt. I had close to 20k in cc debt alone. It took a lot to do it and more years that I wanted (and more stumbling blocks than I care to think of) but it finally happened. All was paid off except our house. We have not used a cc since 2005, only a debit card. It has been tough on a pastor’s salary and with various life issues coming unexpectedly (like $6k for braces for me) but we made it. Until my wife’s care blew up 2 days after she “retired” from work (down-sized). We had to borrow money after going with one car for several months but we bought a hail-damaged vehicle that doesn’t look real good but runs. The one thing I would advise is get a term life policy now!! I have one but to get another at my age is astronomical. Also, get some type of IRA going and allow compound interest work for you. I wish I had been told this at your age. ‘Course then again, I may not have listened. I was too tied to having nice things like a new car every two years.

  • http://kevinmartineau.ca Kevin Martineau

    For us having a budget has been crucial and going to cash only. I would say that has been the biggest difference maker for us. It hurts to use cash and it is very finite.

  • http://somewiseguy.com ThatGuyKC

    My wife and I drank the Dave Ramsey kool-aid a little over a year ago and our children have cursed his name ever since.

    I think taking that class together with my wife was one of the best decisions we’ve made. It got us on the same page as a couple and changed our attitude about money. We’re not debt-free yet, but we’re on the right track.