Hitting A Home Run and Becoming Debt Free Are the Same! (REVISED)

7 out of 10 people live paycheck to paycheck without even blinking an eye. After all, it is what everyone else is doing right?  Have you ever tried to do a budget?  This blog is about telling your money what to do.  It is about getting rid of the debt that keeps you from enjoying life.  It’s about having a plan!

Do you feel it’s just too late and you have no traction? I am going to show you exactly what it is like to become debt free!  I am quickly becoming a part of the winning team, and that happens to be the 30% who have decided that treading water in no fun!  With all the effort it takes to swim in place, you may have decided that you were sick and tired of following your plan.  You are ready to swim in rough waters in order to escape.  Just like swimming in rough waters, getting out of debt is much of the same.  It’s tough at first but eventually you get stronger and the rough water starts to feel like a gentle stream.

Once you make it to the gentle stream, it is so rewarding and refreshing. In order to get their you have to change your current financial plan, if you even have one.  What you have been doing with your money has got you right where you are today.  As Dave Ramsey says you have to face the man in the mirror.  You have to decide what is more important; that car which is pulling a hefty payment, or getting out of debt and having a life?  I have decided that I want to experience true freedom.  Have you tried to budget only to find out that your money runs out way before you want it to?  There is a reason for that.  It’s called YOU!  What if you got rid of your car so you could free up some money?  Could you use an extra $300 or so a month?  I know it sure helped us!

Look at getting out of debt the same as hitting a Home Run. A Home Run is always more fun that just getting a double.  we all know that the further you hit the ball, the closer you are to getting to home plate.  Having a car payment is like getting thrown out at first, because you didn’t hit the ball far enough to get anywhere.  Getting rid of your car payment, or any other debt payment, is like practicing and getting stronger and stronger so you can hit it further!!

Don’t you want to make it all the way around the bases so you can see how it feels to hit a Home Run? What base have you made it to?

1. FIRST BASE - You have decided to never borrow again!  You are now on a budget, and you are telling your money where to go instead of wondering where it went.  You are becoming gazelle intense and are realizing that you may have to downgrade to the cheaper, more affordable living arrangements.  Sell the car(s)!  Sell the big screen T.V.!  What do you have to sell to get as much traction as you can?  Come on, make it to second base!
2. SECOND BASE – You are now doing everything you can to build up an Emergency Fund to prepare you for when life happens! You have dropped the massive weight of your car payment, and now have built some protection.  Not only are you running faster, but you are starting to build some confidence too.  There’s a light at the end of the tunnel…NOW RUN TO IT!
3. THIRD BASE – As you round second and head for third you start to taste the possibility of approaching home.  It feels great, doesn’t it?  You are now paying off your debt from smallest to largest, and are beginning to get some traction.  Your confidence builds even more and your thirst for Financial Peace is making you run faster and harder.
4. HOME PLATE – Congratulations!!  You have hit a Home Run!  How does it feel?  Now you are debt free except the house and you are ready to add to your collection of Home Run balls.  This collection is your payoff from so much hard work and sacrifice.  This collection represents your Fully Funded Emergency Fund.  (3/6 months of expenses) Did you ever think that this was even possible?  Now you know and are probably feeling pretty good about changing your broken plan.  WAY TO GO!
5. ALL-STAR TEAM – You have hit a GRAND SLAM with the bases loaded in the ninth inning.  You are the winning run!  You now have money going towards retirement (15%), as well as funding your kids college fund.  You are now a baseball sensation which has earned you a spot on the All-Star team.  Your mortgage is paid and like Dave Ramsey would say, you are finally ready to build wealth and give like never before.  More importantly, after all your hard work, effort and sacrifice you will finally have the comfort of knowing that you can retire with dignity.  Totally free of the worries and stress that comes with knowing that you don’t have to pay off all that debt you ran up from all those things that you “needed”!

If you aren’t ready to hit that Home Run then prepare for the consequences of what that means for you and your family. Soon you might have to explain to them why you are broke because you have always borrowed everything you gained!  Do you want me to tell them about eating Alpo at retirement or shall I?

GO HIT THAT HOME RUN!