Motivation 101 – YOU CAN DO IT TOO!

Are You Motivated?

Chances are, you often feel overwhelmed with your financial situation, and like most, you want to do something about it.  There are many things that keep us from doing what we know we should do.  Time constraints, lack of energy, procrastination, depression, and even addictions to name a few.  One that people rarely consider is negativity from the people around them.  People will rain on your parade in a second once you start talking about quitting something they too are doing.  Whether it be shopping, smoking, going on a diet, exercising, or changing your financial habits, people usually try to give you some reason they think you should stick with them.  After all they have credit cards, a nice home, and a shiny new car in their driveway!

Chances are, they are BROKE! Dave Ramsey often says, “If you want to be rich, do what rich people do”!  Usually the person telling you that cutting up your credit cards is stupid, is the one with NO EMERGENCY FUND and tons of debt payments every month!!  Don’t listen to them!!

Go listen to those that are doing a plan that is working!  Go listen to the folks that have done it and are now proud to shout they are debt free!!  It’s emotional and even though it is someone else, you can’t help but feel a tiny bit of that excitement and motivation running through your veins.  It’s almost as if for one split second, you are them.  I feel that when I listen to debt free calls!  It’s because I know that once you eliminate your debt payments, you have more opportunities to save, build wealth, and GIVE! It’s why I HATE debt!!!

I Have Proof That Without Debt You Can Do More!

In The Wealth Building Benefits Of Being Debt Free, written by Stuart Laing in 2006, he makes the same case for becoming debt free as I make here on EOD.  Debt payments SUCK YOUR INCOME DRY! You can INVEST like crazy if you weren’t paying off that shiny new car that loses 70% of it’s value in just 4 years!!  You can INVEST like crazy if you didn’t have a house payment because you paid it off!!  Some people I know have to make at least $2200 a month just to pay their house and car payments.  Add credit card debt to that and you are in dangerous waters!

My buddy J, over at BudgetsAreSexy.com, has a ton of savings, and the only debt he carries is a mortgage.  He has paid off his 2 cars, pays extra on his mortgage when he can, and has NO credit card debt!  Go over and ask J how much being debt free but his house, helps him build his Net Worth.  He is on fire!!  Now we disagree on a few things, but it’s hard for me to tell him he is doing it wrong when his financial position is so strong.

Personally I would rather see J slow down on his savings for a second, so he can focus extremely hard on killing his mortgage once and for all.  This would mean that he would keep investing 15% of his monthly income for retirement (Roth’s), and then throw EVERYTHING EXTRA towards the mortgage ONLY.  With the money he would save on interest, plus the money saved from having no mortgage payment, he could build wealth incredibly fast!  The earlier he pays off his house, the more momentum the compound interest will have by the time he reaches retirement age.  (Approximately $9600 more each year could be earning interest, to put a number on it.)

Budgets Are Sexy Update: Paying Extra On Your Loans Now, Goes A Long Way Later! This is a GREAT post!

Need more incentive?  Do a budget with only necessities, and absolutely NO DEBT!  (No house payment, no credit card payment, no student loan, no medical bills…you get the point.)  I call it a dream budget!  How much money do you have to save, give and invest?  How free would you feel if you didn’t owe ANYONE a dime?

Conclusion

A growing number of people are staying motivated, and you can too!  Avoid the naysayers, and anyone who tells you that you will ALWAYS have a car payment, or that you can’t live in this world without a credit card.  They are misinformed!  We were skeptical too, because we bought into the lies about needing debt, just like you did!  NO MORE baby, we have had enough!  Start a budget today, stop borrowing more money, and get you an Emergency Fund of $1,000!  Once you do that you can focus intensely on paying off your debt as FAST as you can!  Others are doing it, and YOU CAN DO IT TOO!!!  Be the one at the top of the mountain, or at least the one climbing the mountain, instead of the one at the bottom saying, “it can’t be done”!!!

Watch this family scream “We’re Debt Free!”, and tell me what it would mean to you to be able to do the same thing.  Let me know if I have turned the only light on in a dark, dark room!  Share with a friend and get them to subscribe!

Now go make it happen!