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Inspiration

Changing Your Behavior Requires A Paradigm Shift

by Brad Chaffee on September 2, 2009

in Money Management

Before...

Before...

What Is A Paradigm Shift?

As defined, is ¹) a fundamental change in approach or assumptions, and ²) the acceptance by a majority of a changed belief, attitude, or way of doing things.

What if your way of thinking changed completely?  Would your behaviors change as well?  People are afraid of change, but change for the better should be nothing to fear! Change is growth and maturity, because if you are not changing you are not learning. Learn to change and you will be amazed at what you can do!  Become a butterfly!

Check out these four articles from four very influential bloggers.  Also be sure to check out my weight loss update and extra thoughts at the bottom.  Digg it, tweet it, stumble it or whatever else you can do to spread the word. THANKS! :D

BEHAVIOR – The Accumulation Of Debt

This Is Why You Are In Debt written by Marc from Marc And Angel Hack Life.  I recently just found this blog and I am so glad I did.  This blog is LOADED with tons of helpful information to make your life easier, and more enjoyable.  Here’s an excerpt from the article:

“Please remember, financial debt can be avoided and erased.  It just takes a little effort, education, and determination on your end to make it possible.  So as I’ve said before, live a comfortable life, not a wasteful one.  Do not spend to impress others.  Do not live life trying to fool yourself into thinking wealth is measured in material objects.  Manage your money wisely so your money does not manage you.  And always live well below your means.” – Marc

He gives you 18 reasons why you are broke and in debt up to your eyeballs!!  This is a must read!  You will only be disappointed if you are in denial.

....and AFTER!

...and AFTER!

BEHAVIOR – The Accumulation Of Stuff

This has become one of my FAVORITE blogs!  Leo is a great writer and really pushes an alternative, yet insightful lifestyle.  I only say alternative because most people are on the other side of the spectrum, with lives cram packed with stuff, regret, and loads of stress.  How To Live A Better Life With Less is an awesome read!  Zen Habits is in the TOP 100 blogs on the net, and he is also a best selling author of the book, The Power of Less: The Fine Art of Limiting Yourself to the Essential…in Business and in Life.  His posts are not only thought provoking but challenge you to think differently in order to experience life’s greater joys.  Here’s an excerpt from his post:

“I’ve worked for more than 5 years now to simplify my life, and while I’ve discovered the sublime joys of living a simple life, I’ve realized most people don’t get it.

‘Why would I want LESS?’ they ask themselves. ‘Less is less fun, harder, monk-like, boring.’

The simple answer: because life can be so much better with less.

That’s hard to believe if you haven’t tried it, but today I am happier than ever. I’m better off financially than ever, now that I’m out of debt and living blissfully debt-free. I am unencumbered by a crapload of stuff, and I have room in my life for what’s truly important: my family, my writing, and my twin loves of reading and running.” – Leo

BEHAVIOR – Ignoring Your Potential

Jeff over at My Super-Charged Life is launching a new series about 12 Smart Living Rules to help you find success in life.  In Smart Living: Announcing a Deep Look Into Living Life to the Fullest, he provides an overview of what you can expect.  I am very impressed and look forward to checking out this series.  Here are just a few of the 13 rules to simple living he intends on covering:

  • Smart Living Rule 1 – Take Full Responsibility For Your Life
  • Smart Living Rule 5 – Make Your Life Count for Something
  • Smart Living Rule 8 – Never Stop Learning and Growing

Most people go with the flow never realizing everything they are missing.  Most people would rather point fingers, rather than take full responsibility for their actions and their lives.  Most people never even imagine how their lives could be different if they had purpose to experience a deeper meaning in life.  Most people are too busy trying to find out who has been voted off of American Idol to even discover that the knowledge they carry is nothing compared to what there is too learn. Most people are too busy to realize LIFE is passing them by.  Don’t be MOST PEOPLE! Life has more to offer and you have more to offer life! :D

BEHAVIOR – Looking For Happiness In The Wrong Places

In a world filled with materialism and the constant struggle to impress others, Frugal Dad delves into what happiness really is.  What is happiness?  How do we define success?  Is it fancy cars, 2 week vacations, and keeping up with the Joneses?  Of course happiness and success to some is about those things, but I happen to think differently myself.  Money and possessions can provide hours of entertainment and fun, but my happiness comes from a much different place.  Time with my family is very valuable, and helping others is right there at the top.  I have learned that if I manage my money instead of allowing my money to manage me, I don’t really need as much as I thought I did.

Ultimately, as I experience financial peace for myself, I will be able to build wealth without working myself into a grave, and love what I do enough to feel like I am not missing out.  Contentment is something very few people ever experience fully.  They are always in search of the next big thing they think will make them happy.  Go read Happiness For Others Comes From Contentment With Yourself, and maybe it will inspire you to think about what makes you happy.  Here’s an excerpt:

“It was at this point that I went through sort of an early mid-life crisis. Up to that point I had been fast-tracking the career ladder, having started literally on the bottom rung and made my way to middle management. Of course, the promotions often meant more headaches, more travel and not much more money. I came to a point in my life where I would gladly give up the late nights, Saturday mornings and two week cross-country trips for more time with my wife and kids.” – Frugal Dad

A Little Something Extra

I hope you have enjoyed this compilation of great reads.  Maybe these things do not apply to you directly, but if they do I hope you can use this as a constructive guide to reflect on how you can change your current behaviors for the better.  Our behaviors, if bad, can unravel the best of intentions.  What’s important to you and how can you achieve your goals by addressing the behaviors that keep you from reaching them?  Self reflection is the best teacher!

I have currently become VERY SERIOUS about changing the behaviors that caused me to not only become unhealthy and overweight, but the behaviors that will cause me to miss out on so much if left unchecked.  No one knows when their time is up, but we can work as hard as we want to lengthen that time in order to enjoy life to the fullest.  What if you were a butterfly instead of a caterpillar?

Weight loss update: I have been doing Weight Watchers for almost three and a half weeks and I have lost 12 pounds, NOT COUNTING this Saturdays hopeful weight loss.  I am becoming very comfortable with the lifestyle changes that have taken place in the last few weeks.  I hope to continue making progress and plan to stick to it no matter what.  When I fail, it will only be temporary because I refuse to stay down!

I will become debt free!  I will become healthy and fit!  I will work in my strengths and passions!  I will run a marathon! I will give lots of money away! I will make a difference!  I WILL!

Remember:  What you believe is what you achieve!  Change your thinking!

{ 5 comments }

15 Books Everyone Should Read At Least Twice

by Brad Chaffee on July 23, 2009

in Money Management

Reading Rocks!

Recently, Newsweek published an article with what they called, 50 Must Reads Now, And Why.  Now I am certain some of the books they picked are great reads, but I am also sure that they left better ones out.  So I came up with a list of financial books I think everyone should read.  More than half of these I have read, and the rest are on my to-read list. The ones that I haven’t read have been highly recommended by others with great enthusiasm.

These books will help you in everyday life, and will motivate, inspire, and help you realize your potential.  I hope you have a chance to read some, or all of these books!  Have any of these books helped you?  Do tell by leaving a comment below. Also add other books you think should be on this list.

1. Total Money Makeover - Dave Ramsey

The Total Money Makeover

Publisher’s Notes (have read at least three times)
Dave condenses his 17 years of financial teaching and counseling into 7 organized, easy-to-follow steps that will lead you out of debt and into a Total Money Makeover. Plus, you’ll read over 50 real-life stories from people just like you who have followed these principles and are now winning with their money. It is a plan designed for everyone, regardless of income or age.  Sample Chapter

With The Total Money Makeover, you’ll be able to:

~Design a sure-fire plan for paying off ALL debt
~Recognize the 10 most dangerous money myths
~Secure a big, fat nest egg for emergencies and retirement
~Positively change your life and your family tree!

2. QBQ: The Question Behind The Question – John G. Miller

QBQ

Publisher’s Notes (have read twice)
Have you ever heard questions like these?

~Why do we have to go through all this change?
~When is someone going to train me?
~Who dropped the ball?
~Why can’t they communicate better?
~When is that department going to do its job right?
~Who’s going to solve the problem?
~When am I going to find good people?
~Why don’t they share the vision?
~Who’s going to clarify my job?

If so, QBQ! is for you and your organization. The QBQ is a tool that enables leaders – at all levels – to practice personal accountability by making better choices in the moment. This helps you to eliminate blame, complaining and procrastination, allowing you and your colleagues to:

~Boost Morale
~Adapt to Change
~Enhance Communication
~Increase Productivity
~Foster Creativity
~Develop People
~Build Effective Teams
~Solve Problems

3. Accept No Mediocre Life – David Foster

Accept No Mediocre Life

Publisher’s Notes (have not read)
Widely loved speaker and pastor David Foster urges readers to shed the labels others so often place on us, especially the most dangerous label of all: mediocre. All labels are libels and this is the most insidious. When we believe the opinions of others about us, we can’t fail to measure up to their meager expectations.

But there are ways to break free, to go through life dancing, twirling, testing our limits, embracing the best God has in store for us. As an old proverb has it, “He who aims at excellence will be above mediocrity; he who aims at mediocrity will be far short of it.”

Organized in a series of four commitments, Foster outlines promises we will make ourselves as we learn to strive for excellence in our lives. These 12 promises—among them, “I will embrace my uniqueness,” “I will conquer my fears,” “I will serve a noble cause,” “I will treat time as life”—form a personal agenda by which we can realize our full potential, whatever our circumstances.

The perfect conditions, perfect timing, perfect skills for achieving excellence will never come. We have to seize today and vow to begin a life-changing, life-affirming journey to reach the awesome possibilities ahead of us. As Foster says, “We will not be denied, because we refuse to live within the limits of man-made labels and libels. We will not accept a mediocre life and we will not disappear quietly into the middle. We gladly accept the proverb, ‘Those who hear not the music, think the dancer’s mad.’ We hear the music, it’s in our heart and soul, and we must dance.”

4. No More Mondays – Dan Miller

No More Mondays

Publisher’s Notes (have read)
In today’s workplace, job security is like carbon paper–a relic of the past. But if you take a careful look you’ll discover this is good news. The radical shifts that are reshaping the American economy invite you to redesign your work and create a career path that matches your passions and interests, as well as your expertise. More than ever before, successful workers need to draw on their creativity, relational skills, and entrepreneurship.

In No More Mondays, you will learn how to:

~Develop a knack for creating your own opportunities
~Allow your deepest passion to direct you to profitable work
~Discover the off-the-grid opportunities that are multiplying as the number of traditional jobs continues to shrink
~Channel your creativity in ways that make you more marketable

Position yourself for long-term success in a rapidly changing marketplace by drawing on strengths you have been neglecting. Not only will you find work that pays the bills, you’ll find work that pays dividends in meaning, satisfaction, and purpose. Now you can start looking forward to next Monday.

ALSO CHECK OUT: 48 Days To The Work You Love (have read twice)

5. The Millionaire Next Door – Thomas J. Stanley, Ph.D & William D. Danko, Ph.D

Millionaire Next Door

Publisher’s Notes (have read)

~Can you spot the millionaire next door?
~Who are the rich in this country?
~What do they do?
~Where do they shop?
~How do they invest?
~Where did their ancestors come from?
~How did they get rich?
~Can I ever become one of them?

Get the answers to these questions in this book, the never-before-told story about wealth in America. You’ll be surprised at what you find out.

6. Good To Great – Jim Collins

Good To Great

Publisher’s Notes (have read)
The findings of the Good to Great study will surprise many readers and shed light on virtually every area of management strategy and practice. The findings include:

~Level 5 Leaders: The research team was shocked to discover the type of leadership required to achieve greatness.
~The Hedgehog Concept (Simplicity within the Three Circles): To go from good to great requires transcending the curse of competence.
~A Culture of Discipline: When you combine a culture of discipline with an ethic of entrepreneurship, you get the magical alchemy of great results.
~Technology Accelerators: Good-to-great companies think differently about the role of technology.
~The Flywheel and the Doom Loop: Those who launch radical change programs and wrenching restructurings will almost certainly fail to make the leap.

“Some of the key concepts discerned in the study,” comments Jim Collins, “fly in the face of our modern business culture and will, quite frankly, upset some people.”

7. See You At The Top – Zig Ziglar

See You At The Top

Publisher’s Notes (next on my list)
For more than 3 decades, Zig Ziglar, one of the great motivators of our age, has traveled the world, encouraging, uplifting, and inspiring audiences. His ground-breaking best-seller, See You at the Top, remains an authentic American classic. Its basic premise—you can have everything in life you want if you will just help enough other people get what they want—has guided generations of readers to personal success.

This revised and updated 25th anniversary edition stresses the importance of honesty, loyalty, faith, integrity, and strong personal character. See You at the Top emphasizes the value of a healthy self-image and shows how to build it. Personal goals are an essential part of any program for success. This important book tells you how to set—and achieve—those goals, and provides step-by-step instructions on how to change the way you think about yourself and your surroundings.

See You at the Top is widely used by corporations large and small, schools, government agencies, correctional institutions, and sales organizations—wherever motivation and self-improvement are considered major priorities. It has been translated into more than a dozen languages, and has sold more than 1 million hardcover copies.

8. The 7 Habits Of Highly Effective People – Stephen R. Covey

The 7 Habits Of Highly Effective People

Publisher’s Notes (have read)
In The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, author Stephen R. Covey presents a holistic, integrated, principle-centered approach for solving personal and professional problems. With penetrating insights and pointed anecdotes, Covey reveals a step-by-step pathway for living with fairness, integrity, service, and human dignity – principles that give us the security to adapt to change and the wisdom and power to take advantage of the opportunities that change creates.

9. Rhinoceros Success – Scott Alexander

rhinoceros success

Publisher’s Notes
Success is difficult but…

Tomorrow morning, you could wake up as a full-grown rhinoceros and:

~Charge your way to success
~Use audacity to reach your goals
~Be happier than you’ve ever been before
~Make your life an exciting adventure
~Have the persistence and tenacity necessary for success
~Never worry again
~Succeed at the world’s most profitable hobby
~Achieve more and have a better balance in the six major areas of your life: financial, work, physical, family, social and spiritual

Scott Alexander has discovered the REAL secret of success: becoming a rhinoceros. Read it and go rhino! That’s all there is between you and everything you’ve ever wanted to do or become in your life. CHARGE!

10. Start Where You Are – Chris Gardner

Start From Where You Are

Publisher’s Notes (haven’t read yet)
Ever since the story of his transformation from homeless, single and struggling father to millionaire became known the world over, Chris Gardner—whose life story both inspired the movie The Pursuit of Happyness and became a #1 New York Times bestseller by the same name—has been inundated with two questions: “How did you do it?” and “How can I do it, too?” Gardner’s power-packed, transformational reply is the basis of this long-anticipated book.

As a departure from standard self-help tomes that promise overnight riches and exclusive secrets for success, Gardner avoids any tilt toward magical thinking by staying with real issues and solutions impacting individuals in all walks of life.

If you’ve had the rug pulled out from under you, or have been dealing with the loss of a home, a job, a health or financial crisis, or simply can’t find the motivation to pursue new challenges, Start Where You Are abounds with life lessons that offer hope and provide a road map for starting anew. This is also the book for anyone ready to launch a personal, professional undertaking, or break generational cycles that hem in their potential.

11. The Principle Of The Path – Andy Stanley

The Principle Of The Path

Publisher’s Notes (haven’t read yet)
Your Direction, not Your Intention, Determines Your Destination.

There is often a tension between where we want to end up in life and the path we choose to get there. We fail to see that having good intentions is never good enough. Like Charlie Brown, we wrongly believe there’s something to be said for trying hard. We need to understand why, in spite of our good intentions, we may have ended up at the wrong destination with our finances, our marriages, our careers, or a host of other dreams. So how do we get from where we are to where we truly want to be? The Principle of the Path is a road map to proper direction and discipline.

Includes Extensive Study Guide.

12. Eat That Frog – Brian Tracy

Eat That Frog

Publisher’s Notes (have read)
If you are like most people today, you’re overwhelmed with too much to do and too little time.  “Eat that frog” is a metaphor for tackling the most challenging task of your day.  Your most challenging task is the one you are most likely to procrastinate on–but it’s also the one that will have the greatest positive impact on your life.

Eat That Frog! shows you how to zero in on the critical tasks and organize each day–you’ll not only get more done faster, but get the right things done.  It’s time for you to get control of your life. It’s time for you to become the master of your time.

When you buy Eat That Frog you will learn the 21 great ways to stop procrastinating and get more done in less time.

~No more excuses
~No more procrastinating
~Accomplish high value tasks every day

13. Thou Shall Prosper – Rabbi Daniel Lapin

Thou Shall Prosper

Publisher’s Notes (haven’t read yet)
Explore 10 fundamental “commandments” relating to business and money

~Believe in the dignity and morality of business
~Extend the network of your connectedness
~Get to know yourself
~Don’t pursue perfection
~Lead consistently and constantly
~Change the changeable while clinging to the unchangeable
~Learn to foretell the future
~Know your money
~Give money away
~Never retire

14. The Ant And The Grasshopper -Amy Lowry Poole

ant and the grasshopper

Amazon Review (have read)
While the ants are hard at work collecting food for the long winter, the grasshopper only plays and does no work at all to prepare for the long harsh winter up ahead. Soon the winter comes and the ants are warm and have plenty of food to eat. However the grasshopper is out in the cold with no food at all. I liked the illustrations in this book, and I also enjoyed the way the author told the moral to the readers. The author’s main moral was that there are times when you can play and times when you need to do work, and you can’t play all the time. The moral is easily understandable so that children will be able to pick up on it. Also it is a great way in introduce time management to older children

15. The Tortoise And The Hare – Retold by Graham Percy

(have read)

The Tortoise And The Hare

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Murphy’s Fall

by Brad Chaffee on October 9, 2008

in Money Management

Murphy’s Fall?

I wanted to take this opportunity to introduce you to something that you have or will possibly go through.  I have coined the term “Murphy’s Fall”.  Murphy’s Fall isn’t the fall of Murphy.  Instead it is something you yourself go through because of Murphy.  That’s right.  It’s what can happen when Murphy has moved in and just doesn’t want to leave.  It could be equivalent to what marathoners call “The Wall”, which is when a marathoner reaches the 20 mile mark and starts to rationalize giving up.  It’s when you start to tell yourself that you have already made more progress than most people, so quitting isn’t so bad.  You may be tired, frustrated, depleted, and your hope is at an all time low.  Frankly, you have fallen away from the hope and determination that you had when you first started your Total Money Makeover.

The HIGH!

I decided that it was time for me to write about this because for the past three and a half months I have experienced this symptom of not making any progress.  When we first started our Total Money Makeover (TMMO), we were excited, and we made great strides because of it.  We sold our car (saving us almost $500 between the car payment, high insurance costs, and property taxes), and paid off almost $5,000 in credit card debt, and old medical bills.  This left us with $5,000 until we would be debt free except for our house—or so we thought.  We also managed to save $2,000 for our Emergency Fund. (Savings for the first time EVER!) EXCITING STUFF!!  I was PUMPED! Then Murphy decided that we were just too happy, and that it was time he paid us a visit.  This would be Murphy’s first visit since we began our TMMO.

The LOW!

First we received a letter in the mail, letting us know that we owed an additional $4,000 from a student loan on top of the $5,000 in other student loans.  A $4,000 jump all because we forgot about that particular loan.  Next we had car trouble, some more car trouble, and yet a third round of car trouble.  Throw in having to adjust to my wife having a new schedule as a Registered Nurse, and then me being forced to take time off at my job to be with Isaac until we figured something out.  My wife went to nights, I went to days, and everything was taken care of.  Or so we thought.  After about 6 weeks, Alana was told with absolutely NO notice at all, that she would be moving to days.  Now we needed to make some different arrangements.  Child care was unavoidable.  Still I was forced to take off some more time from work until we were able to find daycare quick and in a hurry.  Wait, I’m not done! Next I get a hernia from freaking coughing, and am out of work for 3 weeks.  “We have done so much more than most people!” This started to creep into my thoughts periodically until it was eventually considered rational thought.

The FALL!

In short, with all that going on, I have been really frustrated.  We have made little progress since the video that I made.  I am constantly thinking about how we are not paying any of our debt snowball down.  We still owe $9,000 and we were supposed to be out of debt except for the house by September or October at the latest.  I am coordinating a Financial Peace University class, and I am struggling with trying to remain positive and excited for the class members sake.  It has been hard.  The truth is, it’s not that I have lost faith in our Total Money Makeover.  NOT AT ALL!  I have lost faith in myself!  I have let Murphy take me down, and my hope came tumbling down with it.  Things seemed to reach an all time low.  But has it really?

The ANSWER!

How can I truly be at an all time low?  I can’t or maybe it’s better to say that I shouldn’t be.  Here’s why. In less than a year we have cut up and paid off ALL of our credit cards, eliminated a car debt (saving us $8,500), managed to save $2,000 in our Emergency Fund, and with all of that doom and gloom above we have still been able to make it without borrowing any money at all.  The absolute truth is that we have not even had a hard time making it through all this.  Our bills have been paid extremely early compared to how we were living last year at this time.  In fact, our mortgage is usually paid before the first of the month.  So I must ask myself this:  Why am I crying and most importantly why have I felt defeated?

I have felt this way because I have been thinking about the wrong stuff.  Instead of thinking about the good, I have been analyzing the bad.  Successful people are solution oriented, and they rarely think about the past.  That is why it is called the past because it is gone, and you can’t do anything about it.  I should have been looking at how easily we were able to find solutions that did not include borrowing money or not paying our bills. Had I been looking at it differently, I would have been getting hope and encouragement from our new found financial responsibility.  I realized something all over again.  WE ARE NOT LIVING PAYCHECK TO PAYCHECK ANY MORE! That is something to be celebrating, not something to be depressed about!  We have a plan, and it IS working.

My Message To YOU!

Please don’t let Murphy get the best of you!  You are still winning if you still have a plan.  As long as you do not have to go backwards you will always be in better shape than you were before!  Go FORWARD!  Think POSITIVE! As long as you remind yourself of how far you have come, and avoid thinking about how things have not gone exactly like planned, you will be okay.  One thing that I am sure of is that plans often take unexpected turns along the way.  The key is to adjust and continue to follow the road in the direction of your goals.  Don’t let “Murphy’s Fall” get the best of you!  You are going to win, that I am sure of!

GOOD LUCK!

Have you experienced Murphy’s Fall?  Share your story in the comments section.

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If My Words Were A Hand, They’d Be Slapping Some Sense Into You!

by Brad Chaffee on August 28, 2008

in Money Management


STOP BORROWING MONEY!!!

Just to clear things up, the title isn’t to be taken literally. It’s just my way of grabbing your attention and telling you that if you are in debt, you need to hear this!! So LISTEN UP! This is perhaps the most important thing to learn after getting yourself on a budget. Dumping your debt will help you gain traction and in return offer you a hope you have never imagined. The reason is because all of the things most people have their money spent on before they ever get paid, steals their hope. When you accept the fact that you will always have a car payment, you have given up. You have bought into the idea that you have to do what everyone else is doing because everyone else is doing it. It’s just not true!

Think about this. You go out and you buy a brand new car right off the lot, mostly because you tell yourself that you “need” something reliable, but also because everyone else is doing it. LIE! What you need to do is satisfy your craving to impress others by “appearing” to be well off. The word reliable makes its way into the equation because it makes you feel better about a decision you know deep down to be wrong. The truth is that that brand new car is costing you an arm and a leg. So what if your payments are low!! Just because you have convinced yourself that you can afford the car payment does not mean you can afford the car.

Take into consideration that you will lose 60-70% of the cars value in about 4 years. This is why almost EVERYONE you know that has a car payment has trouble selling their car. They are all upside down. Don’t believe me? Ask around. If you avoid buying a car that will lose most of its value as soon as you stick the key in the ignition after signing the papers, you will win. (Let someone else take the hit, and buy used) But what happens is, by the time we all realize it, it’s too late. They have a few choices. Sell a car that is worth less than they owe, or trade it in to receive another car that will lose value too. To someone that is not thinking about all of the details, the second option sounds better because it means they do not have to come up with any cash out of pocket. Instead they continue the cycle. This is the cycle that car companies rely on to keep you slave to the lender. Sell the car, take the hit, and NEVER do it again!

That’s just cars. People have furniture payments, pet payments, memberships payments, mortgage payments, and let me please not forget the credit cards that they have maxed out because they were convinced that credit cards were the best form of an emergency fund. Do any of you realize just how RICH the banks and lenders are getting off of your stupidity?? Do you? You are paying extra for EVERYTHING you buy on these cards and the low monthly payments are dragging it out for as long as you remain blind. Your hope is lost, because when you wake up one day because you have had an emergency and you realize that you have reached your limit on borrowing, you give up. To you, at that moment, it feels like it will take you way too long to get out of that mess. Statistically, if you do not commit suicide, then you will probably file bankruptcy only to repeat the process. If you loaned someone money, and instead of paying you they filed bankruptcy, you would whine that it just isn’t fair. The little man just can’t get ahead.

I know the answer! STOP BORROWING MONEY!!! Stop overextending your income to the point that you can’t save a dime. Dave Ramsey has proven that you can change the outcome but you have to stop borrowing to do it. Debt is not a tool and it never will be! Stop being NORMAL. EVERYONE that is doing what appears to be normal is broke! Stop the cycle now! (To be clear, I AM YELLING!) Filing bankruptcy will not stop the cycle, it only gives you a do over and a false sense that you have won because you used someone else’s money and then got out of paying it back, so you do it all over again. Debt! Bankruptcy! DEBT!! BANKRUPTCY!! DEBT & BANKRUPTCY! Those two words go together like PERSONAL and RESPONSIBILITY! Personal responsibility!! You are personally responsible for stopping the debt cycle! It is up to you, and until you realize that, you will continue to live paycheck to paycheck and wonder where in the world all your money is going.

STOP BORROWING, do a budget, cut your expenses, save $1,000, and pay off your debt with EXTREME INTENSITY!!! Get RID of all the payments! You are killing yourself. Dave calls it death by a thousand cuts. Empower yourself to live, be free, and provide a great foundation for your family and their future. Stop relying on the Government because it is up to YOU. The Government has proven that it can’t do math. This is America! You have every opportunity to not retire broke. 80% of the wealthy in this country are first generation rich, so the argument that the little man just can’t get ahead is bogus. Dave is right when he says that if you are poor and you do poor people stuff, you will stay poor, and if you are poor and you do rich people stuff, you get rich. He also includes that if you are rich and you do poor people stuff, you get poor. The formula works the same no matter how you slice it. Go do rich people stuff and stop giving everyone else all of your income every month. DO RICH PEOPLE STUFF!

In a survey done on the Forbes 400 wealthiest people in the United States, 75% of them said that staying out of debt was the key to their success. DO WHAT RICH PEOPLE DO!!!! Those rich people didn’t have car payments. They didn’t play the lottery. They don’t have tons of credit cards, and they certainly do not use payday loans and debt consolidation. THEY DON’T BORROW MONEY, and that is why they are rich!

I can not leave you without letting you know about a sale that could change your life. You don’t need a credit card, and I am not asking you to spend money if you do not have it. I am simply saying that if you are still not convinced then you could spend just $10 plus shipping and see the most eye opening performance by Dave Ramsey in all of FPU. For just the cost of getting a pizza delivered you can experience something life changing. You can change your entire life COMPLETELY! The most inspiring 100 minutes that you could ever see is right here. Are you ready to change? Are you ready to hear why weird people all across the country and even the world are becoming debt free? You owe it to yourself to find out what that is. It’s not a $300 get rich quick unproven program, it is for real. Watch it and then PLEASE, I beg you to come back to this blog and tell me about it. If you feel like I am wrong after watching it yourself, then come back here and call me a liar. That is my challenge to you. I beg you to prove me wrong!!


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Poverty To Prosperity

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The Five Million Dollar Blog

These videos are the very definition of inspiration! Share this blog with your friends and family so they can become debt free too. Help change peoples lives! Do you want to scream, “We’re Debt Free!”? Do you have a debt free video you’d like to share on my blog? If [...]

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