**I just wanted to share with everyone my very first blog about becoming debt free! This is where it started. A passion to get out of debt, an intensity to do it now, and a desire to help spread these principles to anyone willing to listen! One night I was inspired to connect my love for Baseball as a child, to becoming debt free as an adult. For those who haven’t read this one, I hope you like it. Please comment.**
Hitting A Home Run And Becoming Debt Free Are The Same!
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 looks like to become debt free. I am quickly becoming a part of the winning team, and that is the 30% who have decided that treading water is just not good enough. With all the effort that it takes to swim in place, you may have decided that you are sick and tired of following your plan. You are ready to swim in rough waters. 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 there you have to change your financial plan, because what you have been doing has got you right where you are today! As Dave Ramsey says, “You have to face the person in the mirror”. You have to decide what is more important, the car which is pulling a monthly payment, or getting out of debt? I tend to want to experience true freedom. Have you tried to budget only to find out that your money runs out before you want it too? 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 a month? I found it helpful!
Look at getting out of debt the same as hitting a Home Run. A Home Run is always more fun than just getting a double. We all know that the farther you hit the ball, the closer you are to making it 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 is like practicing and getting stronger so that you can hit it further and 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?
- FIRST BASE– You have decided to never borrow again! You are now on a budget and 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? Make it to second base!
- SECOND BASE– You are now doing everything you can to build up an Emergency Fund to make you ready for when life happens! You have dropped the weight of your car payment, and built some protection . Not only are you running faster but you are starting to build some confidence, and you see hope! There is a light at the end of the tunnel, NOW RUN TO IT!
- THIRD BASE– Now you are starting to taste the possibility of approaching home. It feels good! You are now paying off your debt from smallest to largest. Your confidence builds even more and your taste for Financial Peace is making you run faster and harder!
- HOME PLATE– CONGRATULATIONS! You have hit a Home Run!! How does it feel? Now you are DEBT FREE except for your 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 diligence! This collection represents your Fully Funded Emergency Fund .(3-6 months of expenses) Did you think this was ever possible? Now you know and are probably feeling pretty good about your decisions to change your broken plan! Way to go!
- 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 made you make the All-Star Team. Your mortgage is paid, and now you are ready to BUILD WEALTH AND GIVE LIKE NEVER BEFORE! More importantly after all your hard work and effort you will FINALLY be able to live the rest of your life with dignity! Free from the worries and stress of paying off all of the debt from everything you “needed”!
If you aren’t ready to hit a Home Run then prepare for the consequences of just making it to the batter’s box. Soon you will have to explain to your family why the phone is ringing every twenty seconds because you have borrowed everything you gained. Do you want to tell them about eating Alpo at retirement or shall I?
