Baby Steps

The first steps are the scariest….

I promise you, and myself, that if we stick to this plan we will come out at the end victorious. I’m not saying this is the miraculous method that will work for everyone, but this is what is going to work for me. Fortunately I am employed and can plan accordingly, if I wasn’t this canary would be singing a whole different tune. Here are some of the steps that I have taken thus far to make certain I stay on the road that leads me to success.

First, assess all of the damage you’ve created when you set in motion the tornado of frivolous spending. Grab every last card you own, you do yourself no favors by lying. Dont try to hide that $200 or $100 Victoria’s Secret card because as small of an amount it may seem, it’s still a debt you owe. Throw it to the top of the pile. Let it stand as the cherry on top to this ice cream sundae of doom. You want to know what to do now? Set them on fire! Just kidding, but do cut them up or give them to the troll on the bridge that won’t allow you have them back no matter how much you beg or plead. I swear that if we make it to the end of this thing that that troll will have been transformed to an angel.

Secondly, now that you have all those precious plastic pieces, find the ones that have today’s wonderful modern-day miracle of AUTOMATIC WITHDRAWAL. Now can you guess what you do? Cancel it! I don’t care if its $3/month or $25/month*, you can do the math pretty quickly and find out that it’s not helping. These are going to be some of the adjustments were going to have to make. No more tanning, no more gym, no more Netflix. These can be the rewards that you have lined up at the finish line, if you feel you still need them. Need versus want, that agenda is for another rainy day. Chances are, you’re going to realize that your heart won’t stop beating if you don’t have that magical orange glow year round.

Lastly, well there are a bunch of teeny tiny steps in between all this but these are the BIG ones, MAKE A PLAN. I mean actually get it down on paper and staple it to your forehead. Don’t do that, but do get it on paper. Show yourself those big scary numbers and figure out your timeline. You have X amount of debt with Chase (or whoever), divide that by what your monthly payment will be, divide that by 12. That number staring you square in the eyes, preparing for a challenge, is your enemy. Without interest, the world’s most evil villain, that number is roughly how long it will take to get this monkey off your back. Don’t be alarmed! Remain calm. I actually did my math over quite a few times to make sure I wasn’t missing a step.

Now tell yourself, you’re going to do it in half the time. Aim high! Do yourself some favors along the way though; DON’T just make the minimum payment. Try to make a payment of at least double or triple of the amount shown. ALWAYS pay on time. These are some very simple steps to help defeat the nasty sidekicks to interest, finance charges and late fees. They are out there trying to stop you from reaching your goal. F*$%&#$!

Some of this may be common sense so let it serve as a little reminder. The steps you are taking are meant to save yourself, so don’t hurt yourself by lying or cheating. Try to have a brief moment of clarity and remember that the light at the end will always be there you’ve just got to be strong enough to reach for it.

WOW that was a long one

D

*Monthly bills are a little more challenging but you should work to get these automatically withdrawn from your checking account. Where the real money lives! “But, Diane I don’t have the money in my checking account to pay for it.” Then you shouldn’t be allowing yourself to have it, live within your means. It’ll make it that much more of a privilege when you can afford it. You could possibly even go with the techniques the ancients used years ago that seemed to work, write checks.