So you wanna be debt free? After decades of living the "American Excess" dream, are you ready to make the sacrifices it takes to become and remain debt free? These are some of the questions we have to ask ourselves when we embark on the journey to debt freedom. Whether you are a fan of Suze Orman, Dave Ramsey, Clark Howard or whomever, you need to take a hard, long and good look at yourself (and partner in some cases) and be honest about your habits, your financial status, your desires, your weaknesses and strengths. Let's call it your 'realities'.
Like any other 'diet', when you embark on it, you have to have a game plan. Besides the dreaded 'b' word --- for those of you who don't know, budget --- you must take into account your strengths and weaknesses. What are you (and perhaps your partner) good at? Are you what Dave Ramsey would call the 'nerd'? Lets just say you are very organized (maybe obsessively so), the planner and/or thoroughbred? Even in your chaos, you know what you owe and plan for your debt. LOL! That may seem absurd to some, but I know there are some of us out there. Maybe you are nothing of the sort. Maybe you are carefree and as long as you don't overdraw the account, you're cool. Or, maybe you just need to have enough credit from month to month to get you through. Whatever the case, once you recognize your financial personality, you can plan to navigate through the journey and help yourself prevent pitfalls and adjust -- well, as much as possible anyway. When you do find yourself 'off the plan', rather 'in the pit', you can more easily climb out and get back on course. Think about it, when we go on a road trip, down we go without a plan? A map? A navigator who knows the way? Along the way, we may make some pit stops and veer off course. Such is life on the journey, whether it be a road trip or debt freedom.
Okay, so we take account of ourselves and think we have a plan. The question now is, do you have the guts? Are you willing to make the sacrifices? No matter how long it takes or how hard it may seem. How badly do you want it? No more collection calls? No fear of your car or maybe even house being taken from you if you hit hard times, perhaps loose a job or take a big pay cut. What would you do if you had an entire check to save, spend as you will without one debt to pay? How would you feel? FREEDOM!!!! I want it! Do you?
