The never ending pursuit of making finances work in this materialistic world.

Health and Wealth. The pursuit of making finances work in this materialistic world

About 9 months ago I was out of a job and was trying to get into a new career path. I was done with Sales. I had debt from Credit Cards the IRS and other Creditors. That added up to about a third of my salary at the time, and the minimum payments were more than my rent. Most months, my paycheck was gone before I would even see it, swallowed up by credit card payments, a rent payment, utilities, insurance, a bundle of student loans, and two outstanding car loans.

My Fiance' and my 2 sons lived in a little town home together and we had every luxury item we could afford. We liked buying neat new stuff – I owned a lot of shoes, electronics, tablets TV's and multiple computers and clothes, tons of clothes.

When we first found out we were going to have a child, we decided that he would have the best of the best. We bought everything. We spent several hundred dollars on an amazing crib for him and bought almost everything one could possibly think of that a baby would want. We turned the tiny second bedroom in our old apartment into a nursery and just poured out the money. We bought a top-of-the-line breast pumping machine, dozens of educational toys, and a mountain of clothes for the boy.

We just kept sinking and sinking and sinking into debt, but I just couldn’t bring myself to really think

about it. It was so much easier to not think about it, to just keep doing the same things I was 

always doing. I’d go buy clothes and such after work, eat out for lunch at expensive places,

and just keep sinking slowly further and further into debt. I assumed that “future me” would just take 

care of it.

One day, I woke up and there was no money. I had less than a hundred dollars to my name, a 

mountain of unpaid bills in front of me, and no forthcoming paychecks. I knew in the back of my mind 

that such a day would come, but I didn’t know when it came that it would punch me in the gut quite so 

hard.

I was scared. I cried inside constantly. I talked to my Fiance' about everything and we went 

carefully through the bills.The one thing I realized above everything else? Fixing it wasn’t that hard. 

Sure, the problem can’t be solved in a day, but the solution is really, really easy. Want some tips to get 

started?

Enjoy the stuff you have instead of buying new stuff. If you’re tempted to buy something, look 

around the stuff you already have and try out one of those instead. If you’re going to go buy a new 

DVD, watch one on your shelf instead. Lusting for a flat panel? Go for that upgrade – but wait until 

the TV you already have doesn’t work. Want to buy clothes? How about doing a big closet cleaning 

and seeing if there’s anything you’ve forgotten about in there? Look at what you’ve got before you spend

some more.

Lock up all of your credit cards. Don’t carry them with you for a while, but continue to live your 

normal life. You’ll find your habits being subtly changed by this – and better yet, you won’t be building 

up a balance on those cards. Try it for just a couple of weeks and see what happens.

Pick your debt that has the lowest principal left and make extra payments on it. If you do the 

two things above, you’ll notice some extra breathing room in your monthly spending. Take some of that

and make extra payments on the debt you have with the lowest balance. Hopefully, you can pay it off 

fairly quickly – and you can feel the rush of a debt burden being lifted from your shoulders. If you like 

that feeling, move on to the next debt.

Eat at home more. Even if you just go home and prepare a prepackaged meal, it’s 

substantially cheaper than constantly eating out. Try to incorporate making some of your own food as 

well – see if you can come up with a used crock pot and then start using it by just dumping in some 

ingredients in the morning, turning it to simmer all day, and coming home to a delicious and frugal meal. 

My Fiance' would make roasts in mine all the time – just put in a roast, a seasoning packet, and some vegetables and my Fiance' and I have three or four delicious meals waiting for us.

It’s not rocket science, just a bunch of small steps you can take. The hardest part is just having the 

courage to take that first step. You need to start thinking about your 'Future Self'. Would your future

self like you making that decision? See the decisions we make today determine the way that our future 

turns out. So when making financial decisions ask yourself would your future self be proud and approve

of that decision or would they be upset that you made that decision carelessly. The more you think about

the future and not the present the better decisions you make. Just try these steps out. If they can work for

someone that was on the verge of being homeless they should work great for you.

I wish health and wealth for everyone!

-Rett Sloat