Here’s my little Happy New Year gift to you. I am happy to bring you a simple, concrete and easy to put in place tip to fuel your efforts to Save Money, Pay Off Debt, and Be Awesome this year. Looking for a quick plan? Well this might not to be the right place for you. Most things done well take time. But that doesn’t mean you can’t begin to implement systems in your life that will help you achieve your goals. I’ve said it many, many times before. Paying off debt isn’t complex. It’s just not easy. You have to punch the clock daily and do the hard work. Here’s another way to make that happen.
Day 30: Operate from a Mindset of Wealth (Instead of Poverty)
Back when we began our journey of paying off $127K in debt, I would have told you I had all sorts of problems.
Money problems (particularly not having enough).
Paying attention problems.
Organizational problems.
Maybe even a spending problem.
The two problems I wouldn’t have probably admitted or perhaps even recognized in my own life were my contentment or patience problems. I’m a fairly happy person. I’ve always known that I was blessed. Great parents, a loving husband, a warm bed to sleep in at night, little girls who somedays drive me crazy but always fill my heart with more love than I ever thought possible. I knew that good things come to those who wait, that hard work and time yield a great reward. Even still, my eyes were blinded to my own dissatisfaction with what I had been given.
As we went through the early motions of setting up a budget, streamlining our spending, visualizing victory over debt, keeping records, learning about coupons, and more I really didn’t connect the problems of my soul and my problems with money. Maybe it was an instance of “fake it until you make it” or speaking words before they have true meaning. I knew I wanted to be free from debt. God knew I needed to be freed from so much more.
If you want to kick debt in the teeth, you have to realize that you have much, not little. It’s an odd shift. But let’s try it together right now. Look up from the screen for a minute. Go ahead, I’ll wait for you. Back? What did you see? Did you see all you had? Or everything that you don’t have? Did you see four solid walls? A soft place to sit? People you love? Beautiful art? Pieces of technology? Did you look out a window and see a home safe from dangers? Maybe you glimpsed cabinets filled with food or even a sink filled with dirty dishes attached to a faucet filled with clean water. Maybe you saw a small child scoot across the floor or a pile of laundry. Maybe you saw your favorite things or a project in need of completion.
My guess is that you saw a lot, not a little.
Debt? It’s not really a problem. It’s a symptom. A symptom of not getting what we want immediately when we want it, a symptom of seeing our world through a lens of poverty instead of one of wealth. We focus on all that we do not have. We toss very good gifts aside in pursuit of something New! Improved! Bigger! Better! Prettier! Trendier! More! We look up from the screen and all we see is what we do not have. We cast down our blessings and trade them in for promises of something that will never be enough.
Can I share a little secret of the universe revealed to me through four years of sacrifice and introspection when it comes to spending? You can never have enough. You can never save enough. You can never be enough. You can never own enough . . . not until you realize enough is enough.
My problems of patience and contentment wrecked our finances. Honestly, I have absolutely nothing to show for it. There’s no walk-in closet filled with designer names. There are no expensive furnishings or photos of luxury vacations. It’s kind of sad that most of what we wanted via the $16.5K in credit card debt was so temporary – a meal out on the town, a bargain deal, extra grocery items that we didn’t need. All because we didn’t realize the wealth already in our possession.
Kicking debt in the teeth requires you to inventory all you have with fresh eyes. How can it be used? What will you do with your great wealth? Are you missing a miracle because you see all you don’t have instead of all that you’ve been given?
Have you missed other 31 Ways Posts? Check out:
- 31 Ways to Kick Debt in the Teeth: Stop Using Paper Goods
- 31 Ways to Kick Debt in the Teeth: Streamline Your Monthly Bills
- 31 Ways to Kick Debt in the Teeth: Don’t Tell Me You’re Doing Everything You Can
- 31 Ways to Kick Debt in the Teeth: Keep Excellent Records
- 31 Ways to Kick Debt in the Teeth: Pray
- 31 Ways to Kick Debt in the Teeth: Don’t Quit Even When You’re Weary
- 31 Ways to Kick Debt in the Teeth: Shop at ALDI
- 31 Ways to Kick Debt in the Teeth: No More Excuses
- 31 Ways to Kick Debt in the Teeth: Knock Off the Pity Party
- 31 Ways to Kick Debt in the Teeth: Stop Freaking Out!
- 31 Ways to Kick Debt in the Teeth: You Can’t Buy From Every Fundraiser
- 31 Ways to Kick Debt in the Teeth: It’s an Emergency!
- 31 Ways to Kick Debt in the Teeth: Clean Your Room!
- 31 Ways to Kick Debt in the Teeth: Be Careful the Company You Keep
- 31 Ways to Kick Debt in the Teeth: Visualize Victory
- 31 Ways to Kick Debt in the Teeth: Get Your Coupon On
- 31 Ways to Kick Debt in the Teeth: Work It
- 31 Ways to Kick Debt in The Teeth: Move It
- 31 Ways to Kick Debt in the Teeth: Communicate with Your Spouse
- 31 Ways to Kick Debt in the Teeth: Set Limits
- 31 Ways to Kick Debt in the Teeth: Dream On
- 31 Ways to Kick Debt in the Teeth: Quit Eating at Restaurants
- 31 Ways to Kick Debt in the Teeth: Read a Book, Why Don’t Ya?
- 31 Ways to Kick Debt in the Teeth: Change Your Mind About Budgeting
- 31 Ways to Kick Debt in the Teeth in 2014: Plan Yo’ Meals
- 31 Ways to Kick Debt in the Teeth in 2014: Use CA$H
- 31 Ways to Kick Debt in the Teeth in 2014: Sell, Baby, Sell
- 31 Ways to Kick Debt in the Teeth in 2014: Stop It
- 31 Ways to Kick Debt in the Teeth in 2014: Introduction
Want to be sure you don’t miss a single one of the 31 Ways to Kick Debt in the Teeth? Be sure to subscribe to my daily newsletter! Look for the bar that looks like this in the upper righthand corner.
You’ll receive another e-mail to confirm and then daily around 5 pm all of the money saving, debt slaying posts I write will come right to your e-mail inbox!
I’m so looking forward to sharing this month of challenge and inspiration with you. Together, we can show debt who’s boss and give it a swift kick in the teeth this January and throughout the year in 2014. Away we go!
Gain inspiration to pay off debt! Check out Inspiration to Pay Off Debt: 30 Days of Encouragement from the Queen of Free
This post contains affiliate links. That means when you get a great deal or maybe even something for free, you also help our family pay off our mortgage early. And for that, we royally thank you!
