Tips like these helped us pay off $127K in debt. You can read our story in Slaying the Debt Dragon: How One Family Conquered Their Money Monster and Found an Inspired Happily Ever After.
Here’s my little Happy New Year gift to you. Each day in January, I’ll 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 down 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 17: Clean Your Room!
I am the messiest of the messies. My room, my desk, my locker, my closet, my utensil drawer, my sink, my time . . . Friends, throughout the ages I have struggled with keeping things organized. I have awesome intentions. I buy planners. I purge on a regular basis. I pray for change. I load the dishwasher three times in one day. Alas, I still typically have at least one area of my life that is a mess, even if I can get all of the other areas in line.
I’m guessing you’ve already put it together that at one point in our life, our finances were so incredibly disorganized that we didn’t even know how much we owed to whom.
Really want to #KickDebtInTheTeeth? Then maybe it’s time you cleaned your “room.” To succeed with money, you need to have clear systems of organization in your home. Don’t mishear me. I’m not telling you to go all Stepford Wives and become a lifeless, boring soulless individual who lives to scrub toilets. I’m not ever going to be Suzy Homemaker and I’m ok with that. However, keeping our home ordered certainly helped us pay off $127K in debt. Was it show room ready? Of course not, we live here.
After we reorganized, we were able to sell a few items to put toward our debt snowball. It was easier to budget. Meal planning was a snap because I knew what items were in the fridge, the freezer, and the cabinets. Plus, since we both regularly work from home there were at least a couple spaces where we could concentrate without being distracted by piles of junk. Better systems = more productivity.
The less “stuff” you have to manage, the easier managing life becomes. The easier managing life becomes, the more you can focus your energies on working to pay off debt. The smoother your systems are, the easier it is to save money and make the most of what you have.
But here’s one area where I can ask you NOT to be like me. Don’t just have good intentions. After all:
Direction, not intention, determines destination. – Andy Stanley, the Principle of the Path
Just wanting to have a efficient systems in your home isn’t enough. You have to take steps toward actually establishing those systems AND maintaining them, too.
I’m a work in progress (she says while looking at her still decorated Christmas tree on January 17th). Maybe we’ll never have the perfect and neat home I see the magazines. But we’ll always strive toward creating orderly spaces that help us reach toward our goals and eliminate the clutter of our physical and spiritual selves. I long for our home to be a place of safety and inspiration for those who dwell here and those who pass through, too.
Maybe it’s time to clean your room?
Miss the first 16 days of Kicking Debt in the teeth? Have no fear! Read:
- 31 Ways to Kick Debt in The Teeth: Believe
- 31 Ways to Kick Debt in The Teeth: Stop It
- 31 Ways to Kick Debt in the Teeth: Sell, Baby, Sell
- 31 Ways to Kick Debt in the Teeth: Use Cash
- 31 Ways to Kick Debt in the Teeth: Plan Meals
- 31 Ways to Kick Debt in the Teeth: Mind Over Budget
- 31 Ways to Kick Debt in the Teeth: Read a Book
- 31 Ways to Kick Debt in the Teeth: Quit Eating at Restaurants
- 31 Ways to Kick Debt in the Teeth: Dream On
- 31 Ways to Kick Debt in the Teeth: Set Limits
- 31 Ways to Kick Debt in the Teeth: Communicate with Your Spouse
- 31 Ways to Kick Debt in the Teeth: Move It
- 31 Ways to Kick Debt in the Teeth: Work It
- 31 Ways to Kick Debt in the Teeth: Get Your Coupon On
- 31 Ways to Kick Debt in the Teeth: Visualize Victory
- 31 Ways to Kick Debt in the Teeth: Hang with the Right Crowd
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.
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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!
My book is now available: Slaying the Debt Dragon: How One Family Conquered Their Money Monster and Found an Inspired Happily Ever After. You can also check out Inspiration to Pay Off Debt: 30 Days of Encouragement from the Queen of Free
This post contains an affiliate link. 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!
You are not alone- we just took our Christmas tree down yesterday.
Thank you. Deep exhale. Hopefully today. 🙂