7. Get out of Debt and Stay out of Debt

This is HUGE!  Especially in this economic timeline.  We are heading into a down cycle and those with little or no debt will come out on top.  You need to do this one sooner, rather than later.

If you have no debt, by all means, move on.  However, if you have debt, READ THIS.  You must grow up and face the fact that you have been living on someone else’s dollar and not your own.  If you used a credit card and didn’t pay it off at the end of each month, you shouldn’t have used that card in the first place but no one really taught us that.  We were almost taught "how" to live off debt instead of the correct way of living within our income.  Let's re-educate ourselves.

I know there are times when you feel you have to use your credit card, like when a loved one passes away in another state and you have to fly out to the funeral or when your only car breaks down.  However, I’m going to be brutally honest here and tell you that unless it was your parents or siblings that passed, you don’t “have to” go anywhere.  If you don’t have the money to travel, then don’t.  Your favorite aunt would understand the fact that you are behaving like an adult and unwilling to put your family into even more debt in order to be able to prove your devotion to others by saying goodbye in person.  She’s no longer “in person” and who cares what the others think?  They aren’t paying your bills.  Everything you spend is your choice.  You choose to go further into debt or to pay it off.  You choose to overspend or to live within your income.  Start making wise choices today. 

You can read my Debt Snowball article on my website to help get your debt reduction ball rolling.  There are also debt reduction apps and programs online.  Free ones work the same as the ones that cost money.  Get a free one and begin eliminating debt today.  Take your credit cards and put them in a plastic bowl of water and freeze them in the back of the freezer somewhere.  If you really want something, make yourself wait the 24 hour thawing time (no cheating!) and see if the urge to go deeper into debt hasn’t passed.

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