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Undoing What We Have Done Part 2 in a 8 part series
Analysis of
Today's Financial Outlook To go forward in life we must undo what we have done. We put ourselves in debt, we must get ourselves out of it. Formulate a plan to pay of any existing creditors. This includes that mortgage that most of us owe. Regardless of how much you owe, you CAN do this. There are ways to reduce and restructure where your money goes. In our household we have done just that. We have sat down and on paper and figured out what our expenses are without 'credit accounts' and to pay just the basic mortgage and utilities, taxes and insurance as required by the mortgage company and come up with a figure that we MUST have in order to survive at this time. Then we figured out what we OWE in credit card debt, revolving accounts and financed purchases. We started paying things off one at a time. Starting with the smaller ones and the ones with the highest interest rates first. When a smaller bill was paid off we put that money into paying the next bill in line. All the while making the monthly payments on each account and adding some small token to the payment above the required payment. If that mortgage payment is too large to handle then you need to downsize your housing costs. Sell the house you're in, take what equity you have and put it into something you can realistically pay off in a few years. If you owe credit card debt, cut the accounts and negotiate a pay off. If you can't negotiate a pay off then you must make payments and pay these people till you are even. (We paid one card off at a time by making the regular monthly payments due on all cards and selecting one card to continually pay every extra dollar we had on till we paid them off one at a time) How did we did we do this and how are we maintaining? This meant working me working 2 jobs for a couple of years. It meant my daughter going to community college and working nearly a full time job and contributing to the bills as well. It meant doing without luxuries. It meant cutting corners, reducing spending where we could and working harder to make up for those 'conveniences" that we were no longer paying for. Was it worth it? Yes. we're down to owing less than $1000 to our creditors in total sums owed out and have managed to make 20 years worth of mortgage payments in less than 8 years. You can do this too. Not overnight, no. But it can be achieved if you are determined and do not let circumstances and laziness stand between you and your goal. You must get your priorities in line with the goals you have. If you are fortunate enough to live in a 2 parent household, then one parent will most likely have to make the sacrifice of 'time spent at home' to accomplish your goals. The goals however in a 2 parent household must be mutual. One parent can not do this alone while the other 'lays' back and does little or nothing to help. This is a TEAM effort. I can not stress that enough. One person alone can do this, but if you have children, and a spouse and the spouse is not supporting your efforts the odds are stacked against you. Setting a good example for the children in your household becomes the 'supporting spouse's' contribution. Not allowing the children to continually run up the electric bill, doing extra chores, and supporting you by doing the 'homework' while you pull in that secondary income needed to get ahead. If you have not done your part as a parent, and are faced with children who have no responsibility and no chores, then your task to become independent and debt free becomes an even larger one. Good luck on this one. Most children's values are formed during the early years. Retraining takes the patience and dedication of Job. If you don't know who Job is, I suggest you check your Bible. As far as the supporting members of your household, it's time to get them back to the basics of living.
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