Don’t tell me where your priorities are. Show me where you spend your money and I’ll tell you what they are.
James W. Frick
We are wonderful complainers when it comes to not being able to get what we want when we want it. Our lifestyle is a pretty accurate assumption of how financially stable we are. If you meet a person that’s struggling financially, they often complain about everything except themselves. Something or someone is always the reason why they can’t get ahead. This job is not paying me enough, high rent, the government robbing me, these bills are killing me, if I didn’t have all these kids…. Do you see where I’m going here?
Two years ago, I had to file bankruptcy. My debts were more than my income. Sure, I blamed everyone that I could, but it didn’t change the fact that those bills still had to be paid. I had a mortgage I couldn’t afford, a car loan that was more than what the car was worth, credit card bills, personal loans, and I was addicted to shopping. When I would get upset at something, my cooling off stage consisted of going to ROSS and Dress Barn…you feel me? But it still wasn’t my fault I was in debt. The lightbulb hadn’t come on yet.
One Part of the bankruptcy stage is when you have to take a financial literacy course. I chose to take mine online because I didn’t want everybody in my business…how typical! I must say that I was skeptical going in, but that course taught me more about myself than life could show in 30 years. I learned how to budget, how to figure out my monthly rent payment according to my income, how to calculate interest payments on loans and credit cards. I was so blown away, that I wanted to learn more.
I honestly didn’t know how to budget my monthly income. Yeah, I had heard of budgeting, but I didn’t know how to apply it to my household. I grew up with a house full of “go-getters,” meaning they made it happen by any means necessary. Budget for what? You rob Peter to pay Paul, and if that doesn’t work, then they have to wait until the next payday. I know I’m transparent here, but I think this is the only way I can get you to see where I’m going with this post. I want you to get it, and hopefully, it will help you and maybe even prevent you from having to file bankruptcy.
If you’re broke & struggling, follow these steps to help you free up some cash:
1) Create a side hustle – create something to sell.
2) Follow your Budget – typically most people that are struggling have a problem with following a budget.
3) Cut Spending – see what you can do without, go with straight talk wireless, downgrade cable package, only eat out once a month, cut down on clubbing.
4) Do no spend weeks – this is when you don’t buy anything that week outside of paying bills.
5) Rent out a room – be careful with this one, make sure you have a contract.
6) Sell your old stuff on your social media pages.
7) Work from home or get a part-time job.
The point of all this is that you can control how and if you struggle, but you must first come to the conclusion that it is you that is preventing your financial breakthrough. I had a budgeting and spending problem. I didn’t save for a rainy day and then when life happened, I got mad and started pointing fingers. Once I started holding myself accountable for my actions, I started seeing a big difference in my finances. Budgeting created extra cash for me to start my emergency fund. This is something that I thought I could never do.
If you are broke and struggling, please read the seven steps above to help you get a hold of your debt. Once you free up some cash, you will have money to start saving for an emergency, the older you, and maybe start that business you’ve always wanted.
Please leave a comment and let me know if this post was helpful.
