Does Talking (or Thinking) About DEBT Make You Sweat?
You open your email and there it is, a bill from your creditor.
You dread clicking on it for fear the balance owed has gone through the roof.
Your stomach clenches as you click on the link...
the chatter in your head is talking a mile a minute, chastising you for the insane way you spent on credit last month.
You find you cannot swallow, your throat is dry.
Your heart races and you even feel a bit queasy.
You ask yourself, "How much do I owe and am I able to pay it this time?" What do you do next? Do you quickly close or delete the email, ignore it...
put it aside to deal with at another time? Did it get added to the stack of ever growing bills to be paid later? Did you tell yourself you'd deal with it when you have more time? You are not alone...
in fact it is a very crowded place.
This scenario is faced by thousands or millions of us each day.
There are a lot of us swimming around in that pool of debt and it grows larger each day.
In fact, the total U.
S.
credit card debt is $793.
1 billion...
yes, you read that right, BILLION.
So, that's a big swimming pool we're swimming around in with lots of others in there with us! The question is, do you want to be swimming in that crowded pool or would you like to have a nice, calm, peaceful oasis to yourself? A place where no one tells you to move aside, get out of their way or dive into your sea of tranquility.
Okay, so I'll stop with the metaphors and get to the point.
Would you like to get out of debt and stay out? There is a way to release that stranglehold that debt has upon you.
Forever.
But before I go there, let me share my own story...
I too have been in debt up to my eyeballs and over.
I too have struggled with handling monthly payments beyond my ability to pay them and at one point had creditors calling me daily, sometimes several times a day to remind me I was delinquent.
I too have had threats to pay up or else! Those calls made me feel like a deadbeat.
Let's face it, the storyline in the financial world is that you ought to have your financial house in order and if you don't then you are to blame.
You are in the wrong and you must fix it.
You are a loser.
Yet, is that really true? Absolutely not! Here is what I learned through my own financial indebtedness...
I have lived many of them myself or heard them from my clients.
It saddens me to see so much stress and fear surrounding something that we truly can and are able to handle.
The answer is simple.
Yet, you won't want to hear it...
in fact it is so simple you'll discount it or gasp in frustration because it couldn't possibly work.
But it does work...
I have done it.
I continue to do it now.
It is the only way most of us are able to stay out of the cesspool of debt.
And if you think there aren't very many of us in debt, think again of the billions of debt we owe (mentioned above) and the fact that 56% of those in debt carried an unpaid balance for months if not years.
In other words, they were unable to pay off their balance each month.
Which means, it isn't just me in debt, there are many others out there too.
Here's the secret...
don't use credit.
Not even sometimes.
Not even for certain things.
Let it go, don't use it and learn to live in the now.
It is that simple.
I didn't say easy.
I also didn't say it was the only way.
And yes, I am aware there is more to it when you are already in debt.
And yes, I am aware that in order to have a credit score you have to have debt.
I am also aware that we've been taught we cannot have things without using debt to get them.
We believe we must be in debt to own a house, a car and other nice things in life.
I'm here to say one thing...
that is not true.
We do not need or have to be in debt to have nice things.
That is a falsehood we each must come to terms with and say "no more!"
You dread clicking on it for fear the balance owed has gone through the roof.
Your stomach clenches as you click on the link...
the chatter in your head is talking a mile a minute, chastising you for the insane way you spent on credit last month.
You find you cannot swallow, your throat is dry.
Your heart races and you even feel a bit queasy.
You ask yourself, "How much do I owe and am I able to pay it this time?" What do you do next? Do you quickly close or delete the email, ignore it...
put it aside to deal with at another time? Did it get added to the stack of ever growing bills to be paid later? Did you tell yourself you'd deal with it when you have more time? You are not alone...
in fact it is a very crowded place.
This scenario is faced by thousands or millions of us each day.
There are a lot of us swimming around in that pool of debt and it grows larger each day.
In fact, the total U.
S.
credit card debt is $793.
1 billion...
yes, you read that right, BILLION.
So, that's a big swimming pool we're swimming around in with lots of others in there with us! The question is, do you want to be swimming in that crowded pool or would you like to have a nice, calm, peaceful oasis to yourself? A place where no one tells you to move aside, get out of their way or dive into your sea of tranquility.
Okay, so I'll stop with the metaphors and get to the point.
Would you like to get out of debt and stay out? There is a way to release that stranglehold that debt has upon you.
Forever.
But before I go there, let me share my own story...
I too have been in debt up to my eyeballs and over.
I too have struggled with handling monthly payments beyond my ability to pay them and at one point had creditors calling me daily, sometimes several times a day to remind me I was delinquent.
I too have had threats to pay up or else! Those calls made me feel like a deadbeat.
Let's face it, the storyline in the financial world is that you ought to have your financial house in order and if you don't then you are to blame.
You are in the wrong and you must fix it.
You are a loser.
Yet, is that really true? Absolutely not! Here is what I learned through my own financial indebtedness...
- I somehow had to fail my way to success.
And mind you, I did it more than once.
Each time I would have to remind myself of the tools I used before to get myself out of that miserable place and begin again. - It has nothing to do with smarts.
All the education, knowledge and smarts in the financial world did NOT stop me from diving into that huge messy pool of debt.
I probably know more about debt, creditors, credit scores and how to handle it than the average Joe.
After all, I was once known as The Debt Relief Queen!Yet, all that knowledge didn't keep me from falling into the emotional trap of debt. - The steps to getting out of debt are simple.
Yes, simple.
The hard part is dealing with the raging, loud voice in your own head.
That voice is what keeps you from getting out of debt and staying out. - Don't buy into the name calling that goes on in the world of debt.
That means the names you call yourself too.
But most importantly, if you have a creditor calling you, do not let them determine your self worth.
Your debt is NOT your worth.
Period. - Creditors are not first on the list, you are! We have been sold a bill of goods when it comes to owing money to someone else, especially to a credit card company.
We have come to believe that we must pay the debt no matter what, even if that means I will use my retirement monies, go without food or hurt myself financially.
Although it is smart to make your payments regularly, it isn't smart to agree to a payment plan that you cannot meet.
A client of mine did this very thing...
he had gotten behind in his payments, only a month or two.
In his guilt over becoming delinquent, he agreed to a 5 year plan to pay of his debt that was more than he was currently unable to pay.
The creditor convinced him this was his last and only option.
No, it was not...
do not believe them.
I have lived many of them myself or heard them from my clients.
It saddens me to see so much stress and fear surrounding something that we truly can and are able to handle.
The answer is simple.
Yet, you won't want to hear it...
in fact it is so simple you'll discount it or gasp in frustration because it couldn't possibly work.
But it does work...
I have done it.
I continue to do it now.
It is the only way most of us are able to stay out of the cesspool of debt.
And if you think there aren't very many of us in debt, think again of the billions of debt we owe (mentioned above) and the fact that 56% of those in debt carried an unpaid balance for months if not years.
In other words, they were unable to pay off their balance each month.
Which means, it isn't just me in debt, there are many others out there too.
Here's the secret...
don't use credit.
Not even sometimes.
Not even for certain things.
Let it go, don't use it and learn to live in the now.
It is that simple.
I didn't say easy.
I also didn't say it was the only way.
And yes, I am aware there is more to it when you are already in debt.
And yes, I am aware that in order to have a credit score you have to have debt.
I am also aware that we've been taught we cannot have things without using debt to get them.
We believe we must be in debt to own a house, a car and other nice things in life.
I'm here to say one thing...
that is not true.
We do not need or have to be in debt to have nice things.
That is a falsehood we each must come to terms with and say "no more!"
Source...