Debt Crunch – Giving Up What We Don’t Need To Get What We Want
Debt Crunch Note: Yesterday a friend stopped by and noticed my Total Money Makeover book. Curious, he asked how it works. I started with the Baby Steps – brief and to the point. His response – ” that sounds good in theory but with someone like me… living on disability, I don’t see any hope of it working.”
When I brought up the fact that he owned a great deal of electronic equipment, several types of surround sound (I’m not hip to exactly what the equipment might be 
) – I told him that although the latest sound system was given to him by a friend, it had a retail price of $3,000. If he sold that one group of speakers – he would be debt free AND he could buy a used car.
The morale of the story isn’t “sell everything you got” – the point is:
Your circumstances are yours to change.
Now, me? I don’t own high priced “things” I could sell to clear up my debt or build my emergency fund. I’ve never been given high priced electronics or even low priced vehicles. I’ve never put money into such things either. When the snow is gone, I will have another garage sale to sell my huge book collection AND the ton of boys clothes that don’t fit anymore. THAT money will go toward my emergency fund.
The bottom line is – we shouldn’t moan and groan about the state of our lives, our money situation when we are hanging onto things that aren’t a necessity or a family heirloom.
It’s become clear to me that I have fallen into my own mental trap – Things won’t ever get better than they are right now. That’s wrong. Things won’t change until I change. That’s the gist of it.
Since I’ve taken back control of my money – I’ve had more control over my bills, my debts AND it has trickled into other areas of my life. That, my friend, is HOPE.
Tags: Books, change, debt, emergency fund, money, money makeover, take back control
