This is kind of off topic for this blog but I can’t help it. I have really exciting news.
Today is a momentous occasion. I’m doing my own Superbowl victory dance in my living room.
I am paying off my very last credit card.
I can’t tell you how happy this makes me. I am so proud of myself!!!
I’ve been in debt with credit cards since I got my first one in college when I was 26. That’s how they get you! It makes me sick to think about how much money I wasted paying finance charges and fees for 15 years! Credit cards are the biggest racket out there and it makes me angry that they do not teach financial literacy in school.
But you know what, that’s the past. I can’t change it. I can’t go backwards in time. But I can go forward. I am finally credit card debt-free.
Sure, I still have student loans and a car loan so I’m not totally out of consumer debt.
However, my student loans are very low-interest and it is never a bad idea to take out loans to go to school. Education is one of the very best things you can do for yourself. And financing it if you have to is worth it. It makes you stronger to put yourself though school.
And my car will be paid off in October of this year.
Here’s the exciting thing — all that money I have been paying to the credit card companies, I am now putting in a savings account. And this year I am going to buy my first real estate investment.
Here’s the other exciting thing: this happened because I set a goal. Sure, I was working to get out of debt for a while — but it was never a concerted effort. For many years, I just paid the minimum payment. It’s not that I didn’t have the money. It was just never a priority.
Last year in March, just before Kate was born, I set the goal to get out of credit card debt. I figured it would take me a couple of years. I mapped it out, figured out which card to pay off first, and then which one after that and so on and so forth. I put it all in a spreadsheet.
I could see the light at the end of the tunnel.
And now here it is — I’m out of the tunnel. And it only took me 11 months! It is amazing what happens when you set a goal.
This is one of my favorite quotes:
“Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back. Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth, the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too.
All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one’s favor all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamed would have come his way.
Whatever you can do, or dream you can do, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it.” — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
It’s so true! Anthony Robbins said once that the word decision means to cut. You cut off all other options. When you do that, things start to happen.
My priority now is to start putting money aside to buy property — and to start earning a positive cash flow from every piece of real estate I buy. Eventually the money I earn from my properties will be greater than my expenses.
Won’t that be an amazing feeling?
I haven’t decided on the goal to set yet — as far as how quickly I can achieve financial freedom. I’m playing around with some spreadsheets and figuring it out. I also took a real estate seminar last month, and I just joined a local real estate investors group so I can learn more.
Last night I went to a local Starbucks and played Cashflow with some of the members of the group. Cashflow is a game like Monopoly, only it teaches you how to invest and become financially free. It was developed by Robert Kiyosaki, author of the book “Rich Dad, Poor Dad”. If you haven’t read this book, it’s a great place to start. I highly recommend it.
Unlike Monopoly, Cashflow not a game where only one person wins and everyone else loses. This is a game where everyone wins. Once you win, you often want to help the others win. How many games are like that?!
I had so much fun playing Cashflow. And I learned so much from the people I was playing with! One of the guys playing with us owns 5 properties — 4 houses and an apartment building. And he has only been playing Cashflow for 6 months.
I’m going to meet this group again on Sunday evening to play again. Kiyosaki says every time you play, you learn more. Then you can start applying what you are learning in the real world.
This is not about getting rich quick. It’s about setting a goal, educating yourself, taking calculated small risks, and slowly but surely moving in the direction of your goal. I’m super excited about it!
If you are in debt — particularly credit card debt — please don’t feel bad. Just set a goal and start moving toward that goal, one small step at a time. Even if it’s only an extra $20 per month toward your goal. You will get there eventually! And when you do, you will feel so happy.
Set the goal today! Don’t wait until tomorrow. If you do it today, that’s one day closer you will be to your last day of credit card debt.
