Whenever I need to go to one of my checking accounts, I happily double-click my bookmarks to bring it up. The keyword here is happily. But, I wasn’t always in a good mood to jump through my bank accounts.
You see, I was in debt for over ten years—to the tune of -$77,000 (book). When you add up all the cars, loans, emergencies, and credit cards, the total amount can shock you. Most of the time, we like to look at debt by the monthly amount we pay. By doing this, everything looks more manageable, and we can still breathe throughout the day.
But debt is still going to drown you at some point, especially over the long run. I never knew how crushing debt’s grip was until we got from underneath it. To say that it feels like a weight has been lifted in ourselves is an understatement.
15 Things We Learned About Love & Finances
Looking back, we didn’t do anything extreme to pay down debt; it was more a matter of focus. I guess the most daring thing we did was take on roommates, and I attribute that to the speed at which we paid off our debt.
I also learned the ways of passive income in conjunction with paying off debt. To me, this was invaluable because I didn’t wait for my job to pay off our loans; we took matters into our own hands—by creating income.
Today, I want to talk to you about starting your debt payoff journey. The journey is not difficult; however, forming the correct mindset can be challenging. America has profound influences on the way you spend money, value things, and display wealth. All of these habits can lead to getting and staying in debt.
So let’s start with preparing our financial mindset then get into the technical part of paying down debt. By the end of this article, my goal is to get you thinking about a future where you are without obligation and living a nice, quiet life. That reality is not the American way, so be prepared to hear some different takes on first-world living. Exciting stuff! Let’s get into it.
Financial Mindset: What Do You Really Need? In reality, all we need in life is shelter, food, clothes, and transportation. Everything we get in life is a form of these things. Refer to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs to learn how human needs and wants travel up a pyramid over time.
Cash Flow 101: How Much Do You Need For Your Dream Retirement?
American consumption is driven by consumerism—you are the product of a lifetime of advertising. Everyone is convinced that a new “something” will make them happier than they currently are. But I have news for you; Happiness isn’t Free.
To become truly happy, you need to do the work. You have to create goals for yourself and begin to accomplish them. That is the fast way to a healthy, prosperous life. Nothing, or nobody, can make us internally happy. People and experiences can assist us in leading more content, more fulfilled lives, but the baseline happiness comes from us and how we interact with the world.
Once we know how to be happy, spending and wanting things will become secondary to forming relationships and sharing experiences at our core.
Happy Cash Flow Retirement
If you are constantly thinking of getting the latest car, oversized rings, fancier weddings, shinier purses, etc., I challenge you to ask yourself, “why do I need these things?” Finding the meaning of life is not meant for you to achieve in a 1,500-word article—it will take time.
I recently wrote an article called “Sustainable Riches (book)” where I speak about us all returning to land. Once you can defeat consumerism, you will find that city life may not be for you. The people that were once your friends seem to value their stuff above your relationship with them. No worries, you are just getting started. You will lose tons of friends and family on your path to consumer freedom.
When you decide to unleash the “chains of spending,” you will stand apart from conventional wisdom. People will begin to feel as though you are judging them because you don’t “appreciate” their taste in cars, jewelry, weddings, homes, private schools, and vacations.
My wife and I have become so simple and humble that we don’t need much. We have never had this much money or time, but we’d rather spend time in our backyard than anywhere on Earth. Your friends will start to call you a cheapskate because you don’t spend money like them.
Indeed, I spent four dollars this weekend. I bought two ice cream candy bars (one Snickers, one Twix) and two Japanese coffees that cost one dollar each. The funny part is that I received over $100 in dividends over the last week—this is guilt-free money that I don’t need to fret about.
20 Creative Ways to Make Money from Home
However, buying my ice cream bars (less sugar than candy bars) was the highlight of a great weekend. Even though I am in Japan and my family is in Florida, I could still spend quality time with my wife. When I talk to her, I imagine being in our huge three-acre backyard, sitting in our barn house we bought. That’s all I need in this lifetime, my family and peace and quiet.
Before you continue your debt paydown journey, take a long hard look at what you value. Is it stuff like cars and vacations? Or do you love experiences with family? Answering this question will go much further than trying to figure out your budget or allowances. We make more than enough money in America; we just have inflated our lifestyles to the clouds.
We have convinced ourselves that we need to start a marriage with a $40,000-$70,000 wedding and a $15,000 ring. That our first house has to be our forever house, so it needs 3,000 to 4,000 square feet and six bedrooms. Our time together has to be on a luxury vacation to the Bahamas.
But hey, “We deserve it” because we worked for 40-50 hours this week. No, we don’t need these things. I am not big on minimalism because there are so many rules and judgments that come with this word. However, I am big on living a simple life. My wife and I crossed over, making $200,000/year with everything included, but you would never tell by interacting with us.
Do I Need Lots of Money to Start Investing?
We want to ensure our children are as humble as kids these days can be. We don’t buy them everything they want on a whim. Hard work is a value that is taught, and it doesn’t grow over time. It is instilled from parents to children, and we need to set an example.
Don’t get me wrong; I am all about getting rich. The world requires lots of money; you cannot deny this. I will not be a hippy, living in the middle of the desert in an airstream trailer. We will have a ton of passive income coming in at all times from dividends, rents, and royalties—it’ll be magical.
But we will get rich by adding value to the lives of others; that is how true entrepreneurs become wealthy. And we can get rich by returning to the Earth by harvesting beneficial insects, starting a community garden, an herb garden, or a dog park. There are many ways to create a well-balanced, simple, healthy lifestyle and still acquire large sums of money.
Hustle in Your 20s and 30s, Relax in Your 40s and 50s
The greatest threat to your wealth is consumerism—so you must take steps to demolish it at all costs. Learn the ways of simplicity—form outstanding bonds with your spouse, kids, parents, relatives, and some friends. Those relationships are what life is all about, not a boat, ATV, or jetski. Acquire those things to build experiences with those chosen people in your life, not to show off.
I wrote an article on how to start your road to riches called “4 Steps to Become Rich (book).” Finding a start point is difficult, but let’s begin with obtaining some knowledge of the process—no need to start something without having some additional information.
In the next episode of the Start Your Debt Payoff Journey series, we will talk about budgeting. Yes, the worst word on Earth, but also one of the most important things you can do on your journey to financial freedom. Until next time, Enjoy and Happy investing.
Free PDF Downloads: Download FREE PDF books here
Financial Mindset: Become CEO of Yourself (book)
Retirement Planning: Retirement Planning at Any Age (book)
Investing: How We Plan to Retire on Dividends (book)
Cryptocurrencies: My First Book on Cryptocurrencies (book)
Real Estate: Financial Independence through Real Estate (book)
Business: Retire Rich, Retire Comfortable with a Business (book)
Everything plus way more: The Biggest Book on Passive Income Ever! (book)
Read My Books for Free: Free Kindle Books Schedule also on Kindle Unlimited Join me on the best app for Crypto- Voyager
Follow us on our Facebook Page (here). Join our Facebook group (here)
20 Books that Will Make You Rich (here) part 2 (here)
Want to Build Passive Income from Books and Affiliate Marketing? (Learn here)
Disclosure: I am not a financial advisor or money manager, and any knowledge is given as guidance and not direct actionable investment advice. I am an Amazon Affiliate. Please research any investment vehicles that are being considered. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it. I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.
Leave a Reply