We've all heard the phrase atleast once in our lives "living within your means". The phrase simply means, you spend more than you make.
Anyone that knows me, knows that I am very close with my family, and to this day, my extremely successful Father will still come up to me and say, "Daughter....you're not living within your means". Funny isn't it? But he's right.
It's not something you can change right away, but with the right mind-set and a lot (and I do mean A LOT) of hard work and persistence WE can get there.
Some things that I notice myself doing that are financial no-no's especially in this bad economy...
- Buy 1 for $3.00, but buy 2 and you get them for $5.50 ~ yep....I'll buy the two, but I only need 1
- Children's Place is having a sale - I can buy my kids clothes for NEXT year! ~ Guilty.....
- It's a tax write off if I buy myself 4 brand new outfits ~ When is tax time again?????
- As long as I have enough to pay the minimum amount due, then I'll be fine ~ Sigh....
The list goes on and on and unfortunately on and on and on.... Are you in this boat too? I am not here to preach to you that I am going to turn myself around and be out of debt in a month - no that would take a miracle! But what I will show you in the next few blogs is WHY we live outside of our means, and WHAT we can do to get back to where we need to be....REGARDLESS OF THE ECONOMY!
So what's the big deal if I use the credit card and it's maxed out, right? I make my payments on time. No, I have don't have money in the bank, but I still pay my bills as needed. I MUST have good credit....
This is the reason I want to help you. These are common misconceptions that will not help in leading you to the road of financial freedom and home ownership.
The Real Estate Market is still a great investment, and with the tax credit being extended, now is the time to buy or invest. The market WILL get better. Will you get better too???? Yes, you will, and so will I - we will work on this together :) But we must apply ourselves NOW!
I am a FIRM follower of Dave Ramsey (mostly recently of course), and I advise you to follow this link and take his challenge...
http://www.daveramsey.com/tools/beat-daves-plan/
Until next time....
Stay Positive!
Sandy
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