|
My debt and
recovery story
May of 2000. It was a time in my life when everything was crazy.
This included my finances… only I didn’t know it then. It was May. I
had fallen in love (and I never thought I would fall in love). I was
working for a large phone company making $14/hour, and I had decided that in the
fall, I was going to go to school at the University of Northern Colorado in the
morning from 9:00 AM - 2:00/3:00 PM (depending on the day), was going to go to
massage school at night from 6:00-10:00 PM, and was going to be the general
manager of the campus radio station during the time in-between.
 Some
light should have gone off in my head, but it didn't. Also, don't get me
wrong, because I'm glad I did all that I did that semester (fall 2000), but I
should have planned ahead and taken out a loan, rather than trying to live on
credit cards. But I did try to live on credit cards. It didn't work.
So I lived the
craziest semester of my life; had an AUDI, which I loved, but which cost me
roughly $2000 in repairs in less than a year, celebrated my 21st birthday in
a...great way, and by the end of the semester, when I took time to really look
up and see what was going on, I was in trouble.
-
I had three
credit cards.
-
I had just paid
one credit card off and cut it up.
-
I had not made
payments on the other two for two months each. (One had even offered me a
settlement (a piece of mail I found two months too late), and offered to split
the cost of the default with me. The credit card company was going to pay
half of a defaulted $1,000.00 bill, and I didn't take it, simply because I was
too busy to open an envelope from the credit card company.)
-
I had missed two
car payments and was receiving calls from the bank wondering if they were going
to need to come repossess my car.
This is not to
mention what the stress of managing the radio station (with money problems of
its own), and trying to keep up with schoolwork (from two schools) did to my
attitude towards the person I was in love with.
It was bad.
Trying to live off of credit cards, or amassing large amounts of debt on high
interest rates is not a good thing. I was fortunate in that I had two
wonderful and supportive parents to fall back on, whom I had lied to, throughout
the semester, in a variety of ways, in order to cover the fact that I was in a
financial mess. I'm still also repaying them, as of August, 2004.
So the moral of
the story? Don't be a dummy! LEARN FROM ME! I have learned the
hard way about credit card debt and not making payments and what it does to your
credit to make late payments consistently.
Today, I am much
smarter about what I am doing. I am still working to pay off my debt, and
I probably will be for about another 9-10 months. I hope to be completely
out of debt (or at least the debt which I didn't plan for in advance), by May,
2005.
How have I been
able to recover? Two ways.
The first thing
I've done is changed my philosophy. This is opposite of what most people
do. Most people's pictures look like the one on the left. Mine looks
like the one on the right.
This is a subtle
difference, but it's an important one. See, most people see that their
situation and they think, "Well, I don't like what I have and what I'm able to
do (lifestyle),
and I want to change this. I will work harder
(action).
I know I will be able to work harder because I can do more than I'm doing right
now (attitude)."
The problem with
this is that it's a band-aid for the larger problem, which is that they haven't
changed their philosophies about what's possible for their life. If you
don't change the way you think
(philosophy) then all the changes you
make to your attitude will be temporary.
An example of
this is with the millions of people who try to quit smoking by changing their
actions. They say, "Well, I don't like being able to not breathe as deeply
(lifestyle).
I will not buy another pack of cigarettes again
(action). I will succeed because
I can do anything I put my mind to
(attitude). Inevitably, however, they
take up smoking again, possibly even 5 or 8 years later.
Today, I work on
my philosophies, knowing that if I can change the way I think, I can maintain
any attitude I choose to have. Through that philosophy and the attitude,
the actions I need to take will be self-evident, and small actions, repeated
over time, will give me the success and the significance that I want to have.
So, how have I
changed my philosophies?
Through
something called the law of association.
Look around you.
Look at the five people you hang out with the most. These five people,
combined, are you.
If the five
people you hang out with the most are broke, you are (or will be) broke.
If the five people you hang out with the most are negative, you are (or will be)
negative.
So, how do you
get around wealthy and positive people? There are two ways that I will
suggest to you on this site.
-
#1.
Actually be around wealthy and positive people. You can do this a variety
of ways. The best way I've found is to build businesses with positive,
wealthy, and encouraging people. You can find out more about building
businesses with rich people by visiting the
Streams
of income link.
-
#2.
Read positive books that encourage an attitude of abundance. I recommend
you start with the books on the
Rich Dad
Books, Cassettes, and reading
page, and then branch out from there. You
will learn some concepts that will challenge conventional wisdom, but when put
into action, these philosophies will permanently change your attitude, which
will allow you to do the simple daily actions, which will change the life you
live.
It is in helping
others that we accomplish what we were truly sent to the planet to do - change
the lives of other people.
To all of our
success!
Jonathan
Create awesome passive income
and associate with positive people by visiting the
Streams
of income link.
Change your philosophies by reading books on the
Books, Cassettes, and reading page.
|
