Change positions!
I’ve been behind the eight-ball. I’ve been exactly where you are right now, right this minute! I know what it’s like to be behind on your bills, to have collectors calling you all hours of the night, to feel pressure, to know when the phone rings it’s probably a collector waiting to pounce on you!
I’ve talked about remedies for being in debt up to your eye-balls! I’ve given strategies on how to deal with debt. I’ve even mentioned that you gotta get MAD, real MAD, in order to do something about your situation.
Well, today we’re going to talk about being behind the eight-ball. Here’s the example. If you’ve ever had a solicitor call you to sell you something as soon as you answer the phone the first word the solicitor says “gives it away.”
The conversation might go like this: “Mister Jones?” Yes. “Mister Jim Jones?” Yes. “How are you doing today Mister Jones?” Fine.
Dead giveaway!!
Now, when you get a call like this: “Mister Jones?” Yes. “Mister Jim Jones?” Yes. “Sir, I must inform you that this is an attempt to collect a debt and this call may be monitored for quality assurance. Mister Jones I see you owe us $658.09 how will you be taking care of this today?”
It doesn’t matter how you respond. You’re behind the eight-ball and they know it. It doesn’t matter how you respond because no matter what you say it won’t be sufficient enough because they want their money and you don’t have it and you are…
Behind the eight-ball.
Now, the answer is simple really. All you gotta do is pay them what you owe them. Right? Well, if you don’t got the money you don’t got it. So, what do you do to get out from being behind the eight-ball?
Well, here’s one thing you could do. Don’t answer the phone! Begin the process of getting real mad about your situation. Get so damn mad that you do something about it. Once you get to that point, the boiling point, begin the debt reduction plan(s) I’ve outlined in previous posts.
And, to steal a line from Nike. JUST DO IT!
David Dassow
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Thursday, May 8, 2008
Debt Free Living is a Simple Process
We’ve talked about this before. You can be debt free no matter how bad things look today. You can do it even though the credit card companies are out to get you, lie to you every single day, and continue to make offers to you for more credit cards.
The simple system to get out of debt is:
Collect every credit card payment as it comes in. Take the smallest balance credit card and apply all your extra cash to it. See a previous post for a way to come up with $15 dollars a day strategy.
When you pay off the lowest balance celebrate, under $15. and begin the next lowest balanced card.
Use the other strategies I recommend including an extra job, garage sale, over-time, tax returns, and found money to pay off early. It’s a good idea to have a reserve fund of at least $500 dollars. Its emergency money, I mean emergency. Vacations are not an emergency.
Repeat this process until you’ve paid off all your credit card debt. The nest step is fixed payments such as car, personal loans, and homes. Once again use the same concept strategy as credit cards. Go after the smallest balance first and now you can focus all the money you were paying toward credit cards toward the fixed loans.
Don’t stop, keep the momentum going and you can do it.
David Dassow
The simple system to get out of debt is:
Collect every credit card payment as it comes in. Take the smallest balance credit card and apply all your extra cash to it. See a previous post for a way to come up with $15 dollars a day strategy.
When you pay off the lowest balance celebrate, under $15. and begin the next lowest balanced card.
Use the other strategies I recommend including an extra job, garage sale, over-time, tax returns, and found money to pay off early. It’s a good idea to have a reserve fund of at least $500 dollars. Its emergency money, I mean emergency. Vacations are not an emergency.
Repeat this process until you’ve paid off all your credit card debt. The nest step is fixed payments such as car, personal loans, and homes. Once again use the same concept strategy as credit cards. Go after the smallest balance first and now you can focus all the money you were paying toward credit cards toward the fixed loans.
Don’t stop, keep the momentum going and you can do it.
David Dassow
Monday, May 5, 2008
You make decisions because...
“You don’t make decisions because they are easy;
You don’t make them because they are cheap;
You don’t make them because they’re popular;
You make them because they are RIGHT.”
-- Theodore Hesburgh
There’s a bible verse that goes more or less: “one man pretends to be rich, yet has nothing; another pretends to be poor, yet has great wealth.”
In the book THE MILLIONAIRE NEXT DOOR, Thomas Stanley and William Danko shared several shocking revelations. Most millionaires purchase their suits off the rack, they drive used cars, and shop at Sears.
What’s the point to all of this? The point is the 80% crowd, (80% of the US population), want us to think they have more money than they do. To show they have more money than they do they spend it.
The only problem is the 80% crowd BORROWS the money because they don’t really have it. Now, I don’t know if you are in the 80% crowd or wish you could show everyone you have more than you have.
Where do you fit in all this? If you’re in the 20% well to do crowd odds are you don’t have to prove that fact to anyone.
If you’re in the 80% crowd odds are you want to show everyone you’re in the 20% crowd. Kind of a contradiction in terms. To rephrase it. If you’ve got it you don’t show it, if you don’t got it you try and show that you do got it.
The lesson here is if you are borrowing to show folks you’ve got it you’re heading toward a state of BROKE. Another way of putting it is KEEPING UP WITH THE JONES is not a good idea.
It’s more than getting out of debt. It’s living under the radar screen. It’s living like the well to do 20% with out even showing it.
David Dassow
You don’t make them because they are cheap;
You don’t make them because they’re popular;
You make them because they are RIGHT.”
-- Theodore Hesburgh
There’s a bible verse that goes more or less: “one man pretends to be rich, yet has nothing; another pretends to be poor, yet has great wealth.”
In the book THE MILLIONAIRE NEXT DOOR, Thomas Stanley and William Danko shared several shocking revelations. Most millionaires purchase their suits off the rack, they drive used cars, and shop at Sears.
What’s the point to all of this? The point is the 80% crowd, (80% of the US population), want us to think they have more money than they do. To show they have more money than they do they spend it.
The only problem is the 80% crowd BORROWS the money because they don’t really have it. Now, I don’t know if you are in the 80% crowd or wish you could show everyone you have more than you have.
Where do you fit in all this? If you’re in the 20% well to do crowd odds are you don’t have to prove that fact to anyone.
If you’re in the 80% crowd odds are you want to show everyone you’re in the 20% crowd. Kind of a contradiction in terms. To rephrase it. If you’ve got it you don’t show it, if you don’t got it you try and show that you do got it.
The lesson here is if you are borrowing to show folks you’ve got it you’re heading toward a state of BROKE. Another way of putting it is KEEPING UP WITH THE JONES is not a good idea.
It’s more than getting out of debt. It’s living under the radar screen. It’s living like the well to do 20% with out even showing it.
David Dassow
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