“The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is enslaved to the lender” Proverbs 22:7
America is the greatest country in the world, and I am blessed to be allowed to to live in it.
However, most of us have been blinded to the truth. We don’t know where true Financial freedom is, and for most Americans, we don’t get to experience it at all. You may be asking yourself now, “what are you talking about? I am free, I can do whatever I want. I have my car, I can go anywhere. I have my house, so I feel safe. I can buy whatever I want, whenever I want it”.
You may be right, but you haven’t thought about what the cost of those little “freedoms” are, and 9 times out of 10 the answer is: DEBT. We don’t have any freedom as long as we are shackled by chains of debt. We may love our families, but we have long term affairs with Visa and Master Card.
A man much wiser than me once asked “What do you have when you don’t have payments? Money! You have money”. And I truly believe that money now is better than “Miles” or rewards later. Let me ask you: Have you ever ran a mile after not working out for a few months? For goodness sake, have you ran after the bus for a few feet and run out of breath? I am sure after that you feel tired and stressed. That’s exactly how you feel after running “miles” on your credit card. You are tired, stressed, and you feel like you will never “catch up” to Discover and American Express.
I challenge you to start winding down from those credit cards as well as any other form of debt, you will feel a lot more rested. Trust me, I did it. It was a lot of sacrifice, and it took serious discipline, but I believe you can do it too. You may have noticed that I haven’t touched on other forms of debt such as Home mortgage or home equity loans, but that’s because I am still saving up for a home. Don’t tune me out though, because the principles to remove debt are all the same, and my mission is to help you implement them in your own life.
Why did I do it? Because I was sick and tired of having too many payments and not enough money. I was tired of American Express being the first to knock at the door of my bank account claiming what’s theirs, where it should be truly mine. Don’t let that be you for much longer. Claim your country back, which is your personal finances. It’s time for you to declare your own Independence.
Here are a few action steps to get you started on your journey:
List all your debts from smallest to largest. You can’t attack what you can’t see.
Make sure to list your mortgage last, if you own a house. You may not think so now, but it is debt.
Next week we will talk more in detail about the process I took to get out of debt.