Live Debt Free

Pay off debt. Save. Give. Live your mission.

You Always Have Options

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Even if it doesn’t feel like it, you always have options.  Trust me.

Options are all around you

Right now some of you may be feeling as though you need a change.  Shoot, chances are you’re not even sure what that change should be.  Further yet, you may even be laboring over whether or not your strong feelings of wanting change are “okay”.  Don’t worry, in my experience this is all pretty normal.

That said, I have one question for you: do you feel this way because you are living a life out of line with your purpose?  Have you ever defined what your purpose is?  Are you actively working to do something to affect change, or are you just sitting around complaining about it?

Don’t be afraid to challenge yourself

Why do you think you are having these feelings?  Can you key in on some of the main sources of displeasure in your life?  If you haven’t yet, sit down and make a list of what you like and dislike about your situation.  About where you are and where you’d like to be.  About what went wrong, and what needs to go right from here forward.

Perhaps you feel as though you’re a poster child for the sin of discontentment.  Been there.

Maybe it’s worse.  Perhaps you feel abandoned, alone, misunderstood, over worked, under appreciated, under valued.  Sound familiar?  I’ve been there too.  Heck, in a lot of ways, I’m there now.  Sure, some things are good, and I should probably be focusing on those things rather than the things that exacerbate discontent… but, whatever… sometimes I just want to wallow in my own self pity for awhile.  And that’s okay too – as long as I don’t stay there.

To help ourselves out of places like this we need to analyze our situation unbiasedly, examine what went wrong, then humbly accept fault for past improper decisions, and forge ahead with purpose, strength of resolve, and character.

It is easy to become fearful at this point, to be afraid of the course we know to be right, to sink back into a corner and carry on with the daily routine that got us here in the first place.  But that’s not the right thing to do.

“Take care to get what you like or you will be forced to like what you get.”  – George Bernard Shaw

Be patient

Many times, overcoming an undesirable situation takes longer than we wished it would take.  Much longer.  This is okay, patiently working our way out of bad situations builds the character we’ll need as we move on to pursue future plans.

Just make sure you do something to affect change in your life.  Analyze, plan, then act… and do it all with patience.

Remember… you always have options.

This is worth repeating.

If you don’t like your debt, you can always make changes.  Save money, sell stuff, rent out your home and live in a mobile home.  Whatever you do, don’t be too proud to lower your standard of living as a way to free up resources. Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University is well worth the $100, perhaps you should enroll.

If you don’t like your job, you can always walk away from it.  You’re not an idiot, you can get a different job while putting your plan in place.  Better yet… stick it out a little longer while formulating your next moves.  Just be sure you do something.

You always have options… it’s just a matter of doing something to create change rather than wallowing in the piggy mud puddle of discontent while doing nothing to change it.

“These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.”  John 16:33

All We Have Is A Gift From God

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“Every man also to whom God hath given riches and wealth, and hath given him power to eat thereof, and to take his portion, and to rejoice in his labour; this is the gift of God.”  – Ecclesiastes 5:19

Everything we have was given us by God

Whether we have little or much, what we are blessed with is ultimately from the Lord… be it talents, time, health, wealth, friends, work, or love… we have the Lord to thank.  He gives freely, not based on what we deserve, but solely on His goodness.

He blesses us with life and health.  Let us be thankful while we have them and use them for good.

He blesses us with loved ones.  Let us think of them often, pray for their needs, and be there for them whenever we can.

He blesses us with intelligence.  Let us educate ourselves constructively, labor well, and give much.

He blesses us with vision and fortitude.  Let us plot our course and stay on track… and though we wander from time to time, let us always return to pursue our best goals.

He blesses us with forgiveness.  Let us humble ourselves before Him, reveal our faults, and follow after future truths.

He blesses us with salvation.  Let us accept His gift and pursue holiness and right doing.

He blesses us with His Word.  Let us read and appreciate it anew daily for spiritual guidance and sustenance.

Believe me… I know how hard it can be to keep these things in perspective, but we must; because these are the things that truly matter!  Never forget that, “As he came forth of his mother’s womb, naked shall he return to go as he came, and shall take nothing of his labour, which he may carry away in his hand.”  Ecclesiastes 5:15

Possessions are not all we have

Abundance can easily cloud our ability to focus on the truly important things in life… like those mentioned above.  There are a lot of people promoting minimalism these days, and I’m all for it.  Simplifying our lives is one great way to clear our hearts and minds of the unnecessary, so we can begin filling them again with the necessary.

Stop and smell the roses

I love those times when I can shut up long enough to realize and appreciate just how much God has given me.  This is one of those times.  Wherever you are today… take a moment to count your blessings, take your portion, and rejoice therein – it is the gift of God.

I’m happy to share this awesome meditation with you, and hope it blesses you as much as it did me.

A Home Mortgage Means You Pay Double – Limited Income and Wise Spending

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Home mortgage and home ownership

I came out strong enough against home mortgage in last weeks renting vs. mortgage article that I errantly gave some the impression I was opposed to home ownership; that could not be farther from the truth.  What I am opposed to is the home mortgage.  This is because a home mortgage will cost the average homeowner more than twice the asking price of their home over the life of the mortgage.  Some feel this is no big deal – as long as the monthly payment is manageable – and that quality of life issues outweigh concerns of being in debt.  My biggest concern is how much a home mortgage will steal from your future standard of living; which is true of most forms of debt although mortgages deserve special attention since they tend to be our largest debts.

Cash flow and earning potential

Most people think in terms of monthly cash flow because they pay their bills monthly – nothing wrong with that.  However, something many people fail to consider is the limit to how much money they can make in their lifetime.  This is especially true of young people – for whom retirement and cessation of work is a far off – who like to think they will make more money “some day” but may never actually see the growth they might first imagine.

For the most part what we choose to do for a living decides our wages and we can usually estimate those wage with some variation for job experience and cost of living.  Our earnings scale will be similar with others who share our occupation so using current wages and demographic data we can estimate what our income will be each year from now until we retire.

Annual income example

Let’s use me as an example.  I made about $50,000 this year.  I am on a pay scale that starts at about $40,000 but with hard work can quickly jump to about $80,000 over the next 5 years.  Then that is it.  In good years I might receive a cost of living adjustment (1.7% this year) and if I want more, I either have to have the aptitude for competitive management positions, or try to work as much overtime as I can (which has limits.)  If I wanted to make a heavy six figures, I probably should have done something else.  🙂  My little side hustle writing for DFA is nice, but it is not about to bump me over the $100,000 mark.  Even investing, as wonderful a tool as it is for preserving savings against inflation is not going to skyrocket me to new financial heights.

Future wealth example

Using my salary and an example closer to the national average salary, I created a simple spreadsheet that shows projected salary with some cost of living adjustments after 30 years of work for me and average Joe.  Before taxes, I stand to earn around $3.3 million, and Joe will earn about $1.4 million.  That looks like a lot.  After some rough adjustments for taxes however, (and who knows what those will do in the future) I am left with $2.4 million, and Joe still has about $1.1 million.  More staggering, an average inflation rate of 3%/yr results in 100% inflation every 18 years (that’s a 50% loss.)  That means after 36 years I would have just under $620,000 and Joe $298,000 of today’s dollars.  These calculations include salary increases that outpace inflation, and have not yet factored in spending any money.

Consider income limitation with home mortgage

This analysis is far from exact.  There are many variables, and it is difficult to precisely value currency, investments, and income across time.  What I wanted to demonstrate is that none of us have unlimited supplies of money, and are therefore limited in the number of things we can buy in a lifetime.

Before entering into a home mortgage make sure you roughly consider how much money you stand to earn over the course of your life.

Because most of us cannot make significant changes to our income, we can better affect our future wealth and standard of living by limiting how much we buy and spend.   The more informed we are about our earning potential, the more apt we are to use our money wisely.  These considerations are especially important when making a large purchase such as a home.  With all the other things we do to save money and get good deals, it does not make sense to turn around and spend double the price tag on a house by using a home mortgage.  I mean, does it really make sense to rate chase for savings accounts only to end up spending twice the purchase price for our homes?  No, it doesn’t.  It makes mathematical sense to parlay our wants by saving for a few years… and paying cash – if at all possible.

Financial decisions always catch up with us

Whenever we overspend, at some point in time we will have to give something up to pay for it, even if that time doesn’t come for decades… it will come nonetheless.  Consider this a plea to take greater care when making purchases.  We work very hard to earn what we have so let’s make sure we spend as wisely as possible!