There is a Better Way

It's easy to feel hopeless. Nearly 80 percent of all households are living paycheck to paycheck. That is a tough spot to be in to say the least. Most have virtually every dollar they left after Uncle Sam takes his cut eliminated by debt. What is one to do in this situation?

Society basically teaches us to lose with money. It’s all about your ability to go into debt-debt to buy a car, debt to buy a house, debt for the wedding, debt for college. It’s just debt, debt, and more debt. Most have never seen a strategy different from this and we take for granted that in order to have anything, we have to accept this life. We’re taught to celebrate going tens of thousands of dollars into debt for a new ride that will take us years to pay off. Oftentimes, nothing like a job loss or pay cut can happen or we’re up the creek without a paddle immediately and could lose that car.

This mindset makes lenders a lot of money. It works well for credit card companies and other lenders for people to be so debt dependent. They know that if you look at your money in terms of making monthly payments with it, you’ll spend more because you don’t fully feel the gravity of what you’re spending in total. Your money dies a death by a thousand cuts and you have nothing left to build much if any wealth of your own.

Be encouraged and know that there is a better way. However, you will have to change your mindset from the conventional ways in mainstream society into a mindset that will make you seem, quite honestly, odd. Remember that normal is broke. If you act normal, then broke is what you will be. All your money will come in and all your money will go out in payments to make someone else rich.

We are not often taught how money works which leaves us vulnerable to debt traps. Most of the emphasis around money is on how to consume it, not how to grow it. That’s why working with a good financial coach is very important to increasing your knowledge of personal finance.

Make it a goal to eliminate your debts and pay for consumer item like cars and phones with cash. Be prepared to be called cheap, tight, boring, and the like. Unfortunately that often comes with the territory when you are getting your financial house in order. Then save up months of expenses(6 months is a good target). This puts you in position to weather many of the storms of life and you will keep your ability to invest for your future.

None of these things are easy, but it is more than worth the sacrifice so that you won't have so many worries regarding money. Fort Financial Coaching is dedicated to increasing financial literacy so that the hopelessness people often feel related to money can be done away with. Contact us to build a comprehensive financial strategy to power through your debt and invest for your future. Building wealth is not just for the rich, ordinary working class people are capable of building wealth too!