Attitude

There are many ways to get out of debt and I will be discussing those in later posts but today I want to talk to you about perhaps the most important factor for getting out of debt.

Taking responsibility for your actions.

By taking responsibility, I don’t mean that you have to blame yourself. There is no blame here.  What I mean is that you acknowledge the fact that you were the one that got yourself into debt or allowed someone else to.

Here’s what I mean.  In 1999, I went from earning minimum wage as a part time sales clerk to making $20,000 a year when the federal government hired me. Six months later, I more than doubled that income when I transferred to another position.   Just before my one-year anniversary, I woke up partially paralyzed on one side of my body. The doctors diagnosed me with multiple sclerosis and within three months, I went on disability and took a 30% cut in pay.

The problem was that for that year I spent money as if it was water. A never-ending stream of water. I put many of my purchases on credit and many times credit with high interest rates. There was no way I could keep up the payments and in 2002 I filed for bankruptcy.

For years, I blamed my disability for my bankruptcy because if I hadn’t become disabled, I would still be making the money I was and wouldn’t have filed for bankruptcy. I lived with that excuse and as soon as I could get credit again, I found myself getting into the same situation, I was spending like crazy on credit. One day, I sat down and told myself this had to stop. Which is how I came up with the 5-step process I used to save myself over $400,000.00 in future credit card interest charges. I still struggled though to control my spending.

Until the day I took responsibility. If I had of stayed with my government job, I probably would have kept spending like I was and filed for bankruptcy sometime.  I also used excuses the second time. I needed to buy such and such, it is to better my health, life, wealth and whatever excuse I used. No, I got into debt because I decided to buy the items. I was lazy and ordered them off the internet instead of finding them at a brick and mortar store and paying cash. Or saving for something I really wanted.

When you take responsibility for your debt – no matter what situation life has put you in – you find it easier to control your debt and easier to pay off.

Do you want to learn the five step system I used to save myself over $400,000.00 in future credit card interest charges? I have taken my 7 Days Towards Financial Stability Challenge which is held on Facebook, and turned it into an email course available on my website. www.karenmagill.com