Follow Me Out Of Debt | Get Out Of Debt And Get Into Prosperity!

Do you use vision boards? If you don't, have you at least heard of vision boards? On today's episode, I'll discuss how this show was a direct product of one of my vision boards from a long time ago. I'll also discuss how vision boards can help you with your financial goals as well as any other goals that you're currently working towards accomplishing.   Don't worry. Vision boards aren't some sort of magical hocus-pocus creation; rather, they are solid tools that allow you to visualize your future and help you to align yourself with the goals that you have set for yourself. Many successful folks use vision boards every single day. I'll be talking about how you may be able to utilize vision boards for your own purposes.   If you liked this show so far, please take a minute to subscribe to the show, rate it, and leave a review. Your positive and kind words are always appreciated.   Visit the http://followmeoutofdebt.com website to read my blog and get my latest status updates on my personal journey out of debt a

More money isn't going to solve your problems. I'm afraid to break the news to you, but even if you were to get a huge raise tomorrow or won a small lottery prize, you'll still have the same exact problems that you've experienced financially. It boils down to this: behaviors matter. If we consistently make poor choices with our personal finances, throwing more money at the problem won't fix it.    We need to change our behaviors, and we need to change them yesterday. Our behaviors have a lot to do with whether or not we will be successful in our goal to get out of debt. Behaviors are a product of our actions, and if we've done things a certain way for a long time, it may be difficult to break those bad habits. However, unless we break those bad habits and change our behaviors, we'll continue making the same poor financial decisions over and over again.   If you liked this show so far, please take a minute to subscribe to the show, rate it, and leave a review. Your positive and kind words are always appreciate

Car payments are horrible. I used to not have a car payment, and I loved it. That's not the case right now, but I can't wait to go back to having paid-off vehicles. It was a good time, and I miss those days dearly.   Let's be serious for a moment. There's nothing good about having a car payment. In most cases, when we have a car payment, we are spending a significant amount of money every month that we could be using for other things (such as saving for retirement!).   If you've got one, two, or maybe even three car payments, tune in to this episode to listen in on why and how you need to get yourself out of the land of car payments forever. Yes, forever.   If you liked this show so far, please take a minute to subscribe to the show, rate it, and leave a review. Your positive and kind words are always appreciated.   Visit the http://followmeoutofdebt.com website to read my blog and get my latest status updates on my personal journey out of debt and into prosperity!

It's time to take a week off... from spending! Mark the week off in your calendar, and plan your spending freeze. During this spending freeze, you won't be spending any money at all (with the exception of paying bills). It does take some preparation beforehand, because prior to your spending freeze, you'll want to make sure that you fill up the gas tanks and buy your groceries for the week as well as any other foreseeable expenses.    The week of your spending freeze will easily save you a significant amount of money. You'll be forced to think outside of the box to come up with things that don't cost any money to enjoy. You'll plan meals differently, because you'll be forced to use what you have in the house and won't be getting lazy and calling out for pizza. The money that you save during your spending freeze week can easily be applied towards paying off debt. Do this every month, and you'll put more towards your debt throughout the year than you would if you didn't incorporate spending freezes into your pl

“Teamwork is the ability to work together toward a common vision. The ability to direct individual accomplishments toward our organizational objectives. It is the fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon results.”   This quote is from Andrew Carnegie, the person who led the expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century. You're probably wondering what this has to do with inspiring teamwork in your marriage. I'll explain that and more on today's episode.    You'll be inspiring teamwork by scheduling a meeting with your spouse with the intention of scheduling subsequent meetings after the initial one. However, before you start planning your meeting, you'll want to have an agenda first. Next, you'll want to put a definite time allotment and respect your spouse's time once he or she agrees to the meeting. Be sure to leave enough time for back-and-forth discussion; this meeting isn't going to be one where you're spending time barking orders at your spouse. It's meant to inspire teamwork

Amazon.com is pretty amazing. It's a global retail leader, even in comparison with bricks and mortar stores, and there's a good reason for that. You can find some great deals and discounts on Amazon.com, and I personally visit the website quite frequently.   On this episode, I decided to provide not only information on great ways to save on Amazon.com, but I'm also providing an easy link that will take you to the Deals of the Day on Amazon.com as well as an easy search section to find whatever it is that you're looking for at a great discount. If you end up finding what you need and make your purchase using the link that I mention on this episode, Amazon.com will provide the show with a small commission at no additional cost to you. This will help to support the show now and in the future so I can continue to bring you the best content that I can for free every single day.   Simply go to http://followmeoutofdebt.com/deals to search on Amazon.com for whatever it is that you're looking for, and if you find and

Exercising your way out of debt may sound a little strange, but stick with me on this one for a moment. When we decide to do something to improve ourselves, we will generally ride the wave and take on other ways that we can improve ourselves at the same time. For example, when we decide that we want to start an exercise habit, we tend to tie in an improvement with our diet at the same time. The reason for this is logical. We don't want to take away from the hard work that we're putting in with exercise by eating poorly. Instead, we want to improve our diet in order to help us succeed with our exercise goals.   So, how does physical activity and exercise tie in with getting out of debt? Well, that answer is also logical. When we begin an exercise program, we generally reap the benefits of stress reduction and helping us to think more clearly. Both of these benefits help us with being able to stay on track with the tasks necessary to meet our goals to get out of debt. What's more, when you begin a new habit of

Do you know that it's actually healthy to talk to your kids about money? Even at a younger age, it's a good habit to get into to show your children how money works and how money is affecting you or you and your spouse.   Kids are generally perceptive. Even if you attempt to hide your money problems, your kids will know more than you think by taking clues from your comments, actions, and perceived frustration level. Rather than attempting to hide things from them, let them in on it. Let them see the sacrifices that you make to better their lives. Based on age, you can decide on the best way to talk with your kids about money, and be honest. Allow your children to ask questions, and answer them truthfully, again, according to age and maturity level.   Your children will see not only your frustrations, but they will also get to participate in your successes when you begin to reshape your financial life and get out of debt. They will get a first-row seat to witness how to handle money and finances by watching you

Have you ever heard of a grocery store called Aldi? If you have one nearby you, you'll want to check them out if you haven't done so already. While there are plenty of choices for most folks as far as grocery stores go, you won't save more money than you will at your local Aldi store.   My wife and I used to shop at three or more grocery stores to try to save some money. We tried clipping coupons. We even went as far as walking around and keeping records of the prices at each of the local grocery stores nearby just to try to save money on the items that we would purchase almost every week. We tried a club membership. Nothing really saved us as much money as we saved when we simply started shopping at Aldi.   What's great about Aldi is that the prices are generally consistent. They don't play games where they raise and lower prices on various items. They don't accept coupons. They don't sell brand names, but they sell the same high quality items packaged under their own brand.   On this episode, I talk about s

If you're like me, you likely have a bunch of stuff sitting around your house that you haven't touched or even thought about in years. It's time to go through those things and get them sold! Nowadays, it's so incredibly easy to sell what we no longer use. When we do this, we can earn some extra cash that we can use towards saving up for our starter emergency fund or getting a boost on paying down our debt.   I prefer using Facebook groups. Usually, these groups are known as garage sale groups (or something similar). You can join these groups by simply doing a search in Facebook and asking to join. From there, you can list your items for sale in a huge marketplace that will be seen by thousands of people. There are other sites where you can sell your stuff (such as Craigslist), but I personally prefer the Facebook route. One of the huge benefits is that you gain the social media aspect of Facebook where people may share what you're selling if they know someone who may be interested.   If you've accumulated a p

I'm inviting you to join me on a little side project that I'm doing for this show. I want to help you with whatever it is that you are struggling with right now with regards to your journey to get out of debt and into prosperity.    Over the next several weeks, I'll be collecting e-mails from anyone who wants to contact me directly with their current struggle, question, or problem. If you would like to send me an e-mail to participate in this project and get your specific questions answered and struggles addressed right on this show, simply follow these steps: go to http://followmeoutofdebt.com, click on the Contact button, fill out the form (including your name, e-mail address, subject, and your message), click on the Send button, and within seconds you will see a confirmation message to let you know that your message has been delivered to my inbox.   I'll collaborate all of the messages received and will have future podcast episodes addressing each and every e-mail that I receive. It's completely anonymous

From personal experiences as well as from the experiences of others, I have compiled a list of five simple steps to help you to get out of debt. These steps and actions can be applied to whatever strategy that you are currently implementing towards completing your goal.   First, I'll discuss why you shouldn't bury your head in the sand. I'll discuss how to ensure that you don't do this, because doing this is probably the worst thing that you can do when it comes to getting started with paying off debt. Next, I'll talk about how you can curb your spending and certain strategies that will help you to free up some financial resources that can be applied towards your debt payoff. Third in this list is the importance of not allowing the IRS to hold your money hostage for a year and what you can do to ensure that this doesn't happen in the future.   The last two on this list tend to go hand-in-hand. The first of these and number four on the list is to make paying off debt a priority. Wherever you are at in your pla

Money arguments and money fights between spouses can be debilitating and frustrating in a marriage. There's a reason why money fights are in the top five causes of married couples filing for divorce. It's a touchy subject, and both spouses likely have different views on the topic of money.   When these differences come to the surface, rather than agreeing to participate in an all-out battle with your husband or wife, it might be best for you to lovingly listen to your spouse instead. This doesn't just apply to money arguments; regardless of the cause of the fight, it always takes two to battle. If you decide that you are going to refuse to fight but instead will simply listen to your spouse and hear him or her out, you are implementing a certain calm that will help to move the conversation from a loud fight to a quiet discussion.   It may not happen right away. It may take several days before you see results. However, if you can keep your cool, you might come to find that the two of you may actually have simi

When you are focused on an important goal, sometimes those who are closest to you tend to say negative things that have the potential to suck the enthusiasm right out of you. These naysayers will tell you precisely why you will fail at your goal, and they will commonly bring up how other people live in order to show you the foolishness of your plan simply because you are trying to be different.   You've got to have tougher skin in order to get around this. Don't take your eyes off of the prize when you come into this negativity. You know that when you started this plan to get out of debt that it would be difficult, but you cannot let others convince you that you are crazy to think that you actually can get by without credit cards or auto loans. Instead, live by example. Don't directly confront your naysayers; instead, use the negativity as a motivational tool. Realize that the naysayers simply don't know any better, and perhaps someday they will also want to get out of debt and into prosperity, especially onc

Completing your budget for the month feels good. It's a big check off of our to-do list, but our work is not finished quite yet.   Our budgets are usually done month to month, and each month we need to ensure that we don't overstep our bounds as far as the budget goes. How do we keep ourselves motivated to stay on track for an entire month so that we don't mess things up?   The key is to regularly revisit the budget. It doesn't have to be daily, but at a minimum, you should revisit your budget at least once a week. You pick the day of the week that works best for you, and on this day, you'll update the budget first so that it's current. Next, you'll want to check your budget against any bank records in order to ensure that everything recorded matches up appropriately. After confirming this part, you'll want to make changes to the budget that are necessary so that you are addressing any overspending that has happened as well as making any needed corrections for the remainder of the month in your various catego

Do you currently have cable or satellite services? How much would you save per month if you didn't have this subscription? Is it time for you to seriously consider cutting the cord, so to speak?   On today's episode, I'll tell my brief story of when I decided to get rid of cable (we've been cable-free for nine years now, and we don't miss it a bit). We currently have nothing but our local channels, Netflix, and Hulu. It's plenty for us, and we really don't watch a lot of television, anyway. If you're currently wondering if you should be getting rid of cable or satellite, go ahead and listen to this episode to see if it helps to make your decision a little easier.   If you liked this show so far, please take a minute to subscribe to the show, rate it, and leave a review. Your positive and kind words are always appreciated.   Visit the http://followmeoutofdebt.com website to read my blog and get my latest status updates on my personal journey out of debt and into prosperity!

If you're in the market for your next vehicle purchase, you'll want to listen to this episode first before you head off to the dealership. I've purchased several vehicles, and with these experiences in mind, I have been able to condense the entire vehicle purchasing process into a concise, easy-to-follow method that will save you money.   I'll step you through the entire vehicle-purchasing process from making your first vehicle choice all of the way through to signing on the dotted line. I have noted some pitfalls that you'll want to look out for as well as some important tips that will help to ensure that you get the best deal on the best vehicle. Does following this process extend the time necessary to purchase a vehicle? Absolutely. However, the amount of money that you will save will be well worth the time investment necessary to properly follow through with this.   If you liked this show so far, please take a minute to subscribe to the show, rate it, and leave a review. Your positive and kind words are a

It's a question that will come up at some point along your journey towards getting out of debt: do you continue saving for retirement (or start saving for retirement) before you are completely out of debt?   There are several schools of thought on this. I'll discuss the main ones and will discuss how I personally feel about this topic. The final decision that you make on this will be based on several factors. The first thing is to be honest with yourself and consider your behavior, how focused you are when you are trying to accomplish a goal, and whether or not you will be a disciplined saver when the time comes to set your focus on your retirement.   I'll also discuss other factors that will help you to make an informed decision on this topic for yourself. There is no cookie-cutter approach when it comes to personal finance; however, you do want to make an educated choice when you stop to consider this and how it may factor in to your overall financial picture.   If you liked this show so far, please take a

Today I'm going to be talking about some of the uncommon ways for us to save some money every month. These methods are mostly considered uncommon because they are typically overlooked. The smaller things that we may overlook could potentially add up to hundreds of dollars per month in savings.   Some of the uncommon ways that we can save money that are mentioned in detail on this episode include our utilities (and how we can decrease our utility bills), asking for discounts and receiving those discounts on almost anything that you may purchase, and reducing or replacing certain services. I'll even touch base on our dining habits. In most cases, you'll find that if a lot of what's mentioned in this episode applies to you, you could potentially save a couple of hundred dollars every month or more.   If you liked this show so far, please take a minute to subscribe to the show, rate it, and leave a review. Your positive and kind words are always appreciated.   Visit the http://followmeoutofdebt.com website to rea

What would happen if you set out to improve yourself in various areas of your life by one percent per day? It may not sound like much, but if you focus on this every single day consistently, you will find that you will earn more income, improve your marriage, and increase your spirituality. Yes, it's true; if you focus on improving yourself by one percent per day, you will pick up a habit that will be beneficial to you for a lifetime.   I'll explain more about this plan on today's episode. Once you give this a listen, do yourself a favor and start a brand-new habit that will be sure to bring you to new success levels. I do want you to do one thing, though. Please be sure to give this plan at least a month minimum before you decide to give up, because I think after a month goes by and you see the results, you won't want to give this up!   If you liked this show so far, please take a minute to subscribe to the show, rate it, and leave a review. Your positive and kind words are always appreciated.   Visit the ht