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

Just as things start to get a little desparate, you'll notice the debt predators creeping out of the woodwork. You'll walk out to the mailbox or check your e-mail, and you'll see these various companies and other entities vying for your attention in order to explain to you how they can save you from your past financial mistakes.   I will admit, some of these organizations come up with some pretty creative offers. The marketing machine behind these offers is one that will have you thinking that your problems have been finally solved as long as you respond to the offer or call the toll-free number to talk to one of their highly-trained salespeople.   I highly advise you to put on the brakes immediately. You'll want to do your research first, and if you see even one bad review out there regarding one of these companies, be sure to proceed with caution. You may not see many reviews at all, and if that's the case, that may be worse since this entity may not have been able to show their true colors just yet.   When

We've all been in a bad relationship at least once in our lives. We've all been in a situation where our best move was to end the relationship to benefit either ourselves or both people involved. Breaking up isn't easy to do, either. There are the memories, the leftover feelings, and the time invested in the relationship. None of these things are easy to simply chuck out the window.   With that said, this isn't a podcast about love and relationships. It's a podcast about personal finance. It's not romantic and it's not what tear-jerker movies are made out of, but it does share some of the same components.     When we get our first credit card, we have that initial excitement. It's new, it's shiny, and it's personalized with our name right on it. We take it wherever we go, and when we need it, it's right there waiting for us. If we have any trouble, there's even a phone number on the back that we can call to get help any time of the day or night.     It allows us to buy things we wouldn't otherwise be able to

Many of us feel the weight of our past mistakes for a long time, and this weight prevents us from moving forward. This is especially true if you're feeling like you have passed a certain age and look back to see people much younger than you making better financial decisions than you did. This makes you feel like you've missed out on an opportunity, and you end up kicking yourself instead of making your current situation better.   It's time to run through a few steps today in order to give yourself a mental clean slate so that you can move past your mistakes and become who you wish to be. Remember, you are the one who has the power to write the proper ending to your story, and you're going to love how it turns out because you now have the unique opportunity to take charge and come out as a winner! God bless.

Whether you acknowledge this statement or not, they control you. If you're wondering who I'm referring to, I'm referring to the credit card companies, loan companies, and any other entities that charge you money for borrowing their money.   If you are under the false impression that you're in control when it comes to these institutions, it's time to realize a few things. Especially when it comes to credit card companies, they have the final say as to whether or not you receive one of their cards or if you are able to successfully request a credit limit increase.   What's worse is that there's a concept which some credit card companies employ that amounts to essentially being a credit card limit decrease for customers. Yes, you heard me correctly. Credit card companies have the ability to take what you thought was your personal available line of credit and decrease it as they wish when they wish to do so, and sometimes this decrease will bring your available credit limit incredibly close to what you currently

Discipline and behavior are closely linked with one another. As a matter of fact, they directly feed off of one another.   Our behavior is incredibly important, and a large portion of what structures our behavior is our level of discipline that allows us to continue good behaviors and prevents us from going back to bad behaviors.   As good behaviors prevail and you rewire the way that you normally do things for the better, your level of discipline will naturally increase. This cycle continues, and you will eventually find yourself truly winning with personal finance.   If you haven't done so already, please head on over to iTunes and leave a rating, leave a review, and while you're there, subscribe to the show. It's a great way to bring this show out in front of other listeners, and it expands the reach of folks who will join us in our journey to get out of debt and get into prosperity. God bless.

Have you ever asked yourself what if you didn't retire? In many places of the world, people view their lives as two completely separate entities: work life, retirement life. What if you blurred the lines a bit and made it all one in the same?   Imagine being 100+ years old and still working. It may not sound like a great idea to you, but what if your chosen vocation was something that inspired you with so much passion that you actually looked forward to waking up every morning just to continue doing it?   In order to make something like this a reality, we need to start by asking a few simple questions. First, what makes you happy? What brings you true joy? Second, what is it that you're good at? Third, what (and who) do you value? Finally, what motivates you to get up in the morning?   Think about these questions for a bit and see if you might also feel that retirement doesn't have to be a necessity, because perhaps there's some greater purpose in your life that you simply haven't uncovered yet. God bless.

At the end of the month, do you find yourself asking where your money has gone? Unfortunately, for many folks, this is an all-too-common occurrence.   The good news is that there is a way to stay focused and stay on track so that you'll find yourself in that sweet spot with personal finance success. If you'll keep this simple rhyme in mind and pay close attention to the tips given and the content of today's episode, you'll soon find yourself consistently within budget each and every month:   Point A to point B, Getting debt-free, Getting into prosperity.   If you haven't done so already, I would greatly appreciate it if you could take a few minutes to leave a rating, leave a review, and while you're there, subscribe to the show. Your input helps to guide other listeners to tune in to the show, and I truly believe that there is great strength in numbers as we all move towards getting out of debt and getting into prosperity. God bless.

There is great responsibility that comes with being an expert. When you are an expert in your chosen field and have literally millions of folks tuning in to hear what you have to say on an almost daily basis, you have to be three times as careful with the content that you're putting out there.   I'm not saying that an expert needs to be perfect. However, I am going to say that some of the bigger names out there in the personal finance advice realm (Dave Ramsey, Clark Howard, etc.) have a certain level of responsibility with what they allow to be broadcast to an astronomical base of regular listeners and subscribers. How we respond to critics tells a lot about us, and sometimes not giving a critic their fifteen seconds of fame is the best response to keeping that individual's opinion at bay.   Don't get me wrong. I listen to both The Dave Ramsey Show and The Clark Howard Show almost every week. With that being said, there are just a couple of tweaks that I would offer to suggest in order to keep the negativity

We're wrapping up our book study with our final principle of success. This principle has to do with the power of partnership in the context of kings and priests, but we're going to dive in a little deeper and discuss other points of this principle as well.   Of course, with this being the conclusion of this particular book study, it's also a good time to review the twelve principles in their entirety. If you work to apply all of these principles in your life, you will absolutely have a greater chance for success.   It's not too late to pick up a copy of this book for your personal library if you'd like to do so. This is one of those books that you'll find yourself reading time and time again, especially since it is a short read and contains a literal wealth of information. Head on over to http://followmeoutofdebt.com/legend to pick up your own discounted copy of this book today while they're still available. God bless.

We're heading into the final stretch of our book study and visiting the next four principles of success. These four principles are organically connected to one another from a financial prosperity standpoint, but each one deserves to be looked at both separately and diligently.   At this point in the story, Antonio was approached by his brother-in-law, Venny. Venny wanted Antonio to provide him with a loan, but Antonio was naturally conflicted with this request. He needed to seek counsel from Alessio during their fifth meeting, and Alessio, as always, provided Antonio with wise counsel.   From this wise counsel, we derive four more principles of success. Once applied in our lives, these four principles of success will turbo boost our ability to get out of debt and get into prosperity. All of the principles thus far are equally important, but these four are especially noteworthy since they all tie in well with one another.   If you haven't done so already, I would suggest following along in this book study by

It's now time for the fourth meeting between Antonio and Alessio. Prior to this meeting, Antonio is asked to meet with the feared merchant pirate, Ahmad. He first has an opportunity to seek Alessio's advice prior to the meeting, and it's a good thing that he did.   Alessio provides Antonio with sound advice to help him with turning away from focusing on the rumors centered around Ahmad and instead turn his focus towards God. Antonio has no reason to fear Ahmad but instead should approach him with boldness and confidence.    Alessio explains to Antonio that it's only necessary to be meek when it comes to God; everyone else should be approached with boldness, confidence, and kindness. With this in mind, we're introduced to principle seven of the trusted principles of success: be meek before God but bold before men.   If you haven't done so already, I would suggest following along in this book study by picking up a copy of this book at your local library or purchasing it online. I've done some legwork and found

We’re currently reading about the third meeting between Antonio and Alessio, but prior to this, we learn about Antonio’s business partner, Milos. Milos also has a zest for life like Antonio, and the two made for great business partners.   Before the third meeting could take place, Antonio and Milos had witnessed their factory burn to the ground. Antonio thought for sure that this was the end of his business (and his wealth and success). He even went as far as questioning why God had put him in this particular circumstance.   While it might be natural for us to blame the devil or even God when we face trials in our lives, we need to remember that God sometimes allows trials so that He can sculpt us into what He already knows we have the potential to become. We shouldn't waste our time displacing blame one way or another, because some things that happen in life are simply cause and effect. We need to realize that the challenges that we face are stepping stones and not insurmountable obstacles.   If you haven't

Financial prosperity is connected to soul prosperity. With that being said, a man must do whatever he can to provide for his family.   At this point in the book, we find that Alessio has instructed his friend to meet him for midnight mass. As Antonio walked to the church, he was reminded of the words from his father talking about God and His greatness. When he looked up at the heavens, he remembered the passage from Jeremiah 29:11. Behold, the plans I have for you, declares the Lord. Plans to prosper you. Plans to give you a hope and a future.   Tune in to get caught up with the rest of the story. If you haven't done so already, I would suggest following along in this book study by picking up a copy of this book at your local library or purchasing it online. I've done some legwork and found several used copies of this book for just a few dollars if you'd like to own a copy for yourself or if you can't find it at your local library. Simply head on over to http://followmeoutofdebt.com/legend and pick up your co

Work hard and God will prosper you. This is the first principle that we're discussing today from the book, The Legend of the Monk and the Merchant by Terry Felber.   Starting with a quick introduction of the characters in this book, you'll be quickly caught up to speed with what Julio is about to find out from his grandfather, Antonio. You'll feel like you're sitting right alongside Julio and sharing Antonio's greatest treasure that he's about to reveal: the principles for successful living.   I would suggest picking up a copy of this book at your local library or purchasing it online. I've done some legwork and found several used copies of this book at fantastic prices if you'd like to own a copy for yourself or if you can't find it at your local library. Simply head on over to http://followmeoutofdebt.com/legend and pick up your copy today. God bless.

Do you want to learn the principles of successful living? Over the next several weeks, we'll be diving deep into the principles outlined in the book, The Legend of the Monk and the Merchant by Terry Felber.   This is one of those books that I find myself going back to reading time and again and with good reason. The story is not only an entertaining read, but it also teaches some excellent principles for successful living.   I would suggest picking up a copy of this book at your local library or purchasing it online. I've done some legwork and found several used copies of this book at fantastic prices if you'd like to own a copy for yourself or if you can't find it at your local library. Simply head on over to http://followmeoutofdebt.com/legend and pick up your copy today. We'll be starting our study on this incredible book in the next episode. God bless.

If you don't play, you don't win. Or do you? As it was said by Joshua in WarGames: the only winning move is not to play. If you're not familiar with that movie, I'll digress for a moment by saying that you should definitely check it out sometime.   While I'm showing my geeky side here, that scene in the movie was the first thing that came to mind when I considered talking about the Powerball (or any other lottery) for today's episode. Lotteries are designed to have astronomical odds against being able to win, and those few who do win may not be as happy as you would think. There are plenty of stories floating around out there where the winners actually ended the story by wishing that they could turn back the clock so that they could avoid ever having played at all. That's powerful testimony as to why the lottery does not solve problems. As a matter of fact, they very well could make things worse.   If gambling has become a significant problem in your life, I want you to get help. I implore you to visit the Ga

It's sad but true. Not everyone wants you to succeed. The sooner that you realize this, the better that it will be for you.   You don't want to waste your time if you are continuously getting negative feedback from a particular individual. This person in your life could be a friend, a family member, or possibly neither of those. It really doesn't matter, because in the end, the negative feedback that you're receiving from this person is bringing you down. You might be incredibly excited and motivated to get out of debt, but as you make some critical headway in all of this, you find that there's this one individual who simply can't be happy for you.   In most cases, it's not a problem with you. It's almost always a problem with the individual who has decided that they don't want to see you succeed. They may ignore your accomplishments, or they may put down your accomplishments altogether. It pains them to see you succeed, and if this is someone who is close to you, it makes it all the more difficult for you wh

Have you ever stopped to realize how fortune truly favors the bold? The first time that I heard this saying was when I had watched The Founder, the movie about how Ray Kroc had founded McDonald's, or rather, how he built a worldwide empire by essentially rethinking what the McDonald brothers had started and transforming the concept into something completely different and revolutionary.   That aside, when we take bold action steps and stop behaving in a timid fashion, we'll soon realize that fortune almost seems to greet us at the doorstep. Does that mean to carelessly act bold without considering what's best for us? Of course not. However, approaching life with an overly cautious stance could very well keep us stuck in second gear.   Starting right now, resolve to be courageous, bold, confident, and someone who stands out from the rest. God bless.

It's one thing to have a goal to get out of debt, but how long will it actually take you to reach that goal? Believe it or not, the answer to this question is incredibly important to consider.   When we start a journey to get out of debt, we might start out of the gate strong but lose momentum as we continue along the path towards accomplishing the goals that we've set for ourselves. One of the important things to realize is that it's unlikely that we'll be able to accomplish any goal flawlessly from beginning to end. We'll eventually mess up, and that's okay. When we mess up and take ownership of any mistakes that we've made, we give ourselves the unique opportunity to learn from these mistakes and to do better next time.   The good news is that there are three easy steps that we can take to pick up the pace and reach our goal to get out of debt that much sooner. First, focus on your processes and gain a true understanding of what works and what doesn't work for you. Next, utilize the tools that you have at

I've got some exciting news to share today! Tune in to find out this news, but more importantly, discover how you can also get to realize this same experience.    What's important to note is that once we've reached a particular goal, even when it's a part of a larger goal, we need to utilize the momentum that we've been able to generate appropriately. If we can shift our focus on to incrementally larger goals as we progress, we will soon find ourselves deep into our journey towards getting out of debt and getting into prosperity. God bless!