If you are considering debt and bill consolidation, determine why first.
We think of money in an oversimplified, number-driven way: how much money do we have and how much of it do we need?
"Financial peace isn't the acquisition of stuff. It's learning to live on less than you make, so you can give money back and have money to invest. You can't win until you do this.”
- Dave Ramsey |
More often than not, we don't look at our financial situation as an integral part of our personal life and ultimately, something that intrinsically affects our long-term happiness. Perhaps that's why we overlook our options for debt and bill consolidation.
Sure, you need money to buy the fabulous dress in the storefront that you have been eying and that it will give you some level of pleasure to buy the dress. However, too often people don't see the bigger picture and how crucial and beneficial fiscal responsibility is to our overall emotional well-being.
Maybe buying the dress will cheer you up for a day, but if you use a credit card to make the purchase because the money is not currently available - what are the real-life emotional consequences of such an action?
Obviously the debt will continue to pile up to the point that you dread paying the bills, so don't neglect the reality of the situation: being in debt doesn't just affect your bank account, it affects every aspect of your life.
Fortunately, through debt and bill consolidation, you can regain some level of control over your finances, your happiness, and your future life experience.
Whether you've made a few late payments or have hit rock bottom in the form of bankruptcy, there's no doubt your psyche has probably taken some hits. The cycle of debt is a complicated and destructive one - our emotions affect how we spend money, which in turn impacts our emotions and sense of self worth.
The key is to understand this inevitable relationship. If you base your self-identity on your credit score, you're looking it the wrong place, period.
Getting out of debt can appear to be an impossible goal, but it can be done, YOU can make it happen - starting right now.
Debt and bill consolidation can help you to better organize your debt and thus, begin the process of regaining the self-respect you may have lost as you dug yourself into your present situation.
Once you've discovered the freedom and happiness that comes with saving your money and paying the bills on time, perhaps even making DOUBLE payment, it will be easier to keep up with responsible habits. Suddenly, you'll find more enjoyment from walking past that storefront and not buying the dress as compared to buying it.
However, it's hard to see the forest through the trees - trees being those pesky bills and debts that only seem to multiply every day.
You might be so preoccupied with just making end's meat that you don't even bother to think of the real potential of your money - what it can do for your future via investments in property, retirement, etc. The irony is that this inhibiting, limited focus will only depress you and encourage more of the careless spending that got you into the mess in the first place.
Debt and bill consolidation is not the total solution, but it can be a good start as you begin to implement your plan of one day living a debt free lifestyle.
Becoming debt free won't happen over night, but you can gradually climb out of that dark hole of debt and begin to see the light of a brighter and happier future
"If you think nobody cares if you're alive, try missing a couple of car payments."
- Earl Wilson |
|