In my quest to get my husband and myself to pay off debt and build savings, I have relied on a few different sources of inspiration. Here are some of my recent favorites:
'Til Debt Do Us Part'
This is a television show filmed in Canada. The host, Gail Vaz-
Oxlade is a popular money guru who goes from one financially troubled family to another and whips them into shape. Her tools are pretty elementary and yet so mysterious to the people she visits. They include glass jars to hold the cash budgeted for variable expenditures, a written budget, a book to log purchases, and tough love!
Some of these couples need their butts kicked because even a kid could tell you that spending more than you earn leads to debt. My favorite part of the show is where Gail shows them how deep in debt they'll be in a few years if they keep up the pace. The numbers are usually staggering. The only drawback on watching this show is that some of the financial instruments she recommends are only available in Canada. Still, the show airs on CNBC in the US on Saturday nights. Yes, we really do stay home and watch personal finance shows on Saturday nights. So what?
The Dave Ramsey Radio Show
I'd been hearing little bits and pieces about Dave Ramsey here and
there from bloggers who were digging their way out of debt. After reading some angry tirades comments on one particular blog I decided to just look him up . I had ideas in my head already because I had put people into a box. But I'm not completely closed minded and I'm glad I checked him out.
Dave Ramsey was like a breath of fresh air. Some of these financial fitness personalities are very encouraging and can be tough on people. But not many of them will go so far as to tell you to 1. sell your fancy new car to get rid of payments and buy a beater (hoopty, clunker, or jalopy depending on where you're from) 2. cut off everything but food, light, and shelter 3. Eat beans and rice, and rice and beans 4. NEVER use debt AGAIN unless 5. it is a 15 yr mortgage with payments approximately 25% of your take home pay.
Listening to the callers on this show really got me thinking. Some people call in to say that they are now completely debt-free. They have repaid student loans, medical bills, mortgages, credit cards, family members, dumb stuff they should have never gotten into besides that. And many of them have done it in record time. I'm talking 3 years, 24 months, 18 months!
If you need someone to get under your skin and light a fire under your tail about debt, well check him out. The show plays live online and on AM radio in the afternoons. But if you can't listen then, the archives go back about a week and a half and you can play those at your convenience.
Early Retirement Extreme
This is a blog written by Jacob Lund Fisker (there is a book he has written by the same name which I will get to eventually). He
said extreme, and he meant extreme. While he was retired, he was living on less than 10K per year.
The premise is that if you save enough money, invest it well, and reduce your consumption enough, you can retire long before the typical retirement age. And he did just that. . . for a while. . . until he became bored with his success and decided to look for a new challenge. I don't mean to make him sound like some kind of snobby kook. His writing is personable, interesting, and unpretentious. But you might have to look up some words. And you might have to wikipedia some stuff. I know I did.
Basically I read that blog to push myself and it helps me to question tacit assumptions. Some of those assumptions might be a. I have to work until I'm 66 b. I have to have 1 or 2 million to retire c. I have to live in a house or an apartment (he lives in an RV) d. I have to have a cell phone with a plan e. I have to buy clothes and shoes regularly and keep up with at least the late nineties.
Reading the blog allows me to consider that it is possibly to a. stop working for a wage as young as 40 without 1 or 2 million saved b. live in an unusual type of dwelling such as a boat or some other mobile housing c. use a prepaid cell phone only for emergencies since nobody really calls me anyway d. buy only a few things, and things made so well and so neutral that they will last as long as my shape stays the same!
There are many proverbs and sayings about the connection between thoughts and action, and thoughts and being. I believe that by keeping myself focused on this topic, I can only improve my financial discipline.
'Til Debt Do Us Part'
This is a television show filmed in Canada. The host, Gail Vaz-
Oxlade is a popular money guru who goes from one financially troubled family to another and whips them into shape. Her tools are pretty elementary and yet so mysterious to the people she visits. They include glass jars to hold the cash budgeted for variable expenditures, a written budget, a book to log purchases, and tough love!Some of these couples need their butts kicked because even a kid could tell you that spending more than you earn leads to debt. My favorite part of the show is where Gail shows them how deep in debt they'll be in a few years if they keep up the pace. The numbers are usually staggering. The only drawback on watching this show is that some of the financial instruments she recommends are only available in Canada. Still, the show airs on CNBC in the US on Saturday nights. Yes, we really do stay home and watch personal finance shows on Saturday nights. So what?
The Dave Ramsey Radio Show
I'd been hearing little bits and pieces about Dave Ramsey here and
there from bloggers who were digging their way out of debt. After reading some Dave Ramsey was like a breath of fresh air. Some of these financial fitness personalities are very encouraging and can be tough on people. But not many of them will go so far as to tell you to 1. sell your fancy new car to get rid of payments and buy a beater (hoopty, clunker, or jalopy depending on where you're from) 2. cut off everything but food, light, and shelter 3. Eat beans and rice, and rice and beans 4. NEVER use debt AGAIN unless 5. it is a 15 yr mortgage with payments approximately 25% of your take home pay.
Listening to the callers on this show really got me thinking. Some people call in to say that they are now completely debt-free. They have repaid student loans, medical bills, mortgages, credit cards, family members, dumb stuff they should have never gotten into besides that. And many of them have done it in record time. I'm talking 3 years, 24 months, 18 months!
If you need someone to get under your skin and light a fire under your tail about debt, well check him out. The show plays live online and on AM radio in the afternoons. But if you can't listen then, the archives go back about a week and a half and you can play those at your convenience.
Early Retirement Extreme
This is a blog written by Jacob Lund Fisker (there is a book he has written by the same name which I will get to eventually). He
said extreme, and he meant extreme. While he was retired, he was living on less than 10K per year.The premise is that if you save enough money, invest it well, and reduce your consumption enough, you can retire long before the typical retirement age. And he did just that. . . for a while. . . until he became bored with his success and decided to look for a new challenge. I don't mean to make him sound like some kind of snobby kook. His writing is personable, interesting, and unpretentious. But you might have to look up some words. And you might have to wikipedia some stuff. I know I did.
Basically I read that blog to push myself and it helps me to question tacit assumptions. Some of those assumptions might be a. I have to work until I'm 66 b. I have to have 1 or 2 million to retire c. I have to live in a house or an apartment (he lives in an RV) d. I have to have a cell phone with a plan e. I have to buy clothes and shoes regularly and keep up with at least the late nineties.
Reading the blog allows me to consider that it is possibly to a. stop working for a wage as young as 40 without 1 or 2 million saved b. live in an unusual type of dwelling such as a boat or some other mobile housing c. use a prepaid cell phone only for emergencies since nobody really calls me anyway d. buy only a few things, and things made so well and so neutral that they will last as long as my shape stays the same!
There are many proverbs and sayings about the connection between thoughts and action, and thoughts and being. I believe that by keeping myself focused on this topic, I can only improve my financial discipline.
Ooh I love both of them!
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