3 Ideas: My Life Goal, How to Pay Off Debt, Most Beautiful Time of the Year
This post is 753 words, 4 min read
Idea 1 - My Life Goal
I was recently listening to the Book of Ecclesiastes and three verses stood out to me of what the ultimate life looks like. It was in Chapter 5 verses 18-20:
This is what I have observed to be good: that it is appropriate for a person to eat, to drink and to find satisfaction in their toilsome labor under the sun during the few days of life God has given them—for this is their lot. Moreover, when God gives someone wealth and possessions, and the ability to enjoy them, to accept their lot and be happy in their toil—this is a gift of God. They seldom reflect on the days of their life, because God keeps them occupied with gladness of heart.
This is the best definition of a good life that I have ever seen:
Find pleasure in the work that I do and work hard at it
Enjoy the fruits of my hard labor with those I love
Spend no time worrying about yesterday or tomorrow
If I can have these three things, I have a life worth living. It has completely changed the way I view life.
Idea 2 - How to Get Out of Credit Card Debt
In a recent newsletter, I highlighted that the US crossed $1.08 Trillion in credit card debt with the amount increasing rapidly as interest rates cross 20+%. Also according to a survey by Bankrate, 1 in 3 people have revolving credit card debt.
All this is bad news for an individual's finances. Rather than only lamenting how bad things are, I decided to put together a quick 5 step process that will get anyone out of credit card debt. This is the process that helped me get out of $10,000 worth of credit card debt in less than 6 months. Your mileage will vary based on two factors: income and intensity.
Let's Begin
Before you start trying to pay off your debt. You'll need to do two things:
Track your expenses and make a budget to know what excess cash you have month to month
Save an emergency fund of at least $1500-$2000 or your highest insurance deductible. Whichever is faster and you feel safest with.
Paying Off the Credit Cards:
STOP USING CREDIT CARDS
You don't want to make the hole you have dug any deeper.
Remove all credit cards from being carried with you daily
Remove it from all shopping sites i.e. Amazon, PayPal, etc
Remove it from Apple Pay, Google Pay, etc.
Essentially anyway you can easily use it, remove
You removed the card because you have proven like I had proven to myself that I cannot be trusted with credit
Find the following information about your debts:
Balance on all credit cards you owe money to
The interest rates on those cards (APR)
Minimum Balance Monthly Payment for each card
Choose preferred payoff style:
Snowball method: Put the most amount of money towards your lowest balance first. While paying the minimum on the rest of your credit card and then working your way up to the largest credit card
Avalanche method: Put most of your money towards your highest interest rate card while paying the minimum on the rest of your credit cards. Then work your way down to the lowest interest card.
Use your budget to determine how much total you can pay towards the debt each month.
Separate your needs (bills, food, transportation) from your wants (travel, eating out, streaming services, new clothes and shoes, etc.)
Depending on your intensity you might be able to allocate a majority of your wants to pay the debt but you don't have to.
You can find a way to balance enjoying life while paying off your debt. It just means it will take a bit longer.
Use a debt payoff calculator to determine how long it'll take you to pay your debt off based on the amount you can pay each month.
I like this one from Credit Karma
I promise you there is nothing better than getting the debt monkey off your back. You'll feel so much more free knowing all the money you make is yours to choose what to do with. So make the necessary sacrifices and pay those debts off.
Idea 3 - The Most Beautiful Time of the Year
The colors of fall are undefeated
Bonus pic of a sunrise I loved.
Remember Generosity > greed
God Bless You
✌🏾