How do you start getting back on your feet?
I’ve discussed the four walls before - food, shelter, transportation, and utilities.
If I woke up in someone else’s shoes and I was broke AND in debt, here’s what I would do:
-Read/listen to Dave Ramsey’s Total Money Makeover (you can listen to it free on the Hoopla library app!)
-stop borrowing money - you can’t become debt-free while borrowing.
-get on a tight written budget - you can tell your money where to go, or wonder where it went.
-get current on all my bills - wherever you’re in arrears, get current.
-trim lifestyle down to NOTHING.
-get together $1,000 cash, fast and put it in a savings account as your Baby Step #1 Starter Emergency Fund - yard sale, Kijiji, marketplace, whatever. Get $1,000, put it in an account, and do not touch it, emergencies only.
-arrange my debts in order of smallest to largest REGARDLESS of interest rate - debt includes car leasing, loans, lines of credit, buy now pay later, pay advances, family loans - any money you’ve borrowed! Cut up your cards and close the accounts when you pay them off.
-work CRAZY amounts to get ahead - this is temporary - most folks are on Baby Step #2 around 24 months - you’re living like no one else now, so later, you can live and give like no one else.
-audit my “friends list” - are the people who are around me going to support me in this challenging time?
Start tracking your progress, be prepared for challenging times ahead - but hold on to your hat! Getting your financial wits about you is incredibly rewarding and will completely change your life.
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