There’s nothing like a job-layoff notice, getting a call from the bank saying you’ve bounced your account to the moon—or in my case back in the ‘80s learning that our home was about to be foreclosed—to tell you that you need an extreme money makeover.
How to Give Yourself a Money Makeover
What follows is a simple overview of how to get started conducting your own money makeover. These are examples and suggestions that may or may not apply directly to your situation, but can give you what you need to get started.
Before picture
Any makeover worth its salt needs a great before picture. A personal financial snapshot is called a Statement of Net Worth—a realistic estimate of how much money you would have left if you sold all that you own and paid off all that you owe. It’s a picture you need no matter how dire your situation may seem to be.
Your attitude
Face it. The only thing you control absolutely is your attitude—the way you choose to respond to life and all of its challenges. This is a season in your life that has come and will go. It’s not forever. You can handle anything as long as you know it will end. Choose to face your extreme situation with an equally intense response.
- MORE:Secrets of the Frugal Lifestyle
Get a plan
Write a simple plan for how you will reach your goalkeeping in mind that a good plan is specific, reasonable, realistic, finite with a way to measure results. Give yourself a date by which you plan to have this makeover complete. Now create stepping stones so you can measure your progress.
Freeze spending
Yes, it’s extreme but so is your makeover. Imposing a spending freeze for the next week or two will give you the jumpstart you need. Then move into a non-essential spending freeze for the foreseeable future.
Track spending
Starting now—today—keep a written list of where your money goes. If you spend it, it better be written down. That is how critical tracking will be to your successful makeover.
Stop debting
Okay, it’s not really a word, but it should be. To debt means to use a credit card to create debt. This has to stop because of its negative effect on your net worth. No more debting.
Start saving
Even five bucks a week put aside consistently is going to change your attitude about living frugally. Money in the bank offers a kind of security that is difficult to describe. And the more you save, the more willing you are to find ways to make it happen in bigger and better ways.
- MORE:How to Get $1,000 Into Your Emergency Fund—and Where to Hide It
Sell assets
Unless you use it regularly or it’s a cherished family heirloom, selling assets to raise cash is a great way to return the powerful jolt that brought you to your financial knees. Use the proceeds to catch-up on your bills, to start an emergency savings account or to pay down debt.
Downsize
If you are in over your head with a mortgage you cannot afford or rent that is beyond reasonable, move to a cheaper place. Or get a roommate. Yes, it’s extreme and but may be exactly what you need to do.
Get another job
It won’t be forever, but for right now working nights and weekends may be what you need to do. If a part-time job can net $400 a month, that’s $4,800 to apply to your situation.
Give up a vice
At $22 a pop, giving up a bi-weekly manicure habit will save you $650 annually. Emery boards and polish are cheap. Or switch to once a month. You’ll still save. Other vices like cigarettes, fast food, fancy coffee drinks, and name-your-own-vice are huge money drains.
Sell a car
Add up what it costs you to operate that second car—gas, payments, maintenance, insurance, registration, washes—and it won’t be so difficult to live without it. At least for a while.
Conclusion
The relief you will feel after taking such extreme measures to deal with your financial situation will far outweigh the temporary discomforts along the way. When you’re ready to get out of debt and stay out … I’d love for you to read my book, Debt-Proof Living.
Debt-Proof Living, by Mary Hunt
Mortgages, credit card balances, student loans, car loans, and home improvement loans have become a way of life. All that debt is putting not only our present at risk as we live paycheck to paycheck but our futures in jeopardy, as shockingly few of us have enough put away for retirement. But personal financial expert Mary Hunt wants you to know a radical but simple truth—you really can get out of debt and stay out of debt—for the rest of your life.
If you have been struggling to pay the bills, if you feel like you just can’t make your finances work, if you feel like your money situation is getting out of control, you need this book. It can change your life, just as it’s changed the lives of hundreds of thousands of others already.
Through this book, it has been my privilege to lead thousands of people out of debt and into a life of solvency and financial freedom!
I’d love to know how you are doing with your money makeover!
- MORE:Tough Times Don’t Last, Tough People Do!
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