Finances can be compared to roller coasters. Highs and lows, quick turns without notice, dark tunnels and steep drops. As long as you’re alive you will be faced with financial decisions, job changes or losses, unexpected financial strains, but the more prepared you are the better you can handle it. I’ve been broke and I’ve been in debt. I’ve had student loans and steep credit card payments. I’ve also been debt, payment and student loan free. My experiential extremes have given me the ability to manage the ups and downs of the financial roller coaster. That experience is the only glimmer of positivity in the knee deep dollar amount of interest I’ve paid.
Here is the fast and dirty version of my financial story thus far. My parents gave me a great head start and I’ve always been a budgeter, though not much of a saver. Living within my means just meant I could make my minimum payments and my credit cards weren’t maxed. I decided to add a masters degree into the mix which layered on some student loan debt. My fiancé (engaged at 29, married at 30) learned about Dave Ramsey and together we took Financial Peace University. I began paying down my debt with what little money I had and my fiancé began doing the same. After we got married we rolled everything into “ours” and paid off $80k in debt in 3 years. Debt free at the time meant no mortgage or car payment. Two things we have since added. But we have also added a nice emergency fund and monthly payments into retirement accounts and savings.
Some will say that experience doesn’t give me the degree or credentials required to discuss finances, but I think those people are the same ones who believe in or benefit from student loan payments. Rest assured that I am not here to give investing advice, I pay a financial manager for that. Nor am I here to preach about living a 100% debt free life, I would be a hypocrite if I were. I am here to tell you that you can find the right balance and, much like a roller coaster, you can be prepared for the ups, downs and quick turns as long as you keep your eyes open.
Maybe you’ve been on the financial ride with your eyes open for sometime now. If you have a list of all of your debts, how much you make in a month and EXACTLY where that money goes every month then cheers to you! Well done. There will be more here for you later. But if you don’t have a solid grasp on these three things, this is step one. You may have been on this ride for 20, 30, 40 or even 50 years by now and it’s likely your eyes have been shut for most of it. You may be at the bottom of savings and the top of debt, but here is still hope. Step one: open your eyes. Those suckers may be clamped as tightly shut as your little eyelids will allow because looking seems too terrifying. But if you know what’s coming then you can prepare for it. Preparation changes the whole ride.
How exactly do you pry those sucker open you ask? Get your financial records together, and look at your monthly income and your monthly expenses. Take a look at your debts as well, not just what the minimum payments are, but their totals. It’s time to look. To face reality, hey, it just might be better than you feared! Examine your financial situation before an institutional acronym does examines it for you, like AMEX or IRS. This takes some nerve, a quiet space and a peaceful mind. There are two ways to do this and you’ll likely choose the one that matches the way you’d rip off a bandaid: quickly or slowly. It could take you 4 hours or 4 weeks. Some prefer to feel the pain all at once to get it over with and others move more slowly so its less jarring. None the less, get it done.
It can be scary and intimidating, but opening your eyes (and keeping them open) is the very first step to taking your buying power back and putting yourself in the driver’s seat. The things that make you the most uncomfortable in life are also the things that offer you the greatest chance to grow. Open your eyes and begin the journey of conquering your financial fears, you’re worth it. And I’ll be here every step of the way to cheer you on. So much so that if you have questions you can email me directly at smcrowley214@gmail.com.
A Pinch of Opinion 