Life after a short sale. How do I NOT get myself into that situation again??????
Well, besides not buying a home ever again, we need to take an honest look at what got us into this mess in the first place. Blaming the market or blaming your lender , but not taking any responsibility yourself, isn’t going to make your situation better. Really. You need to be honest with the man or woman in the mirror. What could you have done different that would have made your situation better?
Now, before you ask me who am I to judge, let me just say that I know where you were, I know where you’re at now, I’ve been there and you won’t get any judgmental attitude from me, just good old fashion honesty.
I’ve decided to make this post into a series, because once I started writing more and more ideas just started to flow, that one post would be 10 pages long!!! So, let’s begin!
Part One: GET RID OF YOUR CREDIT CARDS!
I’m starting with this one, because credit card companies really tick me off! You’re one day late paying your bill and you get this nice notice letting you know that your rates are going up. The government slaps their wrists by requiring CC companies to “do the right thing” and guess what? We pay the price by them raising the rates before their “do the right thing” deadline.
The good news is, we don’t have to put up with it! Pay them off and GET RID OF THEM! We absolutely do not need a credit card to make it in this world! I know we’ve been told we can’t live without them, but the truth of the matter is, if we go back to what our grandparents did, like save money and not buy what we can’t afford, we won’t need them.
Here’s a personal example for me that I’m dealing with right now. My flat screen tv died, 12 days after the warranty expired. OUCH! My husband is still going through withdraw. We had to bring our 19” from our bedroom to our family room. Personally I’m glad the tv is out of our bedroom! If, I’m honest tho, I do miss the flat screen and it would be easy to use a credit card to buy one. BUT, I hate being in debt even more and I HATE credit card companies too. Although it may be months before we get another flat screen, the day we pay cash for it with no interest fee, late fees and such, will feel so much better than getting it now, making our monthly payments with more going to interest than principle and end up paying more than double if not triple in interest!
Using debit cards is a great way to keep yourself in check. You can use them to rent a car and to check in at a hotel. No need to have a credit card!
What has helped me put my finances in perspective is when a friend of mine suggested the book The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey. I don’t want to sound like a commercial so go check out the link for yourself!
Next in the series is: What is an Emergency fund and why you can’t survive with your sanity intact without one!
