Follow Me Out of Debt | Get out of debt and get into prosperity!

It's not what you make, it's what you keep. Write this sentence on a small piece of paper and place it somewhere where you will see it every day. Post it on your mirror. Put it on the refrigerator. Realize that you need to be inspired by this tiny and powerful sentence constantly because it's that important.

Spending is not the way. Saving is the way. Of course, you'll need to spend some money at some point, but you need to get into the habit of saving much more. Behavior modifications to stop the endless cycle of spending and changing it into a cycle of saving may be difficult to come by, but we have to get there. We have to focus on changing our habits and changing our behaviors in order to truly get ahead.

The new car, the big house, and the flashy clothes won't help you to retire comfortably, send your kids to college, or purchase your first home. We live in a society which impresses upon us images of spending, even when we can't afford it. We are bombarded with advertisements to buy the newest objects, and if we don't, we won't fit in. Realize that now more than ever, you need to ignore all of that and focus on what truly matters - getting back to making saving money a priority.

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There's some astonishing data out there that shows that nearly 7 in 10 Americans have less than $1,000 in savings. If you look just 50 years ago, Americans were saving double what they are saving today. We made less money, but we were able to save more of what we made. A lot of this has to do with the mentality back in those days to save first and spend second. The norm for us today is to spend first and save second, and this is not a good thing.

A recent survey of 5,000 people showed that 62% of those surveyed had less than $1,000 in savings. A second survey of just over 7,000 people showed that 69%, or nearly 7 out of 10 of those surveyed, had less than $1,000 in savings. A small 15% of those surveyed had more than $10,000 saved up for what I would consider to be a true emergency fund.

It's not a simple matter of income, either. While adults who earn a lower income typically have a more difficult time saving $1,000, astonishingly, 29% of adults earning more than $150,000 per year had less than $1,000 in savings. Some of us are earning over $150,000 a year and can't save $1,000 of it. Talk about an eye-opener of just how bad we have become with saving.

Unfortunately, we're not only living above our means, but we're also using credit cards, loans, and easy payment platforms when it comes to spending. We're paying interest rather than earning interest, and a large percentage of us will do little to change this.

If you don't have $1,000 saved up yet, you're obviously not alone. However, this is also not an excuse. You're listening to this show and trying to get out of debt and get into prosperity in order to succeed, and guess what? Successful people are the minority. With that in mind, we may as well get used to being different!

Do you like to read but don't always have time to do so? Get a free 30-day trial and two free audiobooks just for checking out Audible, an Amazon company. Go to http://followmeoutofdebt.com/audible to learn more and get your two free audiobooks today!

Storms will come, and that's a certainty. How you react to these storms truly makes all of the difference.

If you tend to react with knee-jerk reactions when faced with a storm, most of the time, you won't be making the right choices that are necessary to properly weather the storm. Remaining calm helps you to assess the situation at hand and make decisions that are based on logic and reason rather than fear and anxiety.

Married couples are more prone to storms because there's usually one spouse who may freak out a bit more over a given situation than the other. The spouse who remains calm will need to take on a leadership role to keep both partners on track. Calm is key. You have to remain calm before the storm as well as during the storm. Doing so will put you in a much better position to make decisions that will help you to survive the storm each and every time.

Do you like to read but don't always have time to do so? Get a free 30-day trial and two free audiobooks just for checking out Audible, an Amazon company. Go to http://followmeoutofdebt.com/audible to learn more and get your two free audiobooks today!

There are plenty of long-term relationships out there. Some are successful because they are truly healthy relationships, and the people involved in the relationship know how to properly handle conflict when times get rough and how to care for one another all of the other times.

Other relationships that aren't so great may still be lengthy but perhaps are unhealthy because the people involved are more or less sticking it out but not really focusing on improving the relationship. In these circumstances, the relationship itself becomes more of a stagnant fixture; it's something that you know exists but don't necessarily consider the benefits of improving things or even ending the relationship and moving on. As the song goes, breakin' up is hard to do.

I'm definitely not a relationship guru, so before you get too excited, this episode has nothing to do with your relationships with others. It's primarily focused on what could be a particularly bad relationship, though. Of course, I'm referring to your relationship with debt.

Most of us fall somewhere on a spectrum when it comes to debt. Some of us are quite comfortable being in debt and don't see the rush to get out of debt. Others are panicking right now and will do whatever it takes to get their debt obligations under control and even gone completely. Still others are somewhere in-between. They know that racking up high balances on credit cards or taking out several loans is irresponsible, but they tell themselves that someday they will pay the debts down. Someday they'll get a better control on things.

The bottom line is this. If you're okay with your debt causing you torment and pain, even periodically, then you're in an unhealthy relationship. You need to get out yesterday. As with many relationships, even the unhealthy ones, breaking up can be hard to do. You've become used to having debt around. You met when you bought yourself some new clothes for your first real job. Debt was with you when you bought your first new car. It was with you on your family vacations. It helped you to buy your first home and the home you live in now. Yes, it has its flaws just like anything else, but it even helped you to attend college. How can you even consider living without debt when it has been with you for all of these years?

Just like any breakup, you need to first see debt for what it really is. It sneaks in ever so gently in the form of that first department store credit card. Next, it's helping you to attend college. Before you know it, debt is entrenched in everything you have – your cars, your home, your family vacations – but without you even realizing it, debt has become a thief. It has stolen your time with family as you work endlessly to keep up with payments. It has stolen your peace of mind as you lie awake worrying about how to get out of the mess that you're in. It has stolen your marriage as you and your spouse spiral downwards with the constant arguments about finances. Debt is not your friend. Debt is not a beloved family member. Debt isn't even your drunk uncle that you have to tolerate at family reunions. Debt is your enemy, and the faster you realize this, the more quickly you can kick debt out for good.

It's time to take action and break up with debt today. Debt may not go away as quickly as you would like it to, but telling debt to hit the curb is the first step. When you stop relying on debt, it will go away eventually over time. Show debt who's really the boss in the relationship, and turn your back now that you know the truth. Let debt find someone else, because you two were never a good match to begin with.

Do you like to read but don't always have time to do so? Get a free 30-day trial and two free audiobooks just for checking out Audible, an Amazon company. Go to http://followmeoutofdebt.com/audible to learn more and get your two free audiobooks today!

This has nothing to do with the alphabet. When I refer to ABC yourself, I'm referring to always be challenging yourself. Complacency is the enemy. Don't get comfortable with your aspirations; get yourself to improve upon what you are accomplishing in life on a consistent basis.

When we do this, we come up with harder and more difficult challenges for us to attain. We meet tougher goals, which gives us a natural confidence spike. We come to find what it is that we're capable of, and what we may have thought to be impossible before is now a certainty. We'll be able to do more in many different aspects of our lives. We'll look back one day and be amazed at how far we've come by simply being mindful of keeping our goals progressively more challenging each time we set them.

Do you like to read but don't always have time to do so? Get a free 30-day trial and two free audiobooks just for checking out Audible, an Amazon company. Go to http://followmeoutofdebt.com/audible to learn more and get your two free audiobooks today!

Sometimes we get overwhelmed, financially speaking. When this happens, we need to remove ourselves from the situation, at least temporarily. Even if you are experiencing anxiety or fear, you need to be able to look at the situation from the outside as much as you possibly can. Again, this is only temporary.

This will allow you to see the situation from a different perspective and see the problem for what it is. Hopefully, this will also allow you to take some of the emotion out of it. Only then will you get to clearly see what your answer is. Of course, it's a bit more challenging to actually take action steps and implement your solution, but as they say, knowing is half the battle.

Now that you have an answer, your next step is to consider your options. If you're married, it's time to sit down and have a talk with your spouse. Discover together what you should do next so that the both of you can lessen the stress and feelings of being overwhelmed.

If you're single, it's time to do some thinking about what you will need to do next to take that which is overwhelming you out of the equation. Take the appropriate action steps to get yourself out of the situation and invoke a new level of calm in your life. This will help you to make better decisions financially, and it will help you to have a firmer grasp on the reality of it all.

Do you like to read but don't always have time to do so? Get a free 30-day trial and two free audiobooks just for checking out Audible, an Amazon company. Go to http://followmeoutofdebt.com/audible to learn more and get your two free audiobooks today!

Did you know that a large number of your otherwise important goals may be serving as a distraction? It's true. I wouldn't be saying this unless I read it from a very good source, and that source is none other than Mr. Warren Buffett.

Whenever I read an article that has to do with something that Warren Buffett has said, I tend to pay close attention. In this particular article, Warren Buffett discusses the best way for us to truly succeed with our goals. It comes down to a two-list strategy.

To come up with these two lists, first you'll want to write down your top 25 goals. Next, take a good look at this list and circle the top five most urgent, most critical items. These circled items will become your List A.

List B will be comprised of the remaining 20 items. You'll avoid this list at all costs until you have been successful with every single item of the five items on List A.

It sounds simple, but it can be difficult to simply let go of that which we may feel are important goals. However, these List B items are serving as a huge distraction from what really matters to us - what we have identified on List A.

Do you like to read but don't always have time to do so? Get a free 30-day trial and two free audiobooks just for checking out Audible, an Amazon company. Go to http://followmeoutofdebt.com/audible to learn more and get your two free audiobooks today!

Sometimes you just need to reevaluate your current situation, make some changes as needed, and get excited all over again. This is especially true if you've been fighting this war on debt for a while now and getting a little too used to the familiar processes that go along with it. You might not be feeling the same excitement that you did in the beginning, and it may take something as simple as refocusing and improving some of your methods in order to get that spark back again!

Aside from mentioning a foolproof way to take the fear out of making large payments on your debt (especially with credit cards with revolving lines of credit), I'll also be discussing how I renewed the excitement in working towards these get-out-of-debt goals. I plan on being more aggressive now than I have been to date since I started this thing, and because of this, I'll be hitting debt harder than ever. I want you to listen to this and get fired up as well, because we are truly in this together!

Do you like to read but don't always have time to do so? Get a free 30-day trial and two free audiobooks just for checking out Audible, an Amazon company. Go to http://followmeoutofdebt.com/audible to learn more and get your two free audiobooks today!

You have to establish your own belief system and not rely on those established by others. Here's why.

Over time, there have been financial principles that have been set up to affect how we spend our money. We've been led to feel guilty, ashamed, or out of the loop if we're not following these belief systems. We then spread the same false premises as a justification for why we are doing what we are doing.

For example, we've been told to spend three months of salary on an engagement ring. Who do you think came up with this plan? I'm pretty sure that it started with some jewelry store conglomerate as a catchy advertising campaign with a goal to increase revenue. I'm not saying that you can't spend that much on an engagement ring if you wanted to, but you shouldn't be putting yourself in the poorhouse based on this self-propagating belief as your justification.

We are also pressured by society to find the biggest home possible that is based on what we can get approval for from the bank. When it comes to your home, spend what makes sense with your own personal financial situation and not what the bank tells you that you are able to borrow. You can always move up in house someday when it's appropriate and once you are ready to do so.

When it comes to how we get from point A to point B, we're also looped into the belief system that we need to go out and buy a brand-new vehicle. The belief system justifications are usually that they are reliable and covered for repairs under warranty. If you can't afford to buy it, we're told that we should lease the vehicle instead because the payments will be lower.

Never mind the fact that we're essentially paying to borrow a vehicle that we must return in pristine shape, or we'll be required to pay even more money once we return it. Buy a newer used vehicle instead, preferably one that just came off of a lease.

The bottom line is this. Do your own thinking, buy based on your personal financial situation, and don't give in to the belief systems that try to keep us broke.

Do you like to read but don't always have time to do so? Get a free 30-day trial and two free audiobooks just for checking out Audible, an Amazon company. Go to http://followmeoutofdebt.com/audible to learn more and get your two free audiobooks today!

You've got to look for opportunities around you. Not only should you be on the lookout for opportunities, but you also have to take the appropriate action steps in order to take advantage of those opportunities if they will benefit you.

We sometimes let the days go by and become complacent, but that's not going to help us improve over time. Instead, we need to ask ourselves how we can do things better and what other things are out there for us to help us improve our lives.

There are plenty of ways to uncover various opportunities. For one, you can talk with with friends and family members to find out what they're doing to improve their lives. Read some good non-fiction books to get inspired and get some ideas that you may not have otherwise had if you didn't read these resources.

Frequently ask yourself if you are doing things in the best way possible and always be seeking more efficient or more lucrative possibilities that are out there. Consider your own personal values and make sure that any opportunity that comes along is put through your own personal filter to ensure that it's what you've been looking for and missing and can get excited about.

Do you like to read but don't always have time to do so? Get a free 30-day trial and two free audiobooks just for checking out Audible, an Amazon company. Go to http://followmeoutofdebt.com/audible to learn more and get your two free audiobooks today!