When it comes to money and being proactive about tackling your debt, one story comes to mind – the story of The Ant & the Grasshopper – Aesop’s Fable.
Dorcheh Pīāz The Ant & the Grasshopper – Aesop’s Fable
“One bright day in late autumn an Ant was bustling about in the warm sunshine, drying out the grain he had stored up during the summer, when a starving Grasshopper, his fiddle under his arm, came up and humbly begged for a bite to eat.
“What!” cried the Ant in surprise, “haven’t you stored anything away for the winter? What in the world were you doing all last summer?”
“I didn’t have time to store up any food,” whined the Grasshopper; “I was so busy making music that before I knew it the summer was gone.”
The Ant shrugged their shoulders in disgust.
“Making music, were you?” they cried. “Very well; now dance!” And he turned their backs on the Grasshopper and went on with his work.”
is it safe to order clomid online Moral of the story – There is a time for work and there is a time for play. It is best to prepare for the days of necessity.
Back in 2016 I stumbled upon a podcast about money that changed the trajectory of my life. It all started one day when I was listening to an episode of Mad Money with Jim Cramer. Oddly enough, at the beginning of the 2016, I decided to get proactive about my finances and I began listening to podcasts about money to keep me motivated. However, on that day, I couldn’t bear to listen to another word from Jim Cramer because investment advice just wasn’t what I truly needed to jump start my financial journey. I decided to take a chance on my “you also might like” podcast recommendations and began to explore other financial opinions and outlooks.
That’s when I came across Dave Ramsey. He has quite the southern “charm” and a blunt “call it as I see it” approach to him, but man, after just one show I was hooked. I impressed about the direct, sometimes harsh, financial advice he was dishing out to everyone that called in. His podcast is a live Q&A type of show where he takes calls on anything related to money. I started to listen to all the previous episodes and once those ran out, I started to listen to him YouTube. I literally couldn’t get enough of this guy. One of the coolest things about his show is that each segment he features someone that has become debt free.
That feature is known as the “debt free scream.” A Dave follower either calls in or shows up to his office in person to tell their debt free journey on air. After Dave gets the nitty gritty details from them like how much debt they’ve paid off, what kind of debt, and so on, the guest gets an exciting countdown to then get to scream “I’M DEBT FREE!” on air. How exhilarating!
Sounds a little cheesy I know, but it really is super interesting. After a while, you start to feel super motivated by people’s stories and start to realize, you’re not alone. You begin to feel empowered about tackling your debt and learn a ton about money along the way.
His show single handily changed my perspective on debt and the direction I was headed. Everyone had debt so how was I any different? It felt like the longer I put off facing the reality of my situation, the heavier my debt began to feel. I had a few medical bills, a car loan that seemed endless, and a mountain of student loan debt. And how did I deal with all of that debt? I would receive the bills, make the minimum payments, and try hard to forget about it. I had over $50,000 dollars in debt!
The thought of being debt free was something I couldn’t even conceptualize, it was something that had never even crossed my mind. Debt was for me and has simply become a way of life for a lot of people. I accepted the reality of always having some type of debt and it didn’t bother me until I heard the people on Dave’s show. These people planted the seed that paying off debt is possible and that debt isn’t a “normal” thing that should just be accepted. Those interviews and debt free screams were the catalyst that pushed me into action and thus my debt free journey was born. I started my blog to share my experience, all the things I’m learning about money, and everything in between.
Embarking on the journey to become debt free takes a lot of work, organization, sacrifice, and patience. It requires you to ACT today in order to CHANGE your future tomorrow. That’s it. There is no secret sauce or instant powder that will get you to the finish line. It’s that simple- You’ve got put action behind your words if you want a better future.
Over the past 2 years I’ve paid off $38,000 in debt and have $12,600 left to go on my last student loan. I’m currently on schedule to be debt free no later than the end of this year. While I’m a huge fan of Dave’s philosophy, I don’t follow all of his advice to a tee because I understand everyone’s journey is unique. I’ve learned that you have to figure out what works best for you and act! Once I figured out how to take action, I implemented a plan and have since fine-tuned it to a place where I can share it with others. I call it the “Debt Attack Pack- Tools for a Debt Free Journey.”
I created this plan/tools because when it came to spreadsheets and apps, I wasn’t able to find anything that housed everything in one place (aka keeping it simple). I would see one spreadsheet templates that didn’t really fit my needs and would equally see budgeting apps that kind of filled in the gaps for what the templates where missing. I always found myself becoming frustrated with not being able to have it all in one place with the framework of one purpose: TO BECOME DEBT FREE.
I’ve always been good with excel so automating the functions was easy and lightened the load for me when it came to computing my budget. Then I thought to myself, I’m sure others can benefit from what I’ve already created. A few weeks ago, I cleaned up the design, implemented more functionality and BAM! The Debt Attack Pack was born.
The Debt Attack Pack Includes:
- 4 Automated Excel Spreadsheets (with buttons and built in formulas for easy navigation and quick computing)
- 6 Printable PDF Worksheets
- A How-to Video Tutorial
- One Click Print Option (printable spreadsheets for a budget binder to stay organized)
The great thing about the Debt Attack Pack is that no excel experience is required! All you have to do is plug in and go. Don’t have excel? Don’t let that detour you, the printable sheets are just as helpful! All you need is a pen, paper, and calculator. This whole pack was designed specifically for someone looking to get out of debt, this is literally my blue print and plan for how I was able to pay off$38,000 in less than 18 months.
Are you looking to get out of debt, but don’t know where to start? Perhaps, you’re looking to upgrade your current budgeting system or just need a fresh take on your finances. One thing I’ve learned on my journey is that the simpler it is, the better. The Debt Attack Pack, may be EXACTLY what you need to jumpstart your finances. It’s simple and serves the purpose you’ve been looking for – To be able to yell “I’m debt free!” like people on Dave Ramsey’s show. These are the same tools I used to pay off $38,000 in debt and will be the same tools I will use to finish paying my remaining debt.
Like I mentioned earlier, there is no secret sauce to becoming debt free. You just decide to do it, then act. Change can be scary and you may feel overwhelmed when it comes to money but the tools I created can help you with that. It fills the gaps and keeps budgeting simple, the way finances should be!
I have two questions for you: Are you the ant or the grasshopper? Are you ready to start attacking your debt head on?
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