If you follow my goal update posts, you know that last month we paid off over $5,000 of debt in July. And this month, we’ve already reached another amazing debt-free milestone, but now what? Are we rich because we are $5,000 lighter in terms of the money we owe on my student loans? Does this mean we get to go crazy, take that well-deserved vacation to the beach, party like there’s no tomorrow?
No. The hustle ain’t over.
Even though, as I write this I still can’t believe it, we have officially paid off my student loans, we still have debt – our mortgage. Not to mention, we still have an emergency fund that needs to be fully funded and we need to have enough money in our auto account to replace (in cash) one of our paid-for vehicles if need be.
So, we’re not done hustling and we certainly aren’t done living this real life on a budget thing. We may no longer have that over $55,000 of debt, we started 2013 off with, but we are not rich either.
We still have to budget.
We still have to save our money.
We still have to plan how/when/where we’ll finish killing the debt monster.
We still have to track where every last penny goes.
We still have to avoid falling back into the debt-trap.
We still have a way to go before we’ll ever be considered rich.
And that’s okay.
I know when I was walking through the fires of financial hell and I would see people who were doing better than I was financially, I would immediately assume they were “rich”. Not like filthy rich where they could go pay in cash for every Ferrari on the planet, but rich in the sense, they never had to worry where their next meal was coming from.
It has been a long time since I truly had to struggle, but those feelings haven’t left me and I’m sure they never will. They are actually a great reminder of why I force myself to be conscious of what I spend and how I spend my money. Because even though my perception of “rich” has changed from simply being able to feed myself to being able to outright own everything I own with no debt attached, I know that the only way to get to that level of rich is to keep living my life by a budget.
I have to keep refusing to let my money control me and keep working hard to make my money work for me. It is not easy to keep your money in check, or yourself for that matter, but I know that becoming rich doesn’t take a miracle or even an act of God, it takes
Patience
Discipline
Perseverance
Determination
Sacrifice
And even pain
I know that we all want the quick and easy answer of how to fix our finances; but honestly, I don’t have one for you. It is a work-in-progress and I imagine that it will always be a continual process. If you want out of your current state of financial hell, you have to work hard, be diligent, and most importantly take action.
You won’t become rich by waiting on your Great Aunt Edna to die. You will only reach your desired level of rich, by making your money work for you. I can’t encourage you enough, that today is the day to start taking control of your finances, no matter how deep in the trenches of financial hell you may be.
So go make it work. I’m right there alongside you, struggling to reach that next level. You’re not alone, but if you don’t get started now, you’ll just fall further and further behind.
What encouragement can you offer someone today to help them reach that next level of being “rich”?
I needed to read this today. I feel like we have so fallen off the wagon because after years of this I am just burned out. But you’re right, I gotta make it work. Thanks for the accountability, Jessi.
You’re so welcome Lydia and I know that burned out feeling. It sometimes feels so monotonous at times. I know that y’all will make this work and I’m cheering y’all on! 🙂
Congratulations, Jessi!!
You’ve addressed a mindset-issue that I struggle with. Whenever things look up for us financially – my husband gets a bonus, we get a tax refund, etc. – I can actually feel my mindset shift. I feel lighter, which is nice, but I also tend to loosen up on the spending a bit. Suddenly, I don’t worry about spending $100 at Target. It’s amazing what a small piece of good news can do to my psychology – especially since I know we’re still working to pay off a lot of debt. I clued into this pattern a few months ago, and this helps me monitor it and keep myself in check.
Thank you so much Amy! 🙂 You’re so right about the mindset shift – it’s amazing how it can happen without us even being aware of it.
Congratulations, Jessi, on reaching this milestone – for you and your family! Yet, you’re right. There’s always the next step – the next level. We’re working at fully funding out emergency fund right now too. We’re so close but have slowed down our hustle a bit. Thanks for the reminder to keep working at it so we can work on the next goal and level!
Thank you so much Kristen! 🙂
Congrats!!! Such a great feeling.
We are currently plugging away on our mortgage too. The hardest part for me is not getting discouraged with setbacks. The car breaks down or we have a big medical bill. I immediately get frustrated because that money SHOULD GO towards our debt. I am learning to make peace with the setbacks and realize WE ALL have them.
We’re in a different place to you financially. We’ve never really had debt; we have a substantial amount of savings (so much so that it’s really time we think about investing it); we’re at a place where we could drop $100 or even $1000 on unnecessary purchases and it really wouldn’t affect us. But we’re at this place because we don’t do that. We love to save – we love to watch that account balance tick higher and higher. Last year we reached a savings position I never thought we’d see without an inheritance. It was so thrilling to reach that point off our own backs. We’ve set a new goal, and we may never reach it without an inheritance; but on paper, at least, it looks like it’s achievable in about 10-15 years.
We don’t live large. I’m pretty sure that pretty much everyone who knows us thinks we’re poor. I’m fine with that.
I guess my point is – Even when you’re comfortable, and going on an exotic beach vacation is just what you do (it is for us), you don’t stop trying to reach that next level of rich. You might ease up a bit – you might loosen the purse strings and spend a bit more than you used to – but unless you’re filthy rich, the only way to reach that next level of rich is to just keep working at it.
BTW – A HUGE Congratulations on paying off your student loans!!!!
Congrats! What an amazing accomplishment!
Yay!!!! Congrats!!!
Thank you Brittany! 🙂
Question for you – do you consider personal requests for your opinion on specific situations? We asked both our dads for their opinion on something and they each thought differently about it. Another educated opinion would be helpful!
Of course Lauren! I love helping others the best I can! 🙂