Hello,
Last week we made the payment on our 15 year mortgage, which was taken out just under three years ago. According to the payment plan, the mortgage will be paid in full 13 months from now, 11 years ahead of time. Paying the mortgage off will clear our last debt, and free up all the disposable income we have been using to clear the debt.
Now, I know you may not be in this situation or even vaguely particularly interested in clearing all your debts. However, I want you to imagine never being in debt ever again, and having complete control over all your income. Say you could stash away a good proportion of your disposable income without missing it. How much would you be able to amass after six months?
Most people are so used to living with personal debt, it is very difficult for them to even imagine what it would be like to be debt free. In fact, many people I know use their indebtedness as an excuse not to reach out and go for what they really want, thereby destroying their ability to have big dreams and aspirations.
If this resonates with you, you may like to try an exercise that helped me get in control of this situation.
1) Take some time to express sincere gratitude for all the positives in your life. List them out.
2) Next, think of one life goal you could easily achieve if you paid off one of your debts, maybe a credit card.
3) Now, follow that with a goal for another debt. Continue until you get the full idea of having paid off all your debts. Really get the idea of being completely debt free.
4) Work out a plan for handle the first debt and execute it. This will most probably involve either reducing expenditure or obtaining additional income. Every time you get closer to your goal by paying off more of the debt, congratulate yourself and express sincere gratitude that you have made it one step closer. The gratitude step is vitally important - do not skip it.
5) Once you achieve the first debt goal, start on the next one and continue until you have cleared all your outstanding debt. Congratulate yourself and express sincere gratitude for your achievement.
6) Now debt free, you can use all the additional disposable income to first build an emergency fund and then start investing in your dreams. Don't forget to continually express sincere thanks for your good fortune.
7) Encourage others to follow your lead. In this way you will build a growing group of financially literate friends who can work together on larger projects that will benefit more and more people.
One thing I forgot to mention, the above process should not contain any seriousness. If it does get at all serious, then you need to go and do something completely stupid to break it up. You need to keep it light and full of laughter or it will not work.
Have fun!
Malcolm
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