Happy New Year.
The New Year has come and gone. No more eating holiday leftovers or hanging out in your pajamas –Time to get back to work and reality.
So take a deep breath, and go check the credit card balance(s). If you’re like most, you did some damage over the holidays.
Are you tired of always having debt payments?
Tired of feeling like you’re never getting ahead?
There is no better time to commit to doing it better than at the beginning of a New Year. Here are some things you should commit to in the new year:
Stop digging a hole. Put the credit cards away. From this day forward if you don’t have the cash to buy it, don’t buy it.
Get on a budget. Create a plan. If it’s not in the plan, don’t spend it. If something comes along you think you need to do – change the plan to accommodate it before you spend the money and if you cannot, then you don’t need to spend it.
Get out of debt. Eat rice and beans, work extra hours, sell some stuff. Do whatever it takes to get out of the hole you’ve dug.
Live your life on a cash basis. Start saving for the things you need. There is no need to finance a car. If you pay cash for it you will not only save interest – buy you are very likely to buy a less expensive used car.
Put away for major goals. Once you don’t have any debt payments, you can put away money like crazy. Retirement, travel – all those things that you didn’t seem to make progress on come into reach.
Make this year the year you get ahead of the curve and stop living paycheck to paycheck.