Financial Freedom - What Does It Mean To You
Do you consider yourself to be financially free
? What is financial freedom? For some, it means having several million dollars in the bank and for others it means being able to pay the bills each month. But for most people, this goal falls somewhere between the two. It can be just being debt free or not ever having to worry about money.
The truth is financial freedom comes somewhere after all your bad debt is paid off. When I say bad debt, I am referring to consumer debt and personal debt. Car loans are considered neutral. They do not appreciate, but they are necessary. Good debt would be your mortgage and student loan debt. These are things that will appreciate or increase your earning potential. For me, financial freedom is being debt free with the exception of my mortgage and student loan.
You cannot move forward as long as you are paying large interest payments each month in addition to what you actually charged. It will take following a plan to get to where you want to be, such as; paying off the debt, funding and emergency fund and investing for the future. This is a simplified version and each step will need broken down into smaller specific steps that will fit into your personal plan for financial security.
The first step is eliminating any consumer debt that you have. This will take careful planning. You will have to take a good look at the money that you have going out and see if you can find ways to decrease it. Be realistic, but if it is unnecessary, eliminate it. If you don't use it and it has value or costs, you may want to consider selling it. Keep a journal of your variable spending to find out exactly where your money is going and make changes based on what you see.
Look for ways to increase the amount of money you are making. This can be selling things, picking up extra shifts; getting a part time job...you get the idea. This will give you more money to put towards paying down your debt every month. Not only will you have it paid off more quickly, but it will cost you less in interest payments.
If you are still having trouble getting things organized and you feel you need more structure, you may want to consider consumer credit counseling. This is a nonprofit option for debt relief that can have you out of consumer debt in less than five years. The important thing here is to make the decision to become debt free and do whatever it takes to get there!
by: Marjorie Salada
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