Gail Vaz-Oxlade - Debt Free Forever: Take Control Of Your Money And Your Life

I magine waking up in the morning and knowing that no matter what happens today, you can cope. Imagine that youve got enough money to take care of the expenses that need to be paid regularly and to have some fun too. Imagine the sense of peace that comes from knowing youre in control of your life.

If youve been frantically trying to cover your butt because there just never seems to be enough money, I can help you. If youre up to your eyeballs in debt and cant even imagine being debt-free, I can help you. If youre at your wits end because youve made a huge mess and dont have a clue how to fix it, I can help you.

Im gonna take a wild guess and say that if youre reading this book, youve made a mess of your money. Hey, it happens. Staying mired in misery is one option. Pulling up your socks, dusting off your britches, and getting to work to dig yourself out is another. You can wallow or you can work hard. You can whine or you can make your life what you really want it to be. Youre the person who gets to decide whether youre happy listening to Mother Regret whispering about all the mistakes youve made or whether youre done with the past and are ready to focus on creating the life you want today!

Ive been working with people for years, showing them how to fix whats broke and have a life too. I believe you can have anything you want if youre willing to do what it takes to create itand I can help you figure out exactly what you want and how to get it!

Ready to get with a new program? Im going to warn you now that this is going to be very, very hard. Change usually is, and the kind of change youre going to have to make is monumental. There will be loads of sweat, and maybe even some tears, along the way. But if youre dead sure that you want a better life, and if youre ready and determined to take control of your money, then you can. All you need is a good understanding of what to do and some skills to get to where you want to be. Im going to give you both.

Whether youre trying to get to debt-free, establish an emergency fund for the first time, or make a commitment to live on a budget, your approach is what will make you successful. Be ready to take these steps:

STEP 1: ANALYZE YOUR WEAKNESSES

If you love to shop, and you acknowledge that fact, you should also see that hanging out at the mall isnt exactly conducive to a No Shop plan. If you love to eat out and always agree to meet friends in a restaurant, youre simply reinforcing your weakness.

One of the best ways to fight old habits is to recognize the underlying pleasure you derive from them and to then change your environment so you arent tempted.

STEP 2: DO ONE THING AT A TIME

If you get so caught up in making things better that you try to do too much, youll split your energy and focus and wear yourself out. To be successful at making change stick, pick something you want to do differently today, and do that thing. Once that new pattern is established, pick the next thing youre going to do. This will stop you from shooting off in all directions and achieving nothing.

STEP 3: TAKE SMALL STEPS

Hand in hand with the one thing at a time philosophy is the baby steps strategy. If youve always been comfortable doing things in a certain way, its hard to change. Always buy whatever you want whenever you want? It can be hard to quit cold turkey. Establishing a No Shop day is one way to start slowly. No Shop Saturday can grow into No Shop Friday and Saturday. The change doesnt have to be drastic to be profound. Small steps get you to where youre going without the risk of sliding back.

STEP 4: DEMONSTRATE STICK-TO-IT-NESS

If you dont have the persistence to stay the course, its pretty hard to succeed. A lack of gumption is the only barrier between you and what you want to achieve. Youve got to be a hard-headed hard ass and demonstrate determination. Each step you take will create the momentum for the next step.

STEP 5: SET MILESTONES

If you want to maintain momentum, youve got to create a map for where youre going, and you have to take pleasure from each milestone you pass. Change is hard. Rewarding yourself with a pat on the back when you achieve a goal is the best way to keep moving forward.

STEP 6: ACCEPT YOUR MISTAKES

There are a lot of people who say they wont do something because they cant do it perfectly. If I cant be completely debt-free by Tuesday, then Im not even going to bother to try. This is an excuse. Its a sign of weakness that you cant get past your idea of perfect so you can achieve some small glimmer of change. When learning anything new, mistakes are part of the process. Accept them. Learn from them. Move forward.

STEP 7: DO YOUR BEST

Its hard getting from one place to another if youre always beating yourself up because of what you havent done right. People who are successful at changing promise to do their best and accept that sometimes theyll miss. But its the effort that counts. Dont whine and moan about how hard the change is. Do whatever you can to make the change a new part of your life. And dont resort to self-pity when things hit a wall. Say, Ive done my best today. Tomorrow Ill try again and Ill do my best.

Through it all, you must be intentional. Each choice you make throughout the next days, weeks, months must be on purpose, not simply a spur-of-the-moment reaction to whatever stimuli has hit your brain. The only thing thats going to get you out of a financial mess is to stop doing the bad and start doing the good:

Stop spending money you dont have and start living within your means.

Stop flying by the seat of your pants and start making a plan for how youre going to change things.

Stop making excuses and start making changes.

Stop whining and start taking responsibility for your past mistakes.

People are always trying to find someone to take over the reins of their money, clean up their mess, make em rich. Sure, you can find someone on whom to offload the responsibility for fixing the problem. But it wont stay fixed. Nope. Youre the person in the best position to figure out what went wrong, what you have to do to make it right, and how to never go down the road to Debt Hell again. This book has all the steps youll need.

Youre going to have to do the work yourself. Ill warn you again, this isnt going to be easy. In fact, its going to be bloody hard, and only the strongest and most tenacious people will make it. Your success will come from your actions. And as you achieve each small success, you will learn (or relearn) how to trust yourself.

Its your life and if it sucks, you may have had a little something to do with that. If youre determined to change what youre doing wrong, not just patch up the problem with some quick-and-easy short-term solution, you can take control and have the life youve always wished you had. And the peace of mind.