A New Crossroad

Today might have been a “normal” day but I really believe that everyday brings us to a crossroad. Everyday I’m faced with the decision for a solid secure job, or going out there and making it really happen for me. I hear both sides of the playing field as far as all this is something I should pursue after I have secured a guaranteed retirement pension. I say why wait. If I can make this plan (that I will write about soon) work, why wait. The only good reason to wait is debt. One thing my father-in-law has been persistent about is clearing debt. I didn’t really want to hear that I should wait because I wanted to make money right away. But, one thing I have learned is that it doesn’t make any sense if you have debt that will outweigh what you make in your investments. He showed me a great little program called the Debt Cruncher. I will post a link to this program as soon as I get in contact with him. Using this little program, it will show you how the more debt you have, the better it is when it comes down to paying it off. Strange huh! So back to debt; you have to try to squeeze every little dollar you have in your plan to pay off your debt. Honestly, what family and I had to do is actually sit down at the dinner table a lot more often then we were used to. I’m not saying I’m poor, (poor isn’t temporary, broke is) but I had way too many expenses. Every time I talked to the Old Wise Man (father-in-law), about new ways to make money, he talked to me about one simple way to eliminate debt. Damn his persistency! LOL.

I was passed on a book called, “The Richest Man in Babylon” that has one basic idea and that is to pay your self first. In this book it has many old parables that say that you should always put aside 10% of what you make before you even pay bills. Now-a-days it’s considered that you save at least 15% which can prove to be difficult. Most will say, “How can I save if I barely have enough to save this percentage and invest?” I say, cut out those extras that you don’t need. Look for cheaper insurance, cut down on those cell minutes, make that steak at home and drive the “4-banger”. Anyways, you know what I mean. Sit down, plan and cut off the fat. We all have too much extra money leaking out of our wallet. When I created a report on Microsoft Money about my spending, I nearly lost my mind. Dinning out was Killing ME, but I love Golden Corral. My wife and I made adjustments and I are okay now. Plus its income tax time…what are you doing with your check if you even receive one? Today is a crossroad. I kinda went off the subject of where I was going with it but there is always room for another post. Anyways, I wrote about some more books you should to read so you better get them. The learning never ends.