Motivate Your Pants Off!

This girl is not Justin Bieber, but you can't tell the difference.

So many of us want everything right now and don’t want to wait for it; but where the buck do we get the money to pay for this $hit? Your credit cards are certainly not going to get you out of debt and they aren’t going to teach you sweet-tweet about how to save up and earn the things you feel so entitled to. The banks are screwing us financially as much as the Internet is screwing over the music industry – mainly from behind. Listen up people! If you don’t have any goals then you’re not going to win in the debt destroying game. What motivates the $hit out of you? The $14 an hour job you hate; $40,000 of debt that you’re stuck with; expensive rent; the fact that Justin Beiber is a go$h-darn millionaire; your creepy roommate who collects toenail clippings and plans to make you a necklace with them for Christmas; what!? Setting a goal is incredibly important to keep you sailing toward the financial freedom oasis instead of down into the deeps of the debt toilet.  So what motivates you?

Did you spend all your $ on prophylactics?

I’ll tell you what motivates me; being debt-free. On my credit card bill alone, my accrued interest for one month is $134!! It’s heartbreaking to see more than my monthly food budget disappears as interest. If I can get that bill paid off, that will allow me so much more financial freedom in itself. I had an incredibly happy moment yesterday when I opened my credit card bill. I used to HATE opening any bills and I’m not even kidding, when I started this debt-tackling process, I hadn’t opened my MasterCard bill for SIX months! Talk about stoo-pid. Now when I get a bill, I open it right away and pay the crap out of it. So why was I so happy to see my MasterCard bill? There wasn’t a single purchase on it. No restaurants, no trip, no prophylactics, nothing; nothing except interest that is. You know what was even more exciting? I made $1,200 worth of payments in one month! AND I don’t have a minimum payment due because MasterCard is pi$$ing and/or $hitting their pants because I’m actually kicking my outstanding balance so hard in the ball$ that it’s barfing off the balance! This motivates me so much. I really dreaded seeing my balance on my credit card, but now I look forward to my letter of “congratulations” from them. It’s not just MasterCard, it’s all of the bills which make me feel good about myself. I now have all my accounts as “hot links” in my Internet browser so that I can instantly check where I’m at with my balances. It’s such a liberating feeling to not worry about how much money I have in my bank account.

Having an emergency fund is another source of motivation for me. I recently got let go from my job and now I’m making half of what I used to (don’t worry, I’m working on getting a better or second job in the meantime). It’s a real betchslap to the face to lose so much cash, but lucky for me, Gail talked me into getting an emergency fund so I’ve been putting 10-15% of my paychecks into savings so I am covered for another month or two. If you’re thinking that your line of credit or credit cards are your emergency fund, you’re a fracking dumba$$. Get working on an emergency fund now. Even if it’s only $10 a week, it’s something.

Let’s see, what else, oh yes, paying rent is bull$hit. I would really like a condo of my own and make some equity on instead of dumping thousands of dollars a year into some heartless ba$tard rental company’s pocket. I’m not stupid though, I want to have a solid down payment for my dream place. I’ve learned from watching a number of reality tv shows that I will most likely get approved for a mortgage that is 3 times what I make annually, so I would need a sizeable down payment for my first place. Not-to-mention there are a ton of other costs and fees that people don’t even consider such as taxes, moving costs, agent fees, lawyer fees, and the list goes on.  Getting approved for a mortgage without having to put any money down is feather-pluckn insane.

Another goal for me is being my own boss. My family is full of entrepreneurs and I definitely have the entrepreneur blood in me. I would love to be my own business one day so that inspires me to get my debt under wraps. I may need to take some courses or something, so this is more of a loose goal for me at this point. I know that I feel a little trapped in my job because I don’t get to use my brain that often, but it pays the bills for now and keeps me going; lucky for me (and you) that I get to use my blog as a creative outlet in the meantime!

Seeing your goals through to the end is really hard to do, especially when you’re so used to getting everything you want so instantly, but the key to success is remembering to treat yourself in small ways along the way. If you pay off a debt, take a day off at the spa with some of your savings, take the family or friends out for a staycation (a vacation in your hometown), or buy yourself a fancy new whatsamahoosit that you’ve been eyeing up for the past forever. My next mini goal is to get the credit card paid off and have me one heckuva hootenanny with all my friends! Stay on track and remember that we’re in this together! And to prove it, I’ve posted my standings at the side if my blog to show where I’m at with my repayment and where I’m at with my savings so you can get inspired to set your own goals. Meanwhile, my roommate's new toenail necklace is almost complete! 

Lots of love!

John

P.S. That feather-pluckn link is the first album I ever purchased. Oh memories.