Will You Do the Work ?

Living with debt or inadequate savings is more an indication of the lies we were sold, rather than a reflection of our character.

That is until revelation day. Revelation day happens when the bank surprisingly turns you down for additional credit or when you lose your job or the first time you cannot pay all your bills. My revelation day happened when I heard Dave Ramsey tell me I was a fool.

After that day, it is all about character. Will you stick your head back in the sand and pretend you don’t know or will you do the work required to change your behavior?

I have a very dear friend that recently achieved her totally debt free goal; a real cause for celebration. It was not long ago that she was stuck in too much house. No matter how much she cut the budget, her expenses exceeded her income. She was eating ramen, never turning on the heat, barely running the ac, just paying minimum on her debt and even then; the taxes and insurance on that beautiful pink elephant were slowly pulling her under. She spent years losing the fight against the incoming tide.

This woman is a professional; she’s bright, educated and her high heels always match her dress. Unlike me, she knows which fork to use and is totally at ease at fancy smancy social events. She is no spring chicken either, with a kid in college; she is well past the days where it’s easy to burn the candle at both ends.

Once she truly and sincerely declared war on her debt, my friend found a night job cleaning an office. Four nights a week and on Saturdays she vacuumed and dusted and mopped and scrubbed toilets – after putting in 50 hours at her regular job. And, she still ate ramen.

At first, I believe she was embarrassed to be working a second job and embarrassed that the job was cleaning. I know she had to be tired and often discouraged; nevertheless, she persevered.  She did this for seven months and the only thing the extra income allowed her do was stay afloat. But, that was enough. When the too much house finally sold, she was free to start her new debt free life.

I could not be more proud of her.

What sacrifice are you willing to make to win?