I imagine that as you’re reading the final post in the Ultimate Guide to getting rid of debt, you’re keen to get going and nail your debt over the coming months and years. You’ll also be starting to realise that this is going to require some big changes. It might mean you going out with your friends less. It might mean uncomfortable conversations with family members about budgets for Christmas presents etc.
In short, you’re going to get push-back on this, and quite possibly from people who are close to you. Maybe you tell your friends that you can only go out once per month rather than every weekend, because you’re trying to clear your debt. They’ll call you boring, and tell you that you should live for today. They’ll laugh and talk about you behind your back while they’re out having a ‘good’ time.
Let’s be under no illusion though – they’re saying all these things because your decisions have called their way of living into question, and no-one likes that. Your spotlight on your own debt has placed a similar spotlight, in their minds, on their own debt, and they might not yet be ready to tackle it.
Be gracious when people push back against you in this. Don’t be the one to burn your bridges. After all, if you’re successful with this, it will be writ large all over your face. The mental anxiety that is lifted when you become debt-free is hard to hide. Friends who knew you before will see a difference, and they will ask you about it. And that is your cue to point them to this podcast and video, and to help them as much as you can.
Right now, though, you’re at the other end. And you might need to actively seek support. Maybe you know someone who has cleared their debt, or someone who, as far as you can tell, has it together financially. Reach out and ask them for their support. Ask them to check in with you every other week to see how you’re doing.
Tell your family members – those you like and trust anyway – what you’re doing and ask them to make it as easy for you as possible. Share your wins with them – every time you pay off one debt, they can celebrate with you.
There are some great Facebook groups too. Meaningful Money has one at https://meaningfulmoney.tv/community and also there are private Facebook groups as part of Meaningful Academy – for those who are super-focused looking to move forward with this.
Let me hammer this point home. By clearing debt and not living as if it is a necessary and unavoidable fact of life, you are being counter-cultural. Get you, you debt-clearing hippy!
Seriously though, you are now carving a completely different furrow to most people in the Western world, for whom debt payments are as much a part of life as breathing. And like I said, the skills you develop in this early phase of your financial journey will serve you incredibly well when you start wealth building.
Don’t try to balance debt-payment with investing. I get asked all the time about why not pay down debt AND pay into a stocks and shares ISA? I just think that this is splitting your focus, and it’s less likely that you’ll win this way.
Laser-focus is your watchword over the coming months and years while you pay your debt down as quickly as possible. Write it on your fridge, set it as your computer and phone wallpaper. Stay strong.
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