Without a doubt this was the hardest part.? There?were so many bills, so many statements to sort through, so many piles of?mail.? It was?overwhelming to say the least.? There are many?overused clich?span>s that fit here (a journey of 1000 miles begins with a single step to name one).? That first step really is the hardest.My plane had landed, and with that I had to take that feel good feeling I had about being a changed man and turn it into action.? To quote Stephen Covey, I had to be proactive.? I had to start happening to life instead of letting life happen to me.
Prior to actually plugging all of my debts into a spreadsheet, I thought I had a business debt of about $290,000 and a personal debt of about $170,000 for a total indebtedness of $460,000.? As I kept entering debt after debt after debt and I was watching my total grow at the bottom of my spreadsheet, I became worried.? I knew I had not yet entered certain debts, but I was already getting close to what I thought my debt was.? In reality, I had no idea.? To be honest, my entire adult life has been spent not knowing what my total debt is.
Up until that day in December, I had lived my entire life without having a budget.? I knew I had certain things every month and I made a certain amount from different jobs, but I had never sat down and wrote out each one of these things.? Worse yet, I am a spender by nature.? If I was hungry, I went to a restaurant and ate.? If it looked cool on the shelf, I bought it.? It didn’t matter if the money was in my account, I had a credit card that I could surely pay off…later.? This was my life, long before I dreamed of The Lazy Susan, and certainly the whole time I owned it, and sadly even after it closed and I knew I had no money.
Everything was different now.? After about three days of work, I finally had come up with a budget for January.? It wasn’t pretty, but it was a plan.? It meant dramatic lifestyle change.? The days of eating out 12 to 15 times per week, yes per week, were over.? Every dollar I was going to receive in January had a name before January began.? That had never been done before in my household, ever.? The journey had now begun.
So glad you started this blog, Joel. I know it will inspire all of us to get debt free. You guys have a wonderful attitude, even with the ups and downs.
Comment by Debbie — March 16, 2006 @ 3:27 pm
Wow, I’ve got to admire the progress that the two of you have made so far. I’ve been a dreamchaser before and lost some money…but not on the scale that you have. The progress you have made this year is really good. I really like the amount of creditors that you have paid off vs. the amount of cash you owe. Look at how many headaches you are not going to have because they are paid! Rememeber to get any negoiation in writting if they settle…you’re a businessman you already know that…and don’t give any access (electronic or otherwise) to your checking account….if you did’t know that, you probably do by now.
I saw your post on the TMM site wondering why Sysco doing what it was doing. I understand now. Keep your chin up because of the considerable progress that you have made…
and thank you for your service to our country and keep following those baby steps.
Clark
Comment by Clarkfan2 — August 28, 2006 @ 7:52 pm
I also really appreciate you posting your story online. You help give me hope.
Comment by Peter Himmelreich — October 25, 2007 @ 6:10 am