Fiscal Fowl Alignment for the

Potential Homesteader

- Five Tips to Get your Financial Ducks in a Row

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by Andrew Mueller   

There is no magic pill for debt relief, and anybody who says different is selling something.   

Yes, you can file for bankruptcy, but unless you have an extreme situation, all the court is going to do is give you a little breathing room.  You’ll still have to pay off your debts eventually, plus you’ll have to pay your attorney for his/her time.   So, scream, cry, beg, rant… do whatever you have to do to come to terms with the fact that you’re gonna have to do this the hard way.  Once you do that, you can move forward and start making a real difference.    

First, you want to bolster your ruthless credit self-discipline.  It’s time for you to become that heartless, relentless debt Terminator.   Learn to hate your credit cards.  I strongly suggest that you cut them up.   Let it empower you.  Feel free to do it slowly… cruelly.  Torture them.  Make them feel your anger for all the money and dreams they have devoured.  Show them that they will never again feed on so much as a scrap of your family’s dreams.   Don’t be gentle. 

If you keep one for emergencies, consider putting it in a bowl, covering it with water, and stashing it in the freezer to make it difficult to access.   Another option is to hand over all your credit cards to a trusted family member whom you will ask to make any purchases on your behalf.   In short, create roadblocks between you and your credit that will prevent you from using it for anything except a true emergency.   

Next, minimize the interest you are paying by transferring balances to lower interest rate accounts or loans.   Home Equity loans fall into this category as well.  One caution, however: do your homework and read the fine print whenever you’re dealing with changes to your credit card or loan accounts – there are often low-visibility details that can make a seemingly good deal turn out to be a bad deal.    

Finally, and I realize this is simplistic, try to earn more and spend less.    

On earning more, maybe a part time job, a home-based business, or asking for a raise.  I’ll leave that part up to you.  You know better than anybody what your skills are, what you can reasonably produce, and/or what the job market in your area is like.  (If you don’t know these things, then a trip to a career counselor might be a worthwhile thing.)   When you go looking for extra money however, beware and avoid the scams.  (I’ll come back to that below in Tip #3.)   

When it comes to spending less, learn to embrace the three concepts of simplicity, frugality, and efficiency. 

SIMPLICITY:  Every bit of “stuff” we consume costs us much more than the initial price tag.  Each item we buy not only costs us the initial purchase price, it also costs us time and money to store it, clean it, accessorize it, maintain it and eventually dispose of it.   The more stuff we buy, the more up front cost we incur, and the more ongoing expense we pay over time.   

If you want to simplify your life, as you’re considering a purchase, just ask yourself, “Do I need this item, or do I just want it?”    If your answer is “need it”, then ask the same question again.  Do it at least three times.  Then ask yourself if you actually believe the answer you’re giving yourself.     

That’s tougher for many folks than you might think.   We’re bombarded daily by dozens of marketing messages that tell us we’re unhappy, and that the only cure is to buy “Product X”.   In fact, consumerism is linked to some of the founding principles of our nation.   We’ve all heard the line from the Declaration of Independence that says we are endowed with certain inalienable rights, and among them are “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness”.   Well, that happiness that we’ve been told to pursue is often called the “American Dream”.  And what’s the most common version of the “American Dream”?   It’s having the correct “stuff”, like a nice car, a color TV, and a three-bedroom house with a white picket fence. 

So it’s not as easy to change as it may seem.  To quit will require willpower and discipline, and you may falter a few times – much like quitting smoking.   But I can guarantee that you don’t need that $9 DVD on sale at the video store.   That nine bucks is a tiny piece of your dream.  Don’t let the video store or the shopping mall steal your dream and replace it with a DVD, or a cappuccino machine, or whatever other unnecessary “stuff” they want to sell you.      

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