Overcoming Obstacles

For the first half of the year, I became engulfed in a program called Financial Peace University. For those who haven't heard of it, Dave Ramsey teaches the course via video. For nine weeks, you join a small group and go through course work and lessons regarding financial freedom in a biblical way. I took the course in Feb/March and then facilitated the course for a group through April/May. The graduation was in June. I truly loved how much I learned and am so glad I took it. It's really transformed the way I approach my money. The course has also been extremely influential in my desire to become debt-free much sooner than later. I always had an understanding (in the back of my head) that debt would always be around and I'd never be in a position

More and more people I know are falling into debt. Some of them have been able to clear their debts and get on with their lives, while others have struggled to repay what they owe and are still finding it difficult to get on top of their finances.

Personal finance is essential in succeeding in life and being debt free. Debt will cause difficulties for an individual for the rest of their lives, and it is important to save as much money as possible. But, personal finance is not all about saving money, I must spend it wisely. When I was younger and I sought to buy an item, my parents would always ask if it was a want or a need. Almost all of the time the items I believed I needed in my life were actually wants, so I usually ended up not even buying them. Without a doubt, that is the basics of personal finance; saving as much money as possible, and occasionally spending it on items that you need in your everyday life. Accordingly, I will continue on following the basic rules of personal finance for the rest of my life, and I guarantee in the future for instance, I will teach my kids exactly what my father and Everfi have taught

Ensure that your expenditure is far less than your income: Although this seems like a very simple financial strategy to understand, most people lack the discipline that it demands in order to get positive results from its implementation. One of the habits that make people to spend more than they earn is using their credit cards excessively. Credit cards trigger impulse buying, which is a financially unhealthy routine. Almost 50% of United States citizens are said to hold credit card debts, which attract high interests. If at all you have a credit card debt, make plans to clear it within one year before it plunges you into a financial pit. Steer away from unnecessary spending and cultivate a discipline of putting money you'd have otherwise spent, into long term investment schemes.

Over the last 30 days, I was challenged to change one of the behaviors I didn’t like about myself. I choose to start saving my money. I will first explain my research I found and then go through my plan to save more. My goal is to have $1,000 saved at the end of the four weeks. Before I started this, I went shopping about three to four times a week. Over the past 30 days I tried to cut down my shopping, and budget myself. I will go through my four weeks, and explain what I did over the past 30 days to keep myself from spending money.

There is some changes that i would like to make to my reality rocks budget that would help. First off, i would not buy a big toy like an ipod every month. That purchase cost me 150 dollars and I felt was unnecessary. Also I would get rid of that cat so i didn 't have to pay for it. Also i would spend less on clothes, when i buy clothes i get cheap shirts and shorts about every couple months so the prediction of 30 dollars was unrealistic. One thing that i would do lessen my financial burden is I would get a roommate to help pay the rent. Also i would have bought a car with better gas mileage so that i can save money on gas. All of these things could help my financial situation.

The hardest yet most important thing to do when it comes to your finances, it to stop getting overwhelmed and take control back of your money and your life. Most people don’t know where to start when it comes to taking control of their finances.

In these five weeks of my Personal Finance class, our Professor had us set Short-term, Intermediate-, and Long-term goals. Now these goals had to deal with this topic, Personal Financing, and be realistic. Upon completing a worksheet activity at the end of Chapter two, I noticed that I need my own income that is one of my short-term goals that has to happen as soon as possible. The only other thing I can see myself needing to change is the emergency funds that is a wonderful idea and thing to have because you never know when you might have a financial emergency situation.

Do not live a life that you cannot handle, spend within your means. Be honest with yourself, if you can’t afford something, don’t buy it! Affordability is much more than the amount of money in your bank account, it also is how long it will take for the money you spent to be back in your account. Think of your finances as a long term process, not a short term fix. This is also why you should limit your credit card usage. If you rack up your credit card and lose your sole source of income,

I realized how hard it would be to live off a minimum wage budget living paycheck to paycheck. I’m not spending as much as my monthly paycheck. I do like saving money because it provides me with a

Make paying off your debts the biggest priority and you will soon be on the road to a debt free life.

According to a report posted at (-- removed HTML --) opploans.com (-- removed HTML --) , the wisest strategy for people struggling with monetary problems is to reduce their current debt load, improve their credit ratings, earn more money and reduce routine expenses. Learning more about loans, interest and budgeting can be a big advantage when dealing with unsustainable debts, financial obligations and personal living expenses. The article mentions these financial conditions that can severely test your ability to be financially stable:

It is easy to lose sight of your financial goals when you are grappling with sleepless nights, parenting responsibilities and new ways of life. Ensure that you draw up a long-term plan for attaining your financial goals.

Overcome financial roadblock by making the most with what you have and what you can do.

In my college years I had to be very fiscally due to the fact that I could not count on anyone to help me out with my expenses. I am not bitter about this fact, quite the opposite; I cherish the fact that I was able to make it completely through my undergraduate career without having to rely on someone else. There were rough times that in which I had absolutely no money and missed out on opportunities to travel and gain valuable experiences. I have also been put in the situation where emergency expenses have come up and I have needed money and not been able to get it. This has happened with medical bills, tuition, rent and other very important things. So personally I have erected a barrier within myself to save as much money as possible when I have it. There are things I may need but because it is a certain percentage of my income or what not I neglect it, essentially kicking the can down the road until I do have enough money. The barrier that I have created was due to seeing my mom struggle with money even still in her 40’s and not saving any money throughout her career.