Helping You Prosper!
Saturday Morning
Goals are great. It’s good to have a choice to complete goals. I did not get my debt summary completed yesterday. Today is a work day at the job. So. this mornings bucket list to complete yesterday and today’s goals includes a stop at Belks, the Dollar Store, the Book store and then to work at 3.
Relax
I will work on my debt summary at the book store. The book store is a place I love to be.
Maybe I could just lay down and gather bunches of knowledge from the books on the shelf!
It’s time to count the Bank. My Bank is the Little Tin Box. I have seven credit cards, five maxed out. The first payday of each month makes payments on three cards. Change that has been collected for the previous month is added to the payment of the card selected to be paid in full soon! This card was selected following Dave Ramsey’s instructions.
Just counted the change and there is $10.00! Minimum payment for this card is $25.00. The Balance today is $86.50. Applying the $3.00 I would have paid extra on another one and the 10.00 makes 37.00 for this card! Wow! I can do without 2 drinks and make it $40.00. Perhaps by the end of the day I will see my way clear to pay this one in full.
Stanza from The Little Tin Box:
You’re implying I’m a crook And I say No sir….There is nothing in my past to hide. I’ve been taking empty bottles to the grocer and each nickel that I got was put aside
Into A Little Tin Box, A Little Tin Box That a little tin key unlocks There is nothing unorthodox about a Little Tin Box.
In order to preserve privacy, I will not disclose total details of this situation but state a friend I had not seen in years amplified my awareness of my spiritual growth. Her financial status has intensified my desire to become debt free. I have a lot of unsecured debt. She is at ease because she is buying a house. I see it…..This friend is two paydays away from the beginning of foreclosure. She is paid twice a month, has a bi monthly payment for her home and NO RESERVE money Go figure. Debt is debt, secured or unsecured. We take ownership of security with a secured debt at the bank that really holds ownership of home.
Recently, a dear acquaintance filed bankruptcy, lost the house and moved on. In Astoria, I was aware of two other situations where one of the partners lost a job and the loss of home followed.
Yesterday I met another lady who moved here from Georgia, running from the past of loss Her home became a foreclosure, her marriage a divorce, her car a repossession, “her life.” She started over homeless, earned $17,000 last year and is doing a bit better this year.
I am aware of women compromising their moral standards to obtain the favor of man and therefore have the “necessities of life”
We compromise our standards to blend with those of others and become servants to each person we owe. As a result we are a fragments of the whole person God created us to be. Then, Dr. Smarty Pants prescribes an antidepressant to keep us sane………..Excuse me? What is wrong with this picture.
I am up early and will start getting ready to go to work. Today, I will look for the good in my job and remember I am in a section of sales which provides a way to increase my income. It is hard for me to focus on the present moment. I tend to think of what will happen tomorrow, plan for the day after and sometimes miss the opportunities I need.
Thoughts of tomorrow include: it is payday, tomorrow I will list my debts for comparison, and set goals for the next 4 weeks. Those goals will be followed with a specific action plan for generating the money to cover my deficit.
I would love to daydream about moving into the little house. No daydreams allowed! Those narrators who used to rent a space in my head, telling me that tomorrow everything would work out are evicted, I am working on today. Today, I will persist until I succeed, be a selling machine at work and assess the facts late tonight. My house plans and goals will specifically avoid the path that leads to foreclosure, dread of payments, being a slave to the lenders.
Are you tethered to debt?
Tethered to Lenders
From the experiences of the past 12 months, I can verify that a dream will become a nightmare if it gets caught in the spiders web of debt, lack, want, loneliness or emotional instability.
I am reaching out and taking steps to capture my dream and make my vision come true. My vision will impact, influence and change the lives of those riding in my path. Like using the the Amway circles, circling the obstacles in my path and ways to overcome, my vision will also influence some habits of my friends and draw us closer to God.
My blog has changed format to reflect daily events in my life. Some places and people will not be named in order not to cross the privacy line.
To capture the dream for the little house, I must first face the debt and get release. According to God’s word I am a servant to the lender. Wow! I am Superwoman! I am a Servant to about a Dozen people. That is equal to 10 weeks manual labor wrapped into one week. No exaggeration here! If you doubt it try being late on a payment and listen to the phone ring Those nice people who loaned money become a computerized monster with hourly reminders that a promise made is a debt unpaid.
So, let’s drink a Cup of Courage together and build a platform that will lead to a debt free home.
I am faced with what could be overwhelming debt. Not bad, really, It’s only $900 each month in the Red My total debt is approximately $75,000. First order for my agenda is to generate $265.00 more each week. Secondly, I must know exactly how much I owe.
Third step is the Little Tin Box. Have you watched the musical The Little Tin Box? The little song goes like this:
May we ask you a question? Amazing is it not? That the city pays you slightly less than fifty bucks a week, Yet, you’ve purchased a private yacht.
Witness:
I am positive your honor must be joking, Any working man could do what I have done. For a month or two I simply gave up smoking, And I put my extra pennies one by one….
Into a Little Tin Box, a Little Tin Box That a little tin key unlocks There is nothing unorthodox about a Little Tin Box…..
Skipping ahead to step two, I have my pennies in a little jar accumulated in the Month of May and will be paying additional pennies on the first credit card to be paid in full soon.
By Friday evening I will have an exact amount owed. It will be interesting to see how much my approximate amount matches When I can’t deal with stress and debt is stress to me, I just put it in the back of my mind and pretend it isn’t there. During my real estate career I have found others tend forget the debts owed. This action fills many cups of Stress.
Tomorrow may require two Cups of Courage to develop a plan to meet my deficit before it becomes an alligator and eats me alive.
Drink a cup of Courage and document your facts. Do you know how much you owe? Is there a positive cash flow at your house?
For years I wore high heels! Then, I drove into a tree. Much trauma! I bruised my heart, punctured my liver, broke my ribs and broke my foot. My foot never fully recovered.
Now, I can’t wear heels. In addition, I find that through out the years I have favored the foot that was injured, so I walk with a limp and there is weakness in my abdomen. Until I returned to Tennessee and started to walk daily, I did not realize this. Wow! My tummy got sore. Then the muscles started tightening. Hmmmm One of the girls at work made the comment that to walk with those spike heels, you had to have a strong core.
Balance & Courage
Bingo, I got the lesson. To become debt free, to build a little house, to accomplish anything that isn’t readily accepted one needs a strong core. Strength to face the opposition, strength to keep a focused vision and strength to enjoy the blessings from living outside the box! Courage is part of our core or Fear if the lace of courage is present.
I find it has become easy to be sidetracked. I recognize I have been living in Wish Land and limping along toward my goals for building my little house. Time to find Easy Street. My vehicle is Courage.
Want to move to my community? Drink your Cup of Courage and ride along.
Sunday Morning, rain is coming down! I did not go to church this morning. I have spent some quality time with God! The physical feeling of my body is incredible after being quiet, listening to my Maker and resting in His peace.
Matthew 11:30
King James Bible (Cambridge Ed.)
For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
28Come to me, all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29Take my yoke on you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and you shall find rest to your souls. 30For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
My Dad and I used to sing the song Come Unto Me in Church. Today I am resting in the arms of God and my burdens feel light.
Little Home
Does this relate to my little house? Definitely! For the past two weeks I have observed two little Robins prepare their nest for babies. Then, they take turns sitting on the nest.
This morning the little babies are peeking out of the egg, Mama and Papa are bringing food. As the rain poured down and the winds blew one of them sat on the nest and spread his wings to protect the babies. Amazing!
God taught the birds to construct shelter, to provide for their babies and to let them fly! This is my lesson for today. I will move to Easy Street following the instructions of the master.
By example, the house was constructed from natural available materials, the location was in a limb protected by leaves from the elements, food from the soil and wisdom that when the babies are grown they will leave the nest and Go Forth in life and Fly!
Go Forth with me and God today.
Money……..I had a dream and came back to Tennessee to implement it…..That was part of my mission. The other part was to face and conquer the imaginary bad memories in my mind and soul.
I let the memory demons possess the majority of my thoughts, then focused the rest on a tiny part of my mission to become debt free. Funny, as I focused on my debt my bank account depleted, no job, no money sad holidays. The demons in my mind grew and almost took over. To add icing on this cake, those in my immediate space did not understand and therefore did not approve. I craved their encouragement and approval.
The only thing I could link to my unpleasant circumstance was lack of money. Got a job peddling something that is not a necessity is usually purchased on credit and therefore conflicts with my beliefs for everyone to become debt free. Stress from debt, lack and joy almost erased the path to the little house. Thank goodness for the post by Michael Hyatt to fire the narrator! I did that………..Here is some of the road before me.
The job where I am employed by someone else is now an adventure. I pretend I am a guest on that TV show about being the owner and starting at the bottom. The last 3 days have been fun. It gets better each day. Physically, I am more exhausted each day. This is the road called Stress. STOP! I see the sign before me that says STOP! Take a different street.
I worked until 11 last night. It is 6:56 AM and I will be at work at 8:30. I will focus on the job and after work look for the Street called Rest.
My mission is to straighten the curves, turn pennies into dollars, pay debt and start the little house. Next?
Tomorrow I work the last shift of this week. I will rest and balance the budget, plan some additional strategy, identify the location and seek directions.
Want to ride with me? Check out my vehicle Friday.
Ten O’Clock last night became 11:00 and I think I slept while driving home. Work was easier for me today when I fired the narrator in my head who said I should be doing something else. Since I have been self employed most of my life, it is most challenging to be accountable to someone else for every second of my shift.
Life says it is time to STOP. Stop the stress, stop the debt, stop the world from worry. That stop begins with me.
Picture this, you are driving and approach a busy intersection where you note the light is red. You don’t stop……Bang, crash bang, The cars who had the green light hit you, The car in back of you hits you, it quickly becomes a major pile up. You are killed………done for gone from this planet. People surrounding you are injured…..
Hello, it is the same with debt, the desire to buy for others, the longing for a big house and stuff. I influence the opinions and actions of others. You influence the opinions and actions of others. I am influenced by the actions of those who are close to me Like the car crash, my choice, your choice becomes a factor in the outcome of those around us.
Broke? What will you do? What will I do? Perhaps I will search for a job, use all credit cards, accept all credit offers, take money from friends, family, borrow from friends, family, get angry and become a victim. I will be powerful and take whatever jobs that enable me to step up from the hole I am in and see freedom. Stop means to stop digging hole and start living in the moment.
You can be a victim or powerful. You can’t be both. I may choose to be a victim or be powerful. I can’t be both. Today, working a job I don’t like but appreciate having is allowing me to move toward the foundation for a house that will be affordable and paid for within 5 years! Amazing!
Will your home be paid for in 5 years?
I have almost traveled full circle in life. Must say, I am not in a hurry to close the gap.
Reflecting, when I was 19 my first husband and I bought our First House. It was a cute little house in Knoxville with a big yard and friendly neighbors. Now, when I drive by I am amazed how run down the neighborhood appears.
Several houses were purchased during the course of my real estate career with the anticipation and excitement of making them home. I realize lots of others only purchase one home during a lifetime.
The position I find myself in now is unnerving. For the past year I have traveled and been like a graduating high school student, wandering here and there, visiting, waiting for my little house to appear. I want to decide a location by July 4th. That is Independence Day.
My little house isn’t going to appear. I do not know how to do Magic! So, I shall pull my bootstraps up, forget what appears to be mistakes of the past, live today and complete today’s mission.
That would include going to work at my Job at 3:00 this afternoon. I will complete it at 10 pm. Did I share with you I am not a night person?