Debt. Ugh. What an ugly word.
Just roll that word around on your tongue. Not only is it an ugly word, its impact in a person’s life is heavy and unpleasant.
Why is it that getting into debt feels so much easier to get into than to get out of? And yet in some ways that is an illusion. Debt can be a simple thing to remove from our lives.
Here are a few suggestions:
1. Make “debt” hard.
I knew a friend who froze her credit cards in a brick of ice. She kept the cards in her freezer. This way, if she really needed them (i.e. to rent a car on a trip), she could let the ice melt. But keeping them frozen prevented too-easy use from occurring.
Personally, I’ve not tried this. I’m not sure I could even recommend it, since I’m not sure how freezing might impact the security strip on the back of the card. But her point was well-taken. In other words, make getting INTO debt harder than getting out of it. I’m sure there are many creative suggestions for this! If you have one, I’d love to hear it.
2. Make “freedom” a goal.
Getting out of debt can be simple – if you love freedom. If you love freedom enough, you will live for that moment when you can tear into pieces the final credit card statement! Keep that moment ever most in your mind as you make your credit card payments each month. Just close your eyes and literally imagine that moment. If you imagine it clearly and distinctly enough, it will help your mind get you to that destination – freedom from financial bondage!
Along these lines, double your credit card payments. Did you know that this will more than cut in half the time to freedom (as long as you don’t use that credit card again).
3. Make “change” from the cracks.
A fun new trend is taking over. There are clubs of friends who support each other in one-month-of-no-spending. Oh, of course they pay their bills. But they swear off of spending a single penny (that is not earmarked for bills) for one month. The more the merrier, it is said. And doing this in teams helps you control those urges to otherwise spend. Do this often enough during the year (say, every other month) and you will find so much extra “loose change” that paying down that debt may even triple in speed!
Summary.
In summary, listen to these words spoken by Joseph Smith, the Lord’s prophet of the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ – and the founder of the Mormon church (officially called The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints). The Lord says:
“Wherefore the voice of the Lord is unto the ends of the earth, that all that will hear may hear:
“Prepare ye, prepare ye for that which is to come, for the Lord is nigh…
“Wherefore, I the Lord, knowing the calamity which should come upon the inhabitants of the earth, called upon my servant Joseph Smith, Jun., and spake unto him from heaven, and gave him caommandments” (D&C 1:11, 17).
How amazing that the Lord would love us enough to once again use prophets to guide, teach and instruct us? The world is crazy. The financial institutions are reeling currently from the housing crisis, etc. But for those who heed the words of the prophets to get out of debt and to store up for a “rainy day,” those are the ones who will be prepared for that which is to come preceding the Second Coming of the Lord!
[To learn more about living in provident ways, with easy tips, visit the Provident Living website, sponsored for free by the Mormon church.]
