Do you have short term goal ideas for military families like mine with a lot of debt? I am hoping you will send them in to help me. It has been a little over a year since I revealed my Huge and Embarrassing Debt to you! In 14 months I was down over $10,000 -- but then I fell off the wagon.
Debt sucks.
What you need to know first is that this sucks -- everything about this debt sucks. The embarrassing part sucks. The stress part sucks. The humiliating part sucks. The sacrifice part sucks. And the feeling like I am getting nowhere part sucks.
At this point I thought I would be more than double that amount down, but then I tell myself I should not be surprised. I really don’t work as hard as I could on making this a priority. I have worked on the emotional piece of this challenge by going to a counselor helping me reach the root of my money issues.
I have also worked on communicating better with my spouse about how I really think about money. Just last weekend when our old truck need $550 for new shocks, I really thought it would be a good idea to just buy a new car. My husband talked me out of that. I know I should celebrate this improvement in my communications in my marriage but I still think of myself as a total failure.
Why the hell can’t I get ahead of this debt???
Not to toot my own horn, but I feel I am a squared away military spouse in every other way. I work full-time, my house is clean, I work out regularly, my kids are in school and sports, and I do not spend my evenings on Facebook or watching TV. I am organized and a planner, I volunteer and make dinner ... OK not every night but almost. So why am I still spinning my wheels on money matters?
I think I can’t comprehend the time needed to really make a dent in the debt. I want to see change every paycheck or every month. The experts say that when you are trying to make a change a far off goal (like being out of debt) is not much of a motivator.
I need some shorter goals to strive toward. Smaller measurements to celebrate would help me overall and I think if I can check off the list more frequently I could begin to see the light at the end of the tunnel.
Give me your (little) ideas.
I keep seeing that slogan, No pain no gain. I think I need smaller goals and need a little pain added in. I have a short attention span so give me your ideas for short term goals or challenges I can incorporate to this overall debt reduction. I don’t see debt reduction as a game exactly, but I need to make this somewhat of a game I can play and win.
How is this idea? No personal purchases for three months -- no shoes, no clothing, no accessories or personal items? Would that work? How would you reward that? By buying a No Pain No Gain T-shirt?
There I go again. Do send me your ideas and your stories about things you tried. I am ready for anything.
