I mentioned Dave Ramesy’s Total Money Makeover in a recent post, and true to my word, I am going to outline the entire plan here on my blog, step by step. Before jumping head-first into the 7 Baby Steps, we need to cover a few things.
The Challenge.
As mentioned in the previous post, the Total Money Makeover is a challenge… and the challenge is YOU. You are the king of your future, and it is very important to realize that from the get-go. Financial success is 80% behavior and 20% head knowledge. Most people know the “right” thing to do, they simply don’t do it. Why? Because we live in a world of instant gratification; when you want something, you want it NOW. Who wants to wait to get something that you can have now with credit? It’s all about discipline and simply “growing up”.
Denial.
90% of problem solving is realizing that you do indeed have a problem. Once you admit that you have a problem with money, you are well on your way to rectifying that issue. If you are the type of person that is “never wrong” or always puts the blame on someone else… well, grow up, get over it! Nobody is perfect, including you. Accept responsibility for your actions, both previous and current.
Being Financially Fat.
70% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck. Dave describes many people as being “financially fat”. Much like people get fat, you can get fat with your spending and expenses. When you are physically fat, it’s hard to be in denial. When you are financially fat, you can fake it, and look good… for a while.
The sad thing in today’s world is that you don’t even have to be financially fat to have a problem. You can be financially mediocre, “financially flabby”, and still be average. This is considered “okay” by many people’s standards. I am “getting by”, “surviving”… so nothing is wrong. Not true! If you are fine with just making ends meet, good for you, but if you really want to make something of your life and HAVE something, you need to make a change.
Once you realize you are financially fat, in debt and really have that desire to change, it’s time to start the next process, which I will cover in my next Total Money Makeover post.
