Today’s post is from regular contributor, Tyler, who blogs over at I Am The Future Me!
We’ve all heard the phrase “Ignorance is Bliss”. Unfortunately I was ignorant of my financial situation for a long time.
Most people are in the same boat, with no idea how to get out of it. Or, worse don’t know how bad it really is. Discovering the true scope of my finances was a humbling, embarrassing, and terrifying experience.
My wife had lost her job about a month after we got married. To get by we used credit saying we would pay it back in the future.
My defining moment
The apartment above ours flooded and, gravity being the way it is, the water came into our apartment. Our landlord’s solution was for us to go to Home Depot and rent the equipment to dry the place out.
This seemed simple, put it on credit or pay for it and take it off the rent. But, the problem was that all of my credit cards were maxed out. Not only that but living paycheck to paycheck meant there was no “extra” money for emergencies like this.
How much was this enormous bill we couldn’t afford? Around $50, yes $50 not $500 or anything outrageous. However it was $50 dollars that I didn’t have. No credit, no cash, no emergency fund, nothing.
I called my older brother and begged for him to lend me the money, but he didn’t have any either. Finally, I called my father who was more than happy to help. Even though he never made me feel bad about it, I felt sick to my stomach with embarrassment.
Though many wouldn’t consider this to be a major life changing event, for me it was. I decided I never again wanted to feel this way. So, I spoke to anyone I could about finances. Most people however, don’t openly discuss finances.
So, I took to the internet and found great bloggers like Hayley at Disease Called Debt, Jason at Dividend Mantra, and Cait at Blonde On A Budget.
One of Jason’s posts really struck me hard, he wrote about how he was already financially independent. He was so confident that the efforts he put in would create the future him that he saw.
I took from that the way I wanted to view myself, especially since I had always said that the “future me” would pay my credit card bills.
My steps to debt freedom
The first thing I did was take an honest evaluation of my financial situation. After looking at my credit cards, car loans, and student loans I found that I had right around $29,000 in debt with $20,000 of that being just credit cards. Future me had a lot of work to do.
It’s possible to cut a few costs, live life mostly the same, and pay off the debt in a few years. But, I didn’t want to wait years. So I looked into cutting major things, at the same time increasing my income to pay down the debt much faster.
Some of the changes my wife and I made were, rent (we moved to a cheaper apartment), started cooking at home, taking lunch to work, cutting our phone bill, and any other way I could find.
To increase my income, I didn’t want to work more at my 9 to 5 and getting a raise seemed impossible. So I started “side-hustles” – driving for Lyft, selling on Amazon, and doing any freelance work that would come my way.
I also started I Am The Future Me. Without a personal finance blog, I never would have started this journey. It’s my hope that someday I am able to inspire just one person to do the same, to take action and truly become the future them that they want to be.
Conclusion
We all have a “money story”, some involve a low $50 dollar amount like mine. Others lose their house, car, or other important things that force them to deal with their finances after ignoring them for years.
Whatever it is, make sure that you don’t “get through it” and then go back to your old habits. Make sure you make permanent changes that will help you get closer to your future self.
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Author Bio: Tyler Philbrook runs the blog I Am The Future Me. He talks about his journey from $29,000 in debt to becoming financially independent by cutting costs, making more money, and making good financial decisions.
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13 Comments
I’m glad you came to that realization and started taking better care of your financial life! Yes when you can’t find $50, that’s a pretty scary and disempowering situation! Best of luck on your journey!
Tonya,
It was a truly humbling experience to say the least. Nothing compared to what many others go through so I’m glad I got it together before anything worse happened.
Tyler recently posted…Pushing The Right Button For Financial Independence
This is a very inspiring story and I’m glad that all it took was $50 to change your mindset and that your new mindset helped you make permanent changes in your finances. And yes, blogs are great accountability partners that come with one heck of a community that’s backing you 100 percent:) Thanks for sharing your story with Hayley’s readers!
Latoya,
Starting my blog has in itself changed my habits. I post my side-hustle income each month and sometimes I just don’t feel like working but I know that people are going to read those income reports and if I don’t have anything to report than no one would read it.
Tyler recently posted…Pushing The Right Button For Financial Independence
Not every life changing event is huge and with big fanfare. Sometimes it is the smallest thing that can change a world. Thanks for sharing. This is very powerful, so look for it in my next roundup.
Thank you for the kind words. I look forward to reading more in the round up it’s an honor to be mentioned in it.
Tyler recently posted…Pushing The Right Button For Financial Independence
I had a similar “a-ha” moment. I had to call my mother to ask her to lend me some money until payday, and although she never made me feel bad about it, I felt deeply embarrassed. Cait’s blog was also the blog I found and read “cover to cover”. Had it not been for her blog, I don’t think I would’ve ever started my own. I am glad that you’re so much better off financially now!
Eva @ Girl Counting Pennies recently posted…The Financial Benefits of Being a Stay-at-Home Parent
Hi Tyler. This is such a great story! Thank you for sharing. We had a similar moment when we realized we needed to attack debt. It is heartbreaking at the time you realize you have hit rock bottom, but when you actively take steps towards achieving financial independence, it is almost like a weight off your back. I also agree that it is good to talk about money and debt to others. It inspires them to push towards their financial freedom. I wrote an article “Should you talk to others about money and debt” specifically because I share your same view that money and debt should be talked about. Thanks again for this post.
Nice realization! This is what experience can teach us. Just make sure that we don’t go back to our old, bad habit, and there’s a high guarantee that everything would be really good and better!
I remember how embarrassed I was when I found out how bad I was at managing my finances too. I had never saved, and I always floated by with about $3,000 in my checking account. This worked great until the car broke down, or our house needed repairs, etc…
At least now we can say we’re doing better! And if it wasn’t for those tough lessons, we might still be to our old ways.
Wow, that’s amazing that you made so many positive changes as a result of that experience with the $50! That’s great that your dad was able to lend you the money to resolve the flooding situation too — it sounds like you were able to dry out your apartment AND make a commitment to positive change. 🙂
Love hearing a bit of the backstory about what inspired you to start hustling Tyler!
I totally relate to this! Like you, my financial revelation didn’t come from a huge bill I couldn’t pay, it came from a measly $30 tab I just didn’t have the money for. The embarrassment of having to run several cards only to have them all get rejected was enough for me to rethink my life. That, plus having to reach out and ask for help was humbling to say the least.