Persistent Wealth

My biggest goal (and most shameful) in the financial fitness realm is to pay off my credit card debt. I graduated college with a $30k personal loan and probably almost $15k on a credit card 4 years ago. I got a really good big girl job and told the bank I would pay back the personal loan quickly. Looking back that was a mistake. That payment and spending excessively lead me to more credit card debt. I got that loan paid off in a year, but I ended up with almost the same amount on credit cards over the last 3 years. I know this is common, but credit card debt is viewed as soooo shameful. I have actually only admitted my financial woes to my therapist (and here I am putting it on the internet lol).

Every year, paying off all my credit card debt is on my list of goals. As we wrap up month 5 of 2023, I have been reflecting on this one again. I am not really on track for meeting this goal. I really haven’t even been aligning with the intent of this goal. But in the last 2 weeks, I have decided to change this.

I am noticing a lot of similarities of how I have approached weight loss in the past and my debt payoff. I want it gone NOW. I spend weeks doing everything I can to make it disappear, but don’t deal with the underlying problems. Then, the hard, unsexy work becomes not-so-shiny and I drop back into old habits. I have worked hard and changed my default for food and that is what I am going to do with my finances too. One day at a time. One better choice at a time.

One of my favorite books (and everyone else’s lol) is Atomic Habits. James Clear says “If you can get 1% better each day for one year, you’ll end up 37 times better by the time you’re done”. This is the approach I am going to with my finances to a.) potentially achieve my goal to get all my cc debt paid off asap, b.) measure my alignment with the feeling behind the goal (which is FREEDOM).

I have had I Will Teach You To Be Rich by Ramit Sethi on my bookshelf forever. I have started it probably 8 times. This month, I have binged his Netflix special (soooo good and worth the watch), listened to the IWT audiobook, currently reading it on my kindle and following the steps, and I got his journal and am working through that. I love his idea of spending on what you truly care about and cutting mercilessly on what you don’t. I have spent too long spending too much on the things that don’t truly align. That is the 1% better focus.

Let me know what your 1% better is! Check my insta for my 1% better daily: financial edition.

This week: I called and got a cashiers check to pay a speeding ticket I got to avoid a $25 service fee. Previous me would have just paid it, but that $25 will make an impact on my debt and that is my priority

5/20/23 Net worth update:  $-30,895.38