Truth be told I am not alone in my battle against debt. Let me take that back, I am not alone in my personal war on debt. So I am hopping on the wagon again and this time I am hoping that I can maintain my focus on slimming down my debt as well as slimming down my waistline. I love the lay out of my site here and I have decided to use this as my thoughts on everyday life. I am sure that we will laugh together, we will cry together, maybe disagree with each other, but one things for sure I plan on expressing my ideas and my goal in 2012 is to be able to claim that I am, “Debt Free!” I have made the mistake in the past of falling off the wagon and to be honest I am sick and tired of being sick and tired.

I’m taking the financial challenge in Twenty Twelve to becoming more financially fit as well as physically fit and this is going to be my stomping ground in doing so. Also I plan on setting the stage here as I grow as a Christian. Like I said this is going to be a mixture of all things in my life because I cannot grow in one area without growing in others. Here’s my spiderweb, let’s weave this web together!

I recently read an article in which it stated the 8 reasons that people overspend.  Not surprisingly on the list were such things as: paying with plastic, shopping without a list, and falling for clever tactics.  I was surprised when I read that tracking exact costs was on the list.

My wife is notorious for making a list when going shopping and she is pretty darn close to within a few pennies of what she is going to spend.  In fact it was because of overspending in the dreaded Wal-Mart that we made a New Year’s Resolution to stay out of the shopping venue for all of 2011.  So far so good as we have been Wal-Mart free for 2 months 26 days and we have no plans on going back any time soon.

The overspending that occurs in such stores as Wal-Mart has helped lead to the demise of the American savings plan.  I must admit that in 2010 we were guilty of walking into the shopping stores with a specific plan but would end up spending $50-$100 more than what we had originally planned on.  Why you might ask?  We were tempted by the various items strategically placed throughout the stores.

Since the resolution to stay out of Wal-Mart we have been able to maintain our weekly allotted budget and have been able to put more money towards bills.  Though do not get me wrong life can still be frustrating when we run into more month left than money but the transition has been easier.  I do not miss the days of the long check out lines, the dreaded expectation of what the final grocery bill will be, and most importantly the rat race going on inside of Wal-Mart on a daily basis.

After starting and stopping then starting and stopping again my wife and I have finally decided to make a solid push to the gazelle intensity of being debt-free.  In fact with the way we have our finances set up we should complete the first baby step (saving $1,000 as an emergency fund) by the 8^th of April.  At that point in time we will be looking at our snowball and what we can do to make the debt decrease to where it is nil.

We’ve also started considering and have decided to partake in a home-based business for my wife of selling jewelry.  There’s an initial upfront investment but we have several friends of the family who have been able to make a steady profit from the business.  One of these individuals grosses a monthly income of $15,000 per month from the line of work and I must admit I was skeptical at first until I saw the numbers myself.

With that said these people do not treat this business as a part-time job but attack it as a passion to do well.  Now does everyone make this kind of money per month?  The answer is simply no but I do believe a person will reap the benefits of what they sow.  Ideally I would like to build the business up to about $8,000 per month.  I figure this would be a solid way to change the rest of our lives.  With that kind of money coming in would mean that my focus on employment would turn to this line of work.  I expect to get to this level would take us some where between 6-8 years of steadily pushing the business.

I think to myself what we could do with this amount of money and if we take the Dave Ramsey method of living simple I can only imagine the amount of money we could put back.  I understand it doesn’t hurt dreaming but I am bound and determine to make this a success.  I would love to be able to stay-at-home with my wife and master this business working it daily together.  Only time will tell but I must admit I am excited to get started!

I’ve got to rethink my position and see what it is I can do to get the cash rolling in and make a difference.  Next step is to start praying for some guidance and the following step will be putting my ideas into action.

Here lately my wife and I have been looking at ways to cut expenses.  One of the most recent areas we have been looking into is with our cell phones.  There was a time in which we had cell phones and a home phone but then we decided to do away with the cell phone.  My wife is a stay-at-home mom and my previous job required me to be on the phone for 8 to 10 hours a day.  Needless to say when I got home I had no desire of talking on the phone.

Then came our move to Alabama and this is when we decided to drop the home phone and go with the cell phones.  We signed our contract with a major carrier and recently we became aware of Wal-Mart’s Smart Talk plan and the concept has me scratching my head at what is the catch?  There’s got to be a catch as the plan seems too good to be true.  We’re talking about a yearly savings of $720 in comparison to our current phone plan.  $720, wow!  I don’t know about you but there are a lot of things I could do with an extra $720 laying around like paying off another medical bill or paying down our debt snowball.

My question for those readers is what have you done to help decrease your expenditures in reducing your monthly bills?

I love the fact that I control my own destiny. The decisions we make today affect the circumstances of tomorrow. Our society in the U.S., throughout the world will never see everyone try to reach their potential. Never. Look around now and I’m sure you can name several people who are fine with barely getting by and not interested in bettering their situation. I know people like this and I know you do too. If everyone became exceptional then the next step would be to raise the bar.

Look around at the horse and buggy industry, it’s been put out of business by people who raised the bar higher and developed a better system known as the automobile. Look at the advancements in that industry seems to me the exceptionable accomplishments keep getting higher. This is one example but when you reach one plateau start going towards the next. People fail to be exceptional by becoming content with where they’re presently at.

Again a person will never be self sufficient waiting on other people to provide for them. What’s it teach? Depend upon others to get what you want? It’s just not my view of the world and everything that I have is because I have earned it. At the end of the day no one can take that away from me. I’m proud of what I have accomplished and I have had obstacles that I had to endure earlier in life that prepared me for the future.

I’m thinking back to a post that I wrote in December of last year about the excuses people make regarding student loans.  Almost 11 months later and I am still just as puzzled today as I was back then as to why people continue to make excuses as to why they cannot pay back on their educational loans.  I think the biggest reasoning is that too many people want to be the victim when it comes to dealing with their student loans.  The victim, are you serious?

Recently there was an article that came out detailing how student loans have now taken over as the largest debt owed in our country as $830 billion goes to student loan debt with $825 billion being that of credit card debt.  A person has to wonder truly what the big deal is as our society has turned to one where it is important to get an education.  If we traveled back in time 40 years ago the ideology of going to college was a luxury as it was not uncommon to land a good job with just a high school education.

Flash forward to the times of today and in this economy it is crucial in having a degree to be able to land good employment.  I’ve been approached in the past by parents telling me how their children are over qualified to work at McDonald’s, or any other fast food restaurant.  I cannot believe that parents are so naïve that they would actually believe this.  Any time I have needed a second job I have been able to walk into a fast food establishment and land a job shortly after completing the application.  For these parents believing their kids that they (the kids) are overqualified is completely asinine.

The problem with our country is that nobody wants to step up to the plate and take ownership for their actions.  Not too long ago a college professor shot up her department heads during a meeting and defense attorneys were quick to call insanity.  This is yet another case where people are too afraid to admit their actions.  The beds we sleep in today are from what we made yesterday and the beds we’ll sleep in tomorrow are being made today. 

Even though student loans may be a larger debt in America than credit cards the difference is the advantages given by having the degree.  Failing to pay a student loan back is part of the instant-gratification attitude of those graduating today.  Amazing how no one wants to pay their bills compared to the days of our grandparents.  What will the future of this country look like as these people become the leaders of tomorrow?

This all goes back to the thought process which I have mentioned before.  At this point in time I am starting to question whether the happiness that I am seeking is from the state-of-mind that I will be in.  Everything is actually kind of confusing as right now I seem to be suffering from brain overload in trying to decipher this or that.  Anyone with insight I look forward to your comments.

Technology: This passion stems from tinkering with computers, building databases, to utilizing the Internet.  I am fascinated with this realm and I understand there are stable companies within the computer repair market.  There must be some kind of market share that has not been tapped (as of yet) that I can cross over into.

Politics: I have my political views and let’s just say I find a passion in writing about current events.

Religion: This has not always been a strong passion of mine but the more I am immersed in the readings of the Bible the more I realize the path I need to take.  I have my religious beliefs and there is no influence in to changing my mind away from my savior, Jesus Christ.

Sales: This is a money maker for me (no pun intended).  I am very comfortable with building a rapport with others in establishing a solid trust base.  In the present and past I have had extreme success on the sales side.  I wonder what it would be like to dabble into the commission side of sales but if you go back to passion number 1 there are 3 other people depending upon my earnings.

Spanish: Even though many people will disagree with this the fact remains the United States of America is going away from an English-only speaking country to a wide array of languages being heard from coast-to-coast.  My love of the language is high and I have a general knowledge of the language but I know that I need to step up my study habits and immerse myself more into learning the language.  I know that the better my understanding of Spanish is the more opportunities will open as knowledge is power.  This power will open many doorways to regions of success unknown to me before.

What do I want to do when I grow up?  This is a common question that we pose to children on a frequent basis.  The answers vary and if you were to ask my children what they wanted to be when they grow up the answers too would vary from being Dora the Explorer, a Princess, a Mermaid, to even being a mommy.  When the answers are given though the common phrase is based around the ideology that a kid can be whatever it is they want to be when they grow up.

How far is this from the truth?  The older I get the farther away from what I wanted to be when I was kid I become.  With age comes a sense of reality and that reality is that bills need to be paid, food needs to be on the table, and the American dream will always be just that…a dream.  What causes us to go from believing in our children to suddenly stifling out and killing their childhood dreams?

Now granted there are certain responsibilities that we take on as adults in trying to make it through the day-to-day grind.  Simply put more Americans are merely trying to survive than live out their dream of what they want to be when they grow up.  Instead of being a doctor kids take the easier road and become a business major.  Instead of being a nurse kids decide to be secretaries.  At some point in time we go from believing in the impossible to living for the path of least resistance.

My goal is stop that cycle within my own life.  I’m here to dig deep and find out what that dream was of what I wanted to be when I grew up.  Now granted I know what my responses were in the past but I now understand throwing a baseball 110 mph on a major league field is not feasible.  What I need to do is find out who I am, what my dreams are, and how I can amply apply my abilities to living out my dream.  It sounds simple.  I understand where I’m at right now and I know the end destination that I want but the hard part is going to be finding my way from point A to point B.  In discovering my inner ambitions I expect to find out more about who I truly am.  I expect to learn more about what motivates me, what excites me, what I am truly passionate about.  In doing all of this I expect to find the answer to the common question of what I want to do when I grow up.  When I get where I’m going I am positive there will be a “new” me living the life I have always wanted.  I’ll finally being living the life I dreamed about, finally living the life I was destined for.