I have been reading and preparing for this blog for months, years, days, and decided that the time was yesterday. The entire purpose of my creating this piece is that there are other families out there who could use this advice. I could have used this advice 20 years ago, and let me tell you that it is never too late to make a change.
Being a teacher who has always had a desire to teach others, I really thought that once I got my degree and started working in my career, all of my dreams would come true. My finances would line up, and I would no longer be a slave to the lender. Boy, was I in for a rude awakening.
I get to do what I really enjoy doing, but I can barely afford to live. I would have never been able to purchase a house on my starting salary, well, at least not one that I needed to hold my family of 6. And the very thing that I teach others to stay away from was my “saving grace” when I could not pay my bills. The Payday loan! I did not want to rely on this, but when you have more bills than you have money, what else can you do?
I was unaware that this was much more than a mere issue with being underpaid. This was a generational curse that had long existed, and I was determined to be the one to break free. I was not smart with the little money I was receiving. I would pay tithes here and there, sometimes followed up with a PayDay loan to pay my bills afterwards. I knew this was not what the Lord intended for me and my family. I am a firm believer in tithing with a grateful heart. God did not intend for me to skip paying my essential bills to pay tithes and offerings. I needed to work harder to make more money and live below my means to make ends meet. “When I make more money, I will be able to pay my bills on time, tithe, go shopping more, etc.” This is not the correct mindset because I am a prime example that many times when we make more money, we spend more money.
There are 3 tips I can give you to get you started on your journey of breaking the GENERATIONAL CURSE OF BEING BROKE:
- Budget every single dollar and track your spending like you are a bill collector
- Be sure to pay yourself before anyone else (Not to negate tithing), to build your emergency fund and retirement fund, then to mutual funds. Be sure that you have proper life insurance to cover your debt, funeral expenses, your kids’ college, etc.
- Remain focused, write out your debts and how much you owe, begin debt stacking, and find ways to make extra money, preferably in sales.