Seeing the finish line in the distance

Many times when people set goals, they tend to think that they will never reach the goalposts, or target. Or worse still, many people simply don’t set goals, because they feel that it will “take too long” to make the intended goal, or “they will never get there anyway.”

People seem to have forgotten that achieving goals requires work, and in many cases, sacrifice to a degree. With regards to paying debt, it may need less spending in unnecessary areas, to get the debt paid in full.

Fortunately, I must admit that my debt burden is far smaller than that of many others out there. People may scoff at the meagre $867 that I owe, and tell me that many folk out there owe a heck of a lot more than that, or that many people repay more than that in interest charges in a month on existing debt. But to me, having it get to that milestone from a whopping $2400 at the end of August 2009, down to the $867 today, is  a huge achievement to me. The goalpost has been set at zero by the end of May 2010, which is an easily achievable goal for me.

Although, should I come into any extra forms of income during this time, it will all be channeled towards repaying the outstanding amount a lot faster.

Yes, it has involved  a lot of sacrifice on my part, but I feel that it has all been well worth it. So many people have told me that they would not be able to live like I do, spending as little as possible, and only spending when truly necessary. But as they say, different strokes for different folks. I have chosen to approach my debt with the intensity of a bull in a china shop, in order to eliminate it as fast as possible.

Absolutely all extra spending has been halted. Any cash left over from the budget each week, is channeled into the outstanding debt. I do realise that it takes a heck of a lot of self-control and discipline to achieve this standard of living on an indefinite basis, but it is something I have chosen to undertake, and I have also chosen to be happy while doing so. I know that the reward of being debt free, and not throwing money away on totally unnecessary interest charges, will be well worth the few months of sacrifice.

It is the ideal way to pay debt faster, but it also does not work for everyone. I realise that many folk are not able to embrace the mode of “total sacrifice” when it comes to spending. That’s okay too. We have all been created differently, and that is what makes life interesting.

As the saying goes, “If you want something badly enough, make it happen.”

Would you be able to cut all unnecessary spending in order to achieve a financial goal? I’d love to hear from you.