{"id":1892,"date":"2018-06-08T03:00:43","date_gmt":"2018-06-08T08:00:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kerryaclark.com\/?p=1892"},"modified":"2018-07-16T14:34:53","modified_gmt":"2018-07-16T19:34:53","slug":"student-of-your-finances","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kerryaclark.com\/blog\/student-of-your-finances\/","title":{"rendered":"Become a Student of Your Finances"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Dealing With Debt &#8211; Part 7<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What\u2019s the best method for me to get out of debt?<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Don\u2019t be fooled; there are many ways in which a person can get out of debt. \u00a0Just do a search and you\u2019ll find methods and processes, seminars and conferences that say they offer a solution. \u00a0The only solution I want to offer you or make you aware of is the one you put together yourself. If you want to do something bad enough, you\u2019ll find a way to do it with or without a class on the subject.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><b><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-1896\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/kerryaclark.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/20180608-TIF-SM-Dealing-With-Debt-Part-7-400x400.png?resize=400%2C400\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"400\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.kerryaclark.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/20180608-TIF-SM-Dealing-With-Debt-Part-7.png?resize=400%2C400&amp;ssl=1 400w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.kerryaclark.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/20180608-TIF-SM-Dealing-With-Debt-Part-7.png?resize=300%2C300&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.kerryaclark.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/20180608-TIF-SM-Dealing-With-Debt-Part-7.png?resize=100%2C100&amp;ssl=1 100w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.kerryaclark.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/20180608-TIF-SM-Dealing-With-Debt-Part-7.png?resize=600%2C600&amp;ssl=1 600w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.kerryaclark.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/20180608-TIF-SM-Dealing-With-Debt-Part-7.png?resize=150%2C150&amp;ssl=1 150w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.kerryaclark.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/20180608-TIF-SM-Dealing-With-Debt-Part-7.png?resize=768%2C768&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.kerryaclark.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/20180608-TIF-SM-Dealing-With-Debt-Part-7.png?w=800&amp;ssl=1 800w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/>What They Are Not?<\/b><b><br \/>\n<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The two ways I want to offer are not the typical methods you\u2019ve heard. \u00a0\u201cCutting up your credit cards\u201d is the most common. There are many who\u2019ve tried this and just ruined a perfectly good credit card. \u00a0They then find themselves applying for a new one or replacing the one they just destroyed. Cutting up your credit cards will not get you out of debt.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThe snowball method\u201d of paying off your debts. \u00a0This method alone isn\u2019t enough to get you out of debt. \u00a0Using the snowball method gets you going just enough to free yourself from a payment or two just to get you some room to start a new payment. \u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><b>Not What You Think<\/b><b><br \/>\n<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I have two ways we use to reduce our debts. \u00a0I remember the day my wife, Pamela, called to tell me I no longer had any debts other than our home mortgage. \u00a0I was so surprised. It was surprising because the plans we put in place didn\u2019t hurt or restrict us from living. \u00a0Here they are:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>One: Learn how to pay your bills. <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0\u00a0We had to retrain ourselves on how to pay our bills. \u00a0It\u2019s in how we handled bill pay that led us to much needed improvement in our money mismanagement. \u00a0We realized that <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/kerryaclark.com\/blog\/series\/on-paper-we-do-have-enough\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">on paper<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, there was no reason we should ever be behind on paying any utility or monthly recurring bill. \u00a0We had to create a method to pay these first. In the early days we split the bills up based on <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/kerryaclark.com\/blog\/when-you-pay-is-in-your-control\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">our paydays<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and paid those 1st. \u00a0This discipline or retraining led to <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/kerryaclark.com\/blog\/budget-billing\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">our budget billing strategy<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Two: Become a student of your spending.<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u00a0In a recent <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/kerryaclark.com\/blog\/how-the-people-you-do-life-with-make-life-better\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">mastermind group<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> meeting, I asked the guys how often do they look at the reports it takes to manage their jobs and projects in their various offices. \u00a0Many created reports and most said they review and update weekly if not daily. So I asked the questions, what if you looked at your family\u2019s, your business\u2019s finances in the same way? \u00a0Would you not work to improve the numbers and find out what it takes to not make mistakes? I posed this thought. Maybe your finances are in the shape they are in because you don\u2019t study them. Wouldn\u2019t you enjoy reviewing your finances if you had the ideal financial disposition. \u00a0In other words, if your <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/kerryaclark.com\/blog\/the-stuff-you-wish-you-knew\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">net-worth<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> was positive you\u2019d look at the reports everyday and look forward to it.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Today Is Friday!<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I suggest you start with a simple plan. \u00a0Having a simple plan works far better than having a cumbersome, complex process to getting your debts tamed. \u00a0Start with something that requires very little time and no added expense. Improve the process of how you pay your bills and become a student of your finances. \u00a0Don\u2019t put more time into another\u2019s priorities than you put into your own. The better you make yourself, the better you can make another.<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"su-note\"  style=\"border-color:#c7ced4;border-radius:3px;-moz-border-radius:3px;-webkit-border-radius:3px;\"><div class=\"su-note-inner su-u-clearfix su-u-trim\" style=\"background-color:#E1E8EE;border-color:#ffffff;color:#333333;border-radius:3px;-moz-border-radius:3px;-webkit-border-radius:3px;\"><div class=\"su-note\"  style=\"border-color:#e5e5e5;border-radius:3px;-moz-border-radius:3px;-webkit-border-radius:3px;\"><div class=\"su-note-inner su-u-clearfix su-u-trim\" style=\"background-color:#FFFFFF;border-color:#ffffff;color:#000000;border-radius:3px;-moz-border-radius:3px;-webkit-border-radius:3px;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.kerryaclark.com\/blog\/familyplan\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">The Family Plan Binder<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.kerryaclark.com\/blog\/familyplan\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-1025\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/kerryaclark.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Family-Plan-Cover-e1493399146525.png?resize=115%2C149\" alt=\"\" width=\"115\" height=\"149\" \/><\/a> is available now! <p><\/p>\nOur team has worked very hard putting it together. We designed it to help you and your family move the needle forward in making your life your business. \nFind out more about the Family plan <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kerryaclark.com\/blog\/familyplan\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">here.<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Dealing With Debt &#8211; Part 7 What\u2019s the best method for me to get out of debt? Don\u2019t be fooled; there are many ways in which a person can get out of debt. \u00a0Just do a search and you\u2019ll find methods and processes, seminars and conferences that say they offer a solution. \u00a0The only solution [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1893,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[22,60,56],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1892","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-accounting","8":"category-payday","9":"category-taming-debt","10":"entry"},"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.kerryaclark.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/20180608-TIF-Blog-Dealing-With-Debt-Part-7.png?fit=760%2C360&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4jb7V-uw","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kerryaclark.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1892","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kerryaclark.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kerryaclark.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kerryaclark.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kerryaclark.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1892"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.kerryaclark.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1892\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1965,"href":"https:\/\/www.kerryaclark.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1892\/revisions\/1965"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kerryaclark.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1893"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kerryaclark.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1892"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kerryaclark.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1892"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kerryaclark.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1892"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}