Do you have someone who will ask you hard questions and not afraid to get in your business in order to help you stay on track with your finances? Who are you accountable to? If you feel that you have found yourself in a situation where you have become isolated and stagnant, due to an unfavorable credit profile, unproductive money habits or zero savings. Today is a great day to seek support or an accountability partner. Help is literally one phone call away, regardless of how you feel about reaching out. There are trusted bible believing friends that want to see you do more than just survive. There are viable options available, such as credit counseling agencies, your neighborhood credit counselors within your bank or credit union or someone within your local church that is proficient in this area. Avoid lingering in conversations with people inside or outside of your circles with identical or similar issues that are yielding the same results as you.
Many Americans each year are seeking help to live a more fulfilling life. They strive for less stress, desire more freedom to do some of the things they want to do and not always being deprived from enjoying simple things in life. These are only snippets on the essence of managing your finances well. Should you have apprehensions about using some credit counseling agencies due to bad press reporting that customers money was mishandled. For example, money was requested from customers and bills were not being paid. Ask for referrals from trusted sources or seek a Christian based financial counseling company. The point is, do your research should you decide to reach outside of your friends or family, but do something.
“No man is an island. While (Taming Your Finances, 2006) you may indeed feel isolated in your attempt to tame your finances, God does not expect you to try to solve your problems alone.”
There was a young school teacher, we will call her Susan, who reached out for help. She was single, no children, home-owner, drove a nice car, impeccable wardrobe, and earned a handsome salary. As we discussed her situation, we discovered that she used shopping as a coping mechanism when she felt depressed. Susan had clothes with price tags on them and shopping bags with other items in them that had never been open. Her FICO score was less than “good” due to the delinquencies. After taking a close look at the entire picture, we were able to put a plan together to bring the delinquencies current, reluctantly she agreed to give away or return the items with price tags still on them and over time find a new craft other than shopping when she needed to fill a void. The bottom-line is there are times when you will not be able to rely on YOU to pull yourself up out of a hole that you have ultimately dug. You will always need a helping hand to pull yourself out of a hole that you dig and are in it as you’re digging.
My suggestion is to put your pride aside, stop digging, reach out for help and find an accountability partner that will not tell you everything that you want to hear; but offer you positive, yet effective feedback. The truth hurts sometimes, but will definitely help.
Please feel free to leave a comment. E-mail me at christineroebuck@livemylifedebtfree.com.