The First Step To Getting Out of Debt (2024)

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I’m sure most of you have seen the movie “Confessions of a Shopaholic”? In the film, the lead character describes how she feel when she shops. She states, “When I shop, the world gets better, and the world is better, but then it’s not, and I need to do it again.”

It brought me back to my old shopaholic days when I would feel that same emptiness and sadness that would spur me to break out the credit card and purchase a new pair of shoes, new makeup or maybe that new designer bag I had been eyeing for a few weeks.

In the movie, the main character, whose name escapes me, attends a type of AA meeting for shopaholics and through a series of events comes to realize her addiction.

The First Step To Become Debt Free

That’s usually how it works. You don’t just wake up and come to the conclusion you have a problem. Instead over a period of time, you realize what a mess your financial situation has become and that fixing it is a life and death situation. In essence, you hit “rock bottom”.

In reality, rock bottom is the best thing that could happen to you. It’s that slap in the face, that wake up call, that realization that you are in big trouble. But, it’s also the light at the end of the tunnel, the beginning down the yellow brick road back home to financial sanity.

If you are someone who is faced with credit card debt, you’re not alone.

Read: We Quit Credit Cards {How Brian from Debt Discipline Paid Off 109K of Debt in 50 Months}

Millions of people are wracked with unmanageable debt. Many have used credit cards to keep them afloat in an uncertain economy. Others just spent more than they should have. No matter what your reason, credit card debt sucks.

You can change your financial situation. Many have, including me. I was once plagued with over 50K in credit card debt and paid it off! I’m now debt free.

The Wake Up Moment

I remember that first year I had to tell my daughter I couldn’t afford to buy her any Christmas gifts. And, just as vivid is that Christmas morning opening up the most beautiful coat she had purchased for me and the feeling of unworthiness I felt at her generous offering.

I knew at that moment that I needed to face my crappy ways with money head on or it would be the end of my financial security.

And that’s what I did.

Although I didn’t want to look at all the ways I sabotaged myself with money, how messed up my belief systems were around money, and how poorly I handled money, I was willing.

Being willing to look at these issues was quite liberating. Because in that moment of saying, “yes, I am willing to look at this and figure it out” I became completely energized, motivated, and powerful. I was a woman standing in my power, and I hadn’t done that in a long time.

What I came to realize was the more I was willing to go deeper and deeper, to peel back the layers of my story, the greater my transformation.

Read: My Debt Free Journey {We Quit Credit Cards}

So, here’s the question. Are you willing to look at your relationship with money? Are you ready to peel back the layers to see what motivates you to spend like crazy? Are you willing to do something right now, so you’re not flooded with guilt and shame because your debt is cranked up to a ridiculous level?

The answer is either yes or no — not maybe, not probably, not possibly, not let me think about it. You must decide if you are willing or not.

Will you stand in your power or not? “Yes” will give you that power.