HOW I STARTED MY FINANCIAL JOURNEY TOWARDS WEALTH
The van was stinky. My band and I were on our way home to Tallahassee, Florida from a gig we played in south Florida. And I was disgusted with myself. Not because we had a bad gig. But, because the gig was Friday night and it was now Sunday. Instead of going home with the loot on Saturday, we stayed and partied our earnings away. It was March, 2006. The year I turned my financial life around.
Not one of us had a dollar between us. Unbelievable! We’d ponied up enough money for a full tank of gas to get home. Well, we were good to go then, right? Nope. We didn’t think about the two dollars we would need to get through the four toll booths. I was totally embarrassed. I didn’t have two measly dollars to get through I-10’s portals to freedom. I had to sign wavers all the way home so that they could send me the bill for unpaid tolls. My short term pleasure, long term pain lifestyle had finally caught up with me. And boy did it slap me across the face like a wet fish at a bachelor party.
As soon as I got home I went searching for answers. I said to myself, “I have a full-time maintenance tech job and I get paid to play music on the weekends.” Then I wondered why I was broke all the time. As luck would have it, my parents asked me to read a book by Dave Ramsey called The Total Money Makeover. It was out of the blue! I never told them about my miserable trip from south Florida or that I was looking for answers to relieve my financial nightmares. What a coincidence!
I wasted no time and devoured the book. Ah-ha! Finally the kick in the pants that I needed. Then, I heard that Dave Ramsey had a radio show. I listened every day. It was common sense ear candy that I gobbled up like that guy Lard-Ass from from the movie Stand by Me.
I couldn’t believe it. It was so easy! Why didn’t I see this all along? I had to grow up! Once I heard Dave say, “Children do what feels good. Adults do what feels right.” Ugh, it crushed my soul but it was so true. The going out on the town Thursday through Saturday had to stop. Amount Saved, $150. The eating lunch at my favorite BBQ joint three times a week had to stop. Amount saved, $36. My pack a week smoking habit had to stop. Amount saved, $5.00. 11 years smoke free, thank you very much.
Wow! There’s $191 dollars saved out of every paycheck. I looked for more things to cut. I was hooked, serious, and totally focused. I got my wants and needs prioritized. Folks, with applying just a little common sense and dumping my short term pleasure, long term pain lifestyle, I went from $0.00 to $30,000 dollars in my savings account in four years. I was just a maintenance man that played guitar on the side. Nothing fancy. But once I got armed with the right knowledge, there was no stopping me.
I want to provide value and share my knowledge with you. Free! I’m proof that you can build a small fortune with just a little will power and common sense. Oh, and I was earning between $12.00 and $14.00 dollars an hour through those four years when I hit my $30,000 dollar goal. Your salary is not an excuse.
So, I hope you’re ready to build your empire. Wipe the mistakes you’ve made away. You’ve got to fail big to learn big. As Henry Ford put it, “Failure is only the opportunity to begin again, only this time more wisely.”
I hope you look forward to beginning again.
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