The Lesson Of Two Bad Paycheques

I checked . . . these next two paycheques are my worst this year, perhaps longer. This got me thinking . . . what if this had happened 4 years ago?

I am now standing on the cusp of being able to live on approximately 10% of my take home pay (base on my budgeted targeted minimum).

Four years ago I was paying for: 

• A 3 bedroom townhouse (had a roommate, but I was “the responsible one.”)

• Truck payments

• Credit card minimum payments ($500.00 a month)

• Truck insurance payments

• Power and gas (for Townhouse)

• Food

• Gas (for truck)

• Etc.

I had no savings and was living near the bottom of my actual bank overdraft. I would have had found it hard to live on 90% of my budgeted minimum.

I was so maxed out and stretched thin for so long that it was a way of life. To me it was just “normal” it was just what people did. 

It wasn’t until the chill went down my spine when I realized that unless I changed things, I would be facing mandatory retirement age with the same bills and no savings.

While things are tight for me now, they are tight because of a self-imposed deadline. I am doing this to myself and I could easily relieve the pressure by just calling this whole endeavour off.

I can take a hit like this in my budget, a hit that I could not take four years ago (again an approximate 10% drop in take home pay for both paycheques).

Yet, I did not go through all this so to save the company money and be able to take a pay cut. I did this for me, I did this to salvage the cash from my own financial system to put it to use for me.

(Okay, point of clarification here. To be clear, my pay was not cut, it was just a combination of the number of work days within these two affected payperiods, and the fact that sales have slowed. It is just one of those random things that happen beyond our, or even our boss’s, control.)

Let this be a lesson and hopefully motivation for those of you out there who are in a situation that I was in 4 years ago, to actually do something to turn your financial situation around. You can do it, I am proof of that.

I know that things will turn around for me; one way or another I will make sure that they do. 

Sales will pick up again and that there will be payperiods with more working days in them. Things will bounce back.

The one key difference starting three paycheques from now (Nov 7) is that I will be entering, what can only be called . . . “The Rebuilding Phase.”

I have torn down my life and lifestyle to its bare minimum in order to eliminate debt. Once that is done I will start rebuilding my life and finances . . . starting with my finances.

After all, I want land (160 Acers minimum) to start a town which will help break this vicious victimizing fiscal cycle for its residents.

As always: Keep your head up, keep your attitude positive and keep moving forward!