Skip to main content

Obsession

No, I’m not talking about the 80s song by the synth-pop band Animotion (dating myself AGAIN). I’m talking about becoming fixated, absorbed, and fanatical about something. In this case, Kingsford, author of “Brain-powered Weight Loss,” calls it a “healthy obsession.” Basically, it means that “you no longer struggle” to be financially fit. You thrive on it!

Now, this does not mean that you won’t make any mistakes; sure, you will. But you now have the tools to get back on the path when you stray. You don’t beat yourself up. You see how far you’ve come and use that to help you shape your future. You are in control of your finances and your life from here on out.

I remember listening to The Dave Ramsey Show once where Dave told the caller that when you are at the place where you have your home paid for, the grass in the backyard feels different under your feet. Now, I owned a townhome, so, technically, I did not own the grass. BUT I CAN tell you that once I paid off that mortgage, I changed. I became content with LESS. It was very unexpected but it was SO COOL. I feel FREE. And I will NEVER go back into debt.

So, start fostering that healthy obsession. It feels good to be a fanatic, doesn’t it?

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

One More–Christmas Experiences Part II

Christmas is just a week away. Hopefully you’ve checked everything off your to-do list and can spend some quality time “experiencing” Christmas gifts with your family. Because, after all, your loved ones will be far more touched by how you made them feel than they will be with what you gave them. This week, I want to share with you my sister, Carey’s, family Christmas experience. “One Christmas, when my boys, now 18, 23 and 28, were little, we gave them an experience that is still talked about now. And it’s something so easily replicated that any family can do it, and it’s not too late to do it for Christmas (even ON Christmas) this year. We drove around our neighborhood and looked at all the homes decorated for the holiday. We took note of the addresses as we numbered them. We talked about what made each ornamented yards stand out. And at the end of the night, we voted for our favorite. I had my sons help me make some of our favorite holiday desserts and, in addition to taking p...

Bon Voyage

Many of you are aware that I like to travel. I’ve had the pleasure of visiting a few foreign countries and taking a handful of cruises, and I intend to do more in the not-to-distant future. Because you know me, you know I don’t finance these trips–I plan ahead and save for them. And if you’ve followed my blog for a while, you are also aware that I do use one credit card for which I earn flight miles, and I use this card on the trips where I see the world. There is one thing about my credit card for which I am especially grateful–whenever there is suspicious activity on my account, I get a text notification. The credit card company recognizes that charges abroad MIGHT NOT BE LEGIT, and they send me a message. All I have to do is confirm that it is, in fact, me that made the peculiar purchase, and I’m good to go. If I did not make the purchase, I respond in kind, and my card is deactivated. Note to self and others: one could avoid these potential interruptions if one calls credit car...

The Marshmallow Experiment

In 1972, Stanford did a study about delayed gratification with children. It involved giant marshmallows and testing their patience.  You can see a short YouTube video about the study here . Basically, the kids who could sit alone with a giant marshmallow without eating it for a certain length of time were rewarded with a second giant marshmallow. Fun, huh? Some kids could be patient and reap the rewards; some could not. I was a small child when the study was conducted, and I wonder which side I might have been on. I HAVE learned to be pretty patient as an adult. One of the areas in which I’ve seen improvement is in finances. I have become a good money manager–I could be paid once annually and budget so that I won’t run out before year’s end, including having enough money to pay my own quarterly taxes–self-employed people do that. Speaking of taxes, I try not to overpay so that I qualify for a “refund,” because the government does not practice The Marshmallow Experiment. Huh? ...