When I started in my line of work, I worked part-time to pay for the cost of starting my business. Remember, I’m paid 100% purely on a commission basis. And when you’re new in the business, you can’t just go to other people you want to work with and say send me all the business you have. It takes trust and trust takes time to develop. So I took things step by step. I referred on a one-to-one basis to initiate relationships. I worked out a referral bonus structure that I can honour. And when it came time to buy things for the business, one pay cheque I got this, another pay cheque I got that. I started small, I didn’t borrow anything, and now all of the equipment I use on a regular basis is free and clear and I can allocate my income toward something more important. Of course, I could’ve just taken a loan and paid for all the things I needed in one shot, but I knew that at least initially I wouldn’t be able to afford the payments.

Start small, dream big, and make every effort to fulfilling that dream without going too over your head into debt.

Define, act and evaluate. Cycle it through as many times as you like….

Easy to say, sometimes difficult for many (including myself) to practice :)

I am now working on actually setting and achieving smaller goals to move me along in my finances.

One of the aspects that have been touched on is making the goal public or sharing it with others. Interestingly, I am reading a book right now called “Influence” that states that this is based on psychological need to appear consistent with our choices. Therefore making it public makes us accountable publicly (and need to appear consistent to others) and therefore more likely to try and achieve the goal.

I don’t know if it was discussed in the related article about which form of debt to pay off first, but I wanted to point out the disadvantage of paying down the smallest amount of debt first. While it may have a psychological benefit by seeing one debt component eliminated, you could actually see your overall debt increase.

How? Simple – if you have a low debt amount at a low loan rate, and a much higher debt amount at a much higher rate then it could increase faster than you are able to pay down the smaller amount. All of a sudden, the argument for the psychological benefit is now diminished.

I’ll admit that I haven’t been consistent with my financial goals due to some setbacks, but despite that, it won’t deter me in plowing through my credit card debt!

I try to stay accountable as possible and I have this neat personal finance app called “Spend” on my iPhone which keeps me aware of how much money I’m spending on a week to week basis.

I’ve consolidated my financial credit card debt (yet again) on a 1.99% promotional rate, which saves me on interest BIG TIME and gives me some room to breathe.

Strategies I’ve taken on is pay down 80% of my paycheque and put it towards my debt.and leaving my credit cards at home.. but I’m beginning to think that it’s creating a “poverty mindset” because I’m cash strapped.. I’m thinking more and more of “paying myself first”.. but I guess that’s a whole ‘nother thing.

I’ve got about $7K to go!

I would also add, and its implied in your post with your wife, that achieving goals does not have to be a solo effort. Having someone reach goals with you or having someone you are accountable to is very important. I started running last year and I found going to running classes, no matter how much I did not want to, kept me focused because I did not want to let the rest of the class down.