I am broke, living from pay check to check....
Here I am, what's next?
I was there a few years ago. Not quite broke but close; big mortgage; 5 mouths to feed.
Somehow I found the resolve to decide that come hell or high water, I was going to never spend a penny I didn't have available in cash. I had been putting groceries on a credit card and paying it off each month, but that was becoming most months. I did this:
- I applied for overdraft protection of $1500 at my bank
- I stopped carrying a credit card
- I went into overdraft instead of using a credit card
- I canceled all recurring payments that I could
- Once a month, I stopped by the bank and had them reduce my overdraft allowance by $50-100. This raised eyebrows, as their job is to convince you to "increase your buying power" which is a bullshit statement that ropes in suckers; but they did it.
- At the same time I started saving a few dollars - literally - every week
- After 18 months I was no longer dipping into overdraft each month, nor was I ever putting anything on a credit card
- I got a small bonus every few months and used it to wipe out credit cards once and for all (most months had got to be some months...)
- I crossed the no-overdraft line in August 2016. Today I have $10,000 in my chequing account that is budgeted in my YNAB program (google it) and is not being spent on month-to-month expenses. It will probably be my next car, which I'll buy used and old for cash rather than taking on monthly payments.
Don't get me wrong - I don't believe in getting rich by cutting out coffee. You have to find a way to increase your means; but you do still have to live within them, in the meantime. You can't fix your finances overnight, but you certainly can improve them overnight.