I welcome you to my blog, Life vs Debt. Sometimes you get to a point in life when you realize that the path you're heading down isn't the path that you want to be on. That if you continue down this path you don't believe you will be happy with what you've done, the legacy you've left behind. Some may call it a mid life crisis. But, dammit, I'm only 32! I'm definitely feeling some sort of way though. I've decided I needed a change and this is the medium I've chosen to document that change. Hopefully, ten years from now, I'll go back and read this first post and be happy with what I've achieved.
Now my life isn't all doom and gloom. I have quite a bit going on for me. I'm very happily married. My wife and I have two dog children so far and are wanting to expand our family. As I type this my youngest pup just came in to give me a quick lick on my hand and is now demanding some attention. Where's his rope at... Alright, I'm back after a quick play time. The pup is now contently chewing on his rope. As I was saying, life isn't all bad. I am the proud payer of a mortgage though the property needs/needed plenty of work. And I have a great job, with the ability to move up, despite my lack of college degree. Not bad at all.
The Negatives
So what could I not be happy with? Well, for starters, even though I do have a great job I don't love what I do. I completely understand most people are in job they don't love and make it work. It doesn't mean I have to be happy about it though! Especially now that I found something that I am passionate about. Over the last couple years I've found that I love the world of personal finance. But as I search for ways to make a living off of it I've realized I can't really go too far without a degree. Especially if I don't want to take a 50% pay cut right off the bat. It's absolutely frustrating finally finding a field that you want to work in and having so many obstacles in your way!
The fact that I've fallen in love with personal finance makes the next aspect of my life that I'm not happy with seem like a nice big joke. My household's finances are a mess. Despite my best efforts to pay off debts and curb spending new debts, that are even bigger then the previous debts, keep popping up. Last year I paid off nearly $20,000 in debt but also added roughly $60,000 more to the pile! With all of this new debt my wife and I are now spending more every month then we make and cutting back is proving to be surprisingly hard. Telling your wife "no" to anything is never easy for me and makes me feel guilty.
My Choices
As I look at it I have two options from here on out. Fight or Flight. Dammit I'm a fighter and I will fight for the things that I want. What do I want? Obviously I want to change everything that I mentioned above that I'm not happy with. The only path that leads to achieving all of these things is Financial Independence. Setting and sticking to a budget will allow us to pay down debt. Paying down debt will, hopefully, allow me to make a career change. In order to be qualified to make that career change I have applied and been accepted to a local university to get my degree. There's lots of work that needs to be done and accountability and motivation is key to achieving success.
Accountability and motivation are a big reason for this blog. I want to lay bare everything about my finances and life to you. Being honest will help keep me accountable. I'll also be using this as a place to showcase the projects that I've done/am doing to my house. Really, anything that falls under the life category I want to write about. So, the major focus of this blog is Financial Independence with a sprinkling of a wide array of topics. Hopefully you will give me support and, maybe, even guidance in my journey. Follow me on twitter and say hi! I'd love to hear from you. Once again, I welcome you to Life vs Debt.