Do for yourself what the Keystone Government is failing to do

In late 2007 I heard the "R" word was coming. This brought back memories of the recession that occured in 2002-2003. At that time, I was moderately in debt and my income was dwindling. I had been an avid listener to the Dave Ramsey radio show, but not fully on board with his advice.

Luckily, at that time, my house was up for sale while I was having a smaller house built. My house sold quickly and I was able to live a few months with my brother while our house was being built. We used our equity to payoff all our debts. Fortunately, my business had picked up by the time we moved into our house.

So, this time I took the "R" seriously. I had not yet built an emergency fund and I had about 3k left to pay on my truck. I immediately dropped my golf membership, dropped my cable, made an tight budget for necessities and began to work as much as possible. Within 8 months, we were able to payoff the truck and build an emergency fund of 5 months basic expenses.

Every since that time, we have invested 18%(mostly in Roths useable for additional emergency funds) of our income and established an additional 400 per month in an car fund(which could be used as additional emergency funds). We carry no debt but our mortgage. It is important to know that my family is an average income family. You do not have to make a lot of money to become debtfree and build wealth.

With that said, it seems to be common place for many americans to live in debt from payday to payday. Many will not or do not know how to change this behavoir. Many will stumble over the status quo or keep up with the Jone's mentality. As Dave Ramsey has said many times, personal finance is 80% behavoir and 20% head knowledge, all you need is a basic understanding of money and a lot of will to change.

But, here is the good news, once you commit to changing your financial health you will not suffer as you think. When you see progress you will transform away from an addictive consumption lifestyle. Once you get ahead of your finances you gain an sense of impowerment that will have you look at your life and freedom from an more independent point of view. Like me, you will begin to see the way government handles your money as an abomination.

Don't make the mistake in thinking that becoming an saver and living an debtfree lifestyle means living without. Not only will you gain financial peace, you will get more for your money while building wealth. Instead of you paying interest, you will start to reap the reward of earning compound interest.

Lastly, our country is headed towards financial storms. Many will be disapointed with the social programs in place. Social Security is not secure, I strongly urge you to prepare for yourself and not rely on these programs. I personally, would be saving less if I believed that SS would be there, but I have not faith in our government to become fiscally sound. Please, do not leave yourself vunerable, find the independent american pride within you to do what you must do.