How do I get started being financially free. I envy your financial wisdom and I am tired of being in debt. Like dieting, I have tried many things but nothing seems to stick. What do I do?

It’s not so much what you DO, but more in how you THINK.

To be successful with any endeavor – whether it’s to save money, get out of debt, or lose weight – you have to first believe you can do it.

Once you believe it, your vision becomes a reality.

When that reality is divided into small achievable goals, you must get mentally ready to put in the work.

When you get started, you have to be mentally prepared for the challenges ahead so that you can overcome the mistakes you are bound to make, the slow progress, and inevitable frustration.

And finally, you must have faith in a higher power to lift you up when you are discouraged and give you strength to keep on keeping on.

The rest is simple, just do it.

Apologize for the delay, still basking in the glory of completing my first 5k. Hey, I rhymed! :-)

I want to thank nofearingthemoney and chele for checking in with me almost everyday of the challenge and staying committed to their goals from the beginning to the very end.  Congratulations!  If you both will email me your mailing address, I’d really appreciate it.

What…you guys didn’t know there would be a prize at the end?  Yea baby!  I like to reward dedication and commitment. That’s what achieving goals is all about!

Well, you all know how I did on the 5k. So tell me…how did YOU do on the $5k vs. 5k challenge?  What was your goal and what did you accomplish?

As an adult, you face many concerns in your day-to-day life, but the two that come out overwhelmingly on top are your health and your finances.  Weight gain, sagging, and a loss of energy are almost inevitable as you age, and once you’re living on your own, or supporting a family, financial woes just seem to come with the territory.  So how can you get on track with your health and your wealth at the same time?

The principles required to lead a disciplined lifestyle can apply to all areas of your life, but especially to physical fitness and your finances.  You start with good intentions.  You resolve to begin an intensive workout regimen right after the holidays.  Or you promise yourself that as soon as you pay off your credit card you’re going to put some money into savings.  The problem with these vague statements is that they are all too easy to shrug off when you’ve had a long day at work and all you want is a glass of wine, or when there’s a really big sale at Macy’s.  To get your life in order, you have to be organized and form a defined plan of action.  After all, schedules are nothing new.  You get up and go to work every day (yes, you do get paid for that).  But you will also get rewards from physical fitness and financial stability.

With fitness, it’s not quite as easy as setting aside half an hour a day.  You need to know what you’re going to do and how your routines will progress to deliver the results you want.  You can always join a gym, or hire a personal trainer to push you mercilessly close to the brink of your endurance, but if you make it too difficult in the beginning, you’re more likely to can it altogether, so think about starting slow.  There are several wonderful resources online that can teach you how to plan workouts and even offer tips, advice, and a personalized schedule to get you going.  Most of them also present nutritional help, which can really get you on board with weight loss (if that’s what you need) or at least maximize your workouts.

As for getting your finances in order, you need to start with (sigh) a budget.  Nobody likes making budgets, but suck it up and get it done.  This is the starting block for fiscal solvency.  Once you’ve got your budget in place, you’re off and running.  All you have to do is stick to it.  Not so tough, right?  Wrong.  You really have to be diligent about tracking what you spend.  Save receipts, get a ledger, and cut up those extra credit cards.  One is enough to get you into plenty of trouble, so you may want to set it aside for emergency use only (and no, that does not include a totally fabulous dress from Barney’s!).  You should also make your savings account a priority.  Put in a little money every month (it doesn’t have to be half your paycheck…even $50-100 is a good start).  Just think, if you can save $100 a month, you’ll have $1,200 by the end of the year.  That’s pretty amazing if you’ve never been a saver.

Only you can control your life.  You are solely responsible for your level of health and the state of your finances.  And with a little self-discipline, meeting your goals is within your power.  It will be hard work, and it will require you to make definite changes and stick to them, but in the long run, you’ll come out of the experience with a thinner body and a fatter wallet.  Who can say no to that?

Thomas Warren is a content writer for Go College, one of the oldest and most trusted resources to guide students on how to finance and succeed in college.

Who’s still hanging in there with me? Roll Call!

It’s an open forum, share your experience so far!

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Monday was a run day and I did 3.1 miles.  See.

I shared my thoughts about Monday’s run in my dailymile update.  I plan to run 3.1 miles until the race.  For now, building endurance is more important to me than improving pace.

My nutrition was the usual, oatmeal for breakfast with a banana. Lunch was a chicken salad sandwich with baby spinach and a side of cucumbers and grapes. Dinner was a protein shake, no appetite after running. Snacks were wheat thins and a wedge of laughing cow cheese.  Oh, and I had about 5-6 frito lay chips from the snack table at work.  When I realized how much fat I was eating, I felt disgusted and gave the bag away.

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Until recently, as in 5 months ago, I had never run a day in my life.  Now I can run 3 miles.  Wow!

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Until recently, I wore plus size clothing.  Now I am comfortably in a size 10 and still losing. Woot!

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I only have 19.6 lbs to reach my happy weight. Yay!

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I purged my closet this weekend and removed every single thing that was too big, except 1 pair of jeans.  You know, I need to keep 1 pair for the obligatory picture when I try them on to remember how far I’ve come.  I have no reason to hold on to those things because I will never go back.

I packed up 10 suits, 4 slacks, 3 skirts, 3 tops, 2 blazers, 2 coats, 7 jeans – all tailored because they were my favorite – that will be donated to Dress for Success.  This is in addition to the 4 bags of stuff that I took to my mom’s house last month AND the 2 additional bags of non-work clothes that I’ll donate to Goodwill or the Salvation Army.

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All of this is a result of the choices I make every day.  Choices that are NOT perfect by any means. But the most important choice is that I don’t give myself an option to quit.

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On a run day, I burn 2,722 calories in 24 hours. Pretty cool to know.

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I read this on a message board and it feels like it was written specifically for me:

“Running won’t be enjoyable for you until you kind of forget that you’re doing it.  Here’s an analogy. Have you ever tossed a ball in the air and tried to catch it while tracking its movement very closely with your eyes? It’s hard to do! It’s much easier to catch the ball by NOT looking at it and letting proprioceptive tell your hand where it’s going to fall.

Running is essentially just a faster version of things you’ve done naturally your whole life (walking and breathing). If you try to pay too much attention to the mechanics of those things, you are making it too hard.”

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My rent for June is $2,285. Sheesh!

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We’ve spent almost the exact amount in senior year expenses so far.

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BG was fitted for her prom dress and we pick it up on Friday. The alterations cost almost as much as the dress.  Hmph!  We bought her shoes and clutch last week.  All we need to do now is to find accessories and the corsage.  Her complete look is going to be simple, yet elegant.

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This summer is going to be a big blur. Prom is 6/4, my race is 6/5, graduation is 6/18, my fam wants a party but she doesn’t care so I’m not sure if one will go in between here, college freshman orientation is 6/24, we move to a new apartment 6/28, we leave for Paris 7/1, BG’s born day is 7/2, marching band camp begins 7/24, college freshman check-in is 8/14.

After that final day, when I return to my empty nest, I have no idea how I will feel. I just pray that God holds me close in His arms.

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BG found a job!!  That is great news all by itself. Praise da lawd!