Does Anyone Have An Inspirational Story Of Overcoming Really Bad Debt?

How much is housing around your area?

 

Probably not as much as in AUS, but the difference is finding a job to pay for one these days, unless you had a stable one that hasn't crashed before the economy plummeted.

A good house in Midd TN will run you about 80-150k. A nice house that's more luxurious will be anywhere above. The 'dream home' here is usually only about 400k.



^By me. $274k

 

That's actually fairly cheap (even with dollar conversion) for a good house in Mid-Tenn.

The $274k one is probably just above the price of mine, but housing here is ridiculous in pricing.

 

I'm laughing at those middle TN housing prices. I WISH stuff up here was like that, but it isn't. That same house in my area would cost you just under a million. Assuming it is 3 bedrooms, 2 baths. How ridiculous right.

Let me show you what that same 275k will get you in southern CT.



Okay I looked and nothing for that amount, but his is what $288,900 gets you.
And so you know, this house is in the hood.

 

Some good advice from several posters earlier in this thread. One thing you asked for is an inspirational story and I assume you don't mean Horatio Alger.

I did hear this story many years ago, when Donald Trump was supposedly broke and $10 million in debt. Trump saw a panhandler on the other side of the street and told his companion, "See that guy? He's worth $10 million more than me."

I think Trump is doing OK now.

P.S. I know you're not trying to get rich like Trump, so that wasn't the point, which is that even when he was $10M in debt, he kept at it and eventually got out of that debt. Hope you didn't think that little story was an attempt to be flippant. It wasn't intended that way.

 

Some of you may know that I play poker on a semi professional basis. 2008 was a good year as I finished about $5,000 in the black after paying uncle sam. 2009 was a little bit different because for the year, I was up a total of $400. I was up more than 6k at one point, but ran into some bad luck that seemed to feel like an avalanche. Infact, my bad luck lasted about 6 months. Also, I was playing way out of my bankroll, (for example, buying into $215 tourneys when I only had $1,200 in my account).

This year, believe it or not, I am up $1,000.00 already. I started out the new year, on vacation (Staycation) and I've gotten to play alot of poker online and at the casino. I'm up $300 at the casino and $750 online. Playing without the worries and stress of work make me feel like I am playing much better. Many players feel this way.

(In 2006, 2007 I lost considerable sums of money because I was playing out of my bankroll and didn't know what I knew now about poker)

I would never make poker my permanent job, because I would pull my hair out and its just not good business to base your well being on the flip of a card, but poker is a great side hustle, especially when you know are the best player at the table. If you are at a table for 30 mins, and you can't spot the fish. YOU ARE THE FISH.

There is no get rich quick scheme that works, that is legal. You must accumulate wealth slowly. Correct me if I'm wrong, but in the book "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" by Robert Kyrosaki, he advocated every guy having a "side hustle". Whether that side hustle is stocks, a service, playing cards, a business, or even a part time job.

I treat poker like a business. If I'm not in a good game, then I won't play. If all the dead money leaves the table, so do I. I know who the sharks are at the casino, and I know who the fish are (I guess they know me too well at the Horseshoe). When you do profit from your side hustle, figure out a way to make that money work for you. I do that by investing in a savings account, which is linked to my sharebuilder account. I don't want to solicit on this site, but send a PM if you are interested in this as I will earn money for referring anyone whos interested.

If you treat it like a business, take the emotions out of it, and focus on consistent play and adhear to bankroll rules, you won't go broke playing cards. So there you have it. Poker is my sidehustle and advocate everyone having a side hustle.

I have thought, in the long run I may not be making enough money at poker... But.. Poker is fun, I like to shoot the breeze, its puts my mind at ease from the daily grind, and I'm good at it, so why not?

I'm not advocating having a lifestyle of gambling. I'm advocating a side hustle. I even considering taking a part time job at the liquor store and putting every paycheck i get directly into my Savings account. What do you guys think?

I probably need to spell and grammar check. Try to read over my errors.

 

When I was just out of college and my wife was going through school we wound up racking up a good amount of debt, at least for our income at the time which was pretty slim.

Things had gotten pretty bad with lenders calling about every day when my car got totaled on my way home from work one day by a guy who ran a red light. His insurance gave me a low-ball offer, I fought them for weeks over it and finally got almost twice what they initially offered. I took that and paid off enough debt to get it to a more manageable size. We only had 1 car left so - so I rode with my wife to and from work/school every day for a couple years, which turned out to be great for our marriage, too.

It took a couple years, but things snowball for the better once you get started chipping away. I wound up eventually buying my dad's 25 year-old Volvo to get around. A few more years and a couple job moves later not only was the debt long gone but I had almost perfect credit and our savings was actually decent... we wound up being able to buy our dream house.

Of course then we sold the house, moved to NY, and are starting over again with a career change. But at least without the debt this time...

 

I had a great uncle who died very wealthy. He told the story that during the depression he was jobless and destitute. He managed to scrap 3 pennys together and bought an apple. He spent an entire day polishing it and sold it the next day for 5 cents. He managed to buy 2 apples with that nickle and spent another day polishing them, and sold them both for 10 cents. He took that dime and bought 3 apples and spent a day polishing them and sold them for 20 cents. He continued doing that, until exactly one year later his long lost great grandfather died and left him millions of dollars.
So, hang in there, you never know...

 

i agree, dave ramsey has some awsome books on financial advice.