What Living 100% on Cash Has Done for My Money Mindset

For the past year I have been working for myself. Initially I was doing what a lot of people do, feeling my way through the beginning stages of being 100% responsible for myself. It has been both a terrifying and heady experience of failures and successes. Of making pragmatic choices, stupid ones, and the game changing decisions that have a ripple effect for years to come. Through it all I have used cash for paying my mortgage online, for my coffee, and for all of the miscellaneous expenses that seem to pop up all of the time. Each moment when I was in a spending situation I had to make a decision-cash or credit?

One of those game changing decisions happened quite by accident and it will ultimately be a game changer for me. I killed my credit card habit. I didn’t plan on it, credit has always the go to that I fell back on since I went to college with absolutely no idea about how to manage money.

Cash is King

It’s such a cliche. But, for the past year I have felt the pain of still having residual credit card debt while being self-employed. That pain was a good thing because I finally, finally understood to the depth of my bones why Dave Ramsey goes ape-sh$t about debt.

You are someone else’s prisoner when you own them money. 

But, my reliance on credit cards like most Americans was a matter of habit, laziness, lack of focus, lack of a strategy, and an inability to wait while making certain financial decisions. What I didn’t realize was that for the past 5 years I’ve been on a very intense mindset journey that seems to have hit a tipping point this year. I don’t want anything that I can’t pay for with cash. I just want to pay bills or make my purchases then move on. I don’t want to be connected to anyone or any entity that has some level of power over me.

For the past year I experienced the feeling of paying for everything with cash either directly or indirectly with my debit card. Each time I put down a $5, $10, $20, or $100 I felt the emotion that came with earning that money. The mental energy of connecting with projects, the edits, asking when my invoices would be paid, and the experience of jubilation when my money arrived.

My relationship with my money has changed and I find that I respect it more. It would be hard not to because the dollars coming in are very hard won.  I’ve also developed a sense of pride in owning the items that I buy out right. Last fall I bought my first car. It was not the most well executed purchase-but, I did pay for it with cash. And, there is something pretty amazing about having a paid off car.

I’ve Changed

For the better. Maybe it is a result of 5 years exposure to people who are clawing their way out of debt? Or, spending 5 years writing about money and processing how I feel about my financial situation. Or, maybe this is the culmination of a lifetime of really bad financial decisions that I’m just so over.

I can no longer claim ignorance, lack of knowledge, or lack of discipline. And, I no longer am dealing with lack of will power. I believe 150% that I can become debt-free and that I won’t suffer or deal with feelings of FOMO or YOLO-because I haven’t missed out this whole year or felt like I missed out on YOLO moments.

I continue to go to epic exercise classes (free) I have 2 amazing co-working spaces (one is free) I go to the mountains (free) I go out to eat (this past weekend it was Dim Sum $13) I hang out at coffee shops (this weekend I used my free drink card). I hang out with friends (we were at Mr. Money Mustache’s house the other week and it was awesome).  I still travel-will be in San Diego in September.

If this is a hard life…then I have a First World Problem.

 It is my belief that there is a point where you just get tired of having the same results.

FinCon

Peer pressure is a great motivator. Truth be told, my friends do not pressure me in any other way than to support me in my dreams and my business. I would like to go to FinCon (personal finance conference that I attend every year) having made some substantial inroads in taking care of some of the financial issues that I have been dealing with for years.

Ultimately, I have been struggling on a huge mindset issue. I used to believe that:

• HUGE success was for other people…not for me.

• It is painful to admit that maybe, just maybe I didn’t truly believe that debt freedom was a reality for me.

• Is it weird that I have been afraid to be debt free? It is hard to imagine what life would be like without that constant pressure. What would fill up that space instead?

I am beginning to imagine what I would do with the mental energy that I will free up once I kill my debts once and for all.

$57,000

Is the amount that I owe on my mortgage. When I saw that amount I felt a spark and a true sense of amazement. I truly believe that I could pay this off in the next year (and my other debts) with the projects that I’m working on right now.

This is a game changer.

I have friends who are doing quite well (think earning  well above $10,000) a month who started where I am at right now. They focused, they worked their plan, doubled down, and they believed. That has been the missing ingredient for me. I had discipline, I had a fair amount of focus, but I didn’t believe.

Now I Do

When I switched to self-employment, my ultimate goal was to become an infoproneur and create a “tribe.” I have to admit that I wasn’t sure how that would look for me and I struggled trying to figure that out.

Fortunately, I’ve figured it out and have been working tirelessly to grow my projects, help people, and finally start seeing a change in what I am earning through “passive (not passive)” streams of income. Seeing my mortgage shrink to what some would consider bad credit card debt has flipped the switch regarding what I think is possible for me to do. It is possible for me to make enough money to pay this off-and soon.

Game on.

The following two tabs change content below.

• Bio
• Latest Posts

Michelle

I am an obsessive foodie, but not self-righteous with it, love travel, meeting new people, helping you look good, and am freaked out by people who don't enjoying reading...something! Grab a Perrier, read my blog, feel free to drop me a line! Hope to hear from you soon.

Latest posts by Michelle (see all)

• How Work Policies Against Black Women Birthed a Love of the Soft Life - 20 March, 2024
• How Taylor Swift’s IP Victory Could Change the Business of Music - 28 February, 2024
• Why Don’t More Personal Finance Content Creators Talk About Policy - 16 January, 2024