Are you REALLY debt free?

Do you only use your credit card to make your purchases and then pay it off each month? You never pay any interest. You always pay on time, so you don't have late fees. But, I ask you... Are you REALLY debt free? Maybe you are. Maybe you aren't.

When we first started on our journey to really watch our budget and build our wealth we didn't have credit card balances that we carried from month to month. We used a card, but we paid it off each month. We paid on time, or even early. We decided to quit using the card and use the envelope system so that we could track our expenses better. What I realized is that I could not pay off the credit card bill for the month and also pay cash for the things that we needed for the coming month. We were a month behind. We had been living a lie. We weren't debt free. We were a slave to those things that had been purchased a month before.

It took about four months to totally switch our system and have the "debt" paid and also money for our envelope system. I had to really cut everything tightly to do that or it would have taken longer.

Don't be deceived. If you have the money to pay off your balance and really have the money to put into your current months bills maybe you do have it under control. But, truly look at your finances and know where your are. Ignorance is not bliss, knowledge is the power to overcome the stongholds in your life.