My Financial Revolution - ... To Sum Up

Whew! We've reached the end of my financial revolution story! Now you know how I got here, where I am now, and where I'm going. I'll continue the story in leaps and bounds as I share my continuing story in the months (years?) ahead, but right now I want to do a little reflecting on how I've changed and what I've learned.

I have a lot fewer fears now than I did three months ago. I no longer dread getting the mail (for fear of bills) or using my debit card (for fear of 'rejected' messages). Facing $120,000 of debt on a $45,000 salary should scare the crap out of someone, but I was going to have to face it with or without a plan, and facing it with a plan is a lot less frightening.

I find myself hoping and dreaming a lot more than I used to. Or at least a lot more specifically. I've always been goal-oriented when it came to my career, and I've spent a lot of time looking toward what the future would bring, but these dreams have always been fairly vague. Now I have a very specific vision of my future, and even though I know that not everything works out exactly the way you plan, I know that whatever happens I'll have the financial wherewithal to face it with confidence.

That brings me to the most important change: I've learned to have confidence in myself. I always approached finances with an "I Can't" attitude. It's no wonder that I never succeeded financially; you can't succeed if you don't try. Now I know how to be one step ahead instead of two steps behind, and I know that I can do what needs to be done to keep accomplishing that. It may not be easy and I may not do it as well as someone else, but I can definitely do what I need to do for me in my life.

As I move forward from here, I encourage you to keep tabs on me. Asking questions and creating conversation is a great way to motivate me to move forward and keep learning about personal finance, and I hope it does the same for you.

This post is part of my Financial Revolution Series, which is my personal financial story. Each post gives a piece of the story, detailing how I got into debt and how I turned things around.

Next Time on TVG&M: How to Create a Budget That Actually Works