Take Steps to Becoming Debt Free with Financial Freedom

Financial freedom comes at a cost. For a rich life, a person must first find out what is holding her back. Is it credit cards, student loans, late payments, shopping, late bills or letting people constantly borrow money? The issues people have blocking them from being debt free are endless. But with a few organized steps, you can be on your way to living a financially satisfying life.

Use a ledger or a notebook and write down all of your bills-first those that have a regular monthly payment (ex. cable bill or cellular phone bill with a steady rate) and then those bills that rise and fall depending on how often you use them (ex. electricity bill or credit cards). Calculate how much must be spent in total to take care of these bills. Estimate the total amount for fluctuating bills. Then decide on what items can be eliminated. Do you really need that retail store credit card or does it make you spend money more often just for the discount rates? Do you need all of the movie channels when you're barely home to watch television?

After analyzing all of your bills and eliminating those cards or items you don't need, create a budget and stick to it, but make sure you save a percentage of your money each pay period. Every time you pay a bill, pay yourself through a savings account. Although saving up for a rainy day may be difficult with today's economy, it is even more imperative to set money to the side in case of emergency circumstances.

While spending your money a little more wisely, evaluate your current career. Is it really a career or just a job? If you are not currently working in a field you want to excel in, then you may be stuck in this position involuntarily for years. Start checking out job sites to find a position you're more interested in and feel you can grow with. Making money and enjoying your job is not an impossible task, and loving what you do career-wise can also make you want to try to reach upper management levels. If you are currently working in a field you enjoy, check out higher paying opportunities. Research what it is you need to do to get to that point, whether it's taking certain classes; learning a new computer program; or traveling more often. Unless you are born into an elite family, working for a rich life and being debt free is going to take some networking.

And after you do the research to find a higher paying job for a rich life and becoming debt free from your new budget, you still haven't completed the hardest part-living within your means through friends and family. While you may try to be disciplined with your own spending, make sure your significant other also respects your new goal. If you're paying for dates at the most luxurious restaurants or shopping with friends who only go to top notch stores, you will constantly be tempted to overspend. Either don't go to places you can't afford or let your loved ones know ahead of time that you will be tempted to cheat so they can try to help you by discouraging it.

With a combination of these three debt free goals, you'll be financially comfortable soon enough.