Mint is one of the most popular money tracking apps available for Android and iOS. It’s a great app for the busy person who wants to track their money. It allows you to quickly and easily create and manage budgets and budgets. You can track your spending and see where your money is going. Mint’s budgeting feature allows you to break down your spending.
When it comes to money I’ve found there are two kinds of people, those who are good at spending it and those who have self control. Unfortunately for my other half, I fall into the good at spending it category. While at the start of our relationship she grew to love me for being so generous with my money, as our relationship has grown, well all my frivolous spending on life’s more enjoyable luxuries has become an issue, putting unwanted tension between us.
One day we were talking about what we both wanted from our future together and I realized I had to change my spending ways. Not just for her to have everything she desired from life, but for me to achieve my dreams too. Even if those dreams of ours were just so we could afford to send our kids to a good school, a good college and they wouldn’t resent me for missing out on a good childhood. I knew this big life change wasn’t going to happen overnight, especially not with the current lingering debt I’d amassed over the years. Time to do some serious reading on money and debt had arrived at my doorstep. Read more…
After a few weeks of reading how others had helped their own financial situations, I came across a helpful story by a woman who said she’d completely changed her life, for the better. Her story initially struck me as it had many similarities to my own life escapades, from frivolous spending to a mountain of debt. As I read more, she shared photos of her life and her finances, it was hard not to feel bad for her at first. I continued to read on and just a bit further down she shared a really moving photo. In the photo she was in tears and holding a hand written list.
She told us how her cat, Milly, had been hit by a car and broken his little hind legs. The driver didn’t stop and just sped off. This brave woman went on to say that because her life was in such a bad shape, she just didn’t have enough money to let the vet operate on 8 year old Milly. She had to make the heartbreaking decision to do what was right for him, in relation to all the pain and suffering he was enduring, she put him out of his misery.
I’m not going to lie, reading that story, looking at that photo, I got all teared up. It made me so sad to think someone like me, didn’t even have the finances to save their best friend. As sad as it was, I kept reading. This powerful woman stated she was using going to use the death of Milly as a chance to change her life, so Milly didn’t just die for nothing. She showed us what she’d written on her list from the photo. The list title ‘Personal Goals:’ On the very top of the list she’d written:
- Managing your money and staying out of debt so you can afford medical bills.
This empowering story moved me so much I simply had to share it with my other half. Letting her see I was so emotional, so moved by this tragic but life changing story, proved to her that I not only genuinely cared about our financial future together, but I wanted to change, to do something about my bad spending habits. So we put into place a plan and stuck to it. Every time I felt like making a purchase I would say to myself, “What would Milly think?” I was amazed at how well just this one simple technique worked.
A few weeks passed and she could see I was serious, so she booked us a debt consolidation appointment. She was so grateful that I was really making the effort to take our relationship to the next level, she even co-signed the debt consolidation papers with me! Telling me that just because I spent all my money on her, didn’t mean the debt was all mine to face alone. I love this woman.
Now a few months later, all my finances are on the mend and we have a joint a savings account we can see growing. I whole heartedly recommend, to anyone walking in my shoes that wants to truly change, please, for your own future, use debt consolidation as a way to reduce and eliminate your debt. You’ll notice your quality of life improves dramatically once your finances are taken care of. And don’t forget any time you want to make a purchase, ask yourself, “What would Milly think?”