I have talked with many clients, friends, family and coworkers about the best way to accelerate getting out of consumer debt. One popular method is called “debt stacking.” Dave Ramsey calls it the “debt snowball.” You’ve probably heard of it and may have even tried it. The basic concept is that you pay as much as you possibly can on one debt while paying just the minimum on the rest. Once your first debt is paid off, you take all that you were paying on that debt and add it to the minimum you are paying on the second debt. The process continues until all of your debts are resolved.* There are a couple different ways to choose the order of debts to pay off. One is to start with the smallest principle. Another is to pay the highest interest first. The debt stacking method is a great plan for getting out of debt, and whenever I explain this method to someone, I see hope return to their faces.
The problem is, most people just don't follow through with it. The method looks great to everyone on paper, but it is difficult to get started. Paying out even more than you are used to might feel impossible, so here are six tips to help you get started:

1. Pay only the minimums. Start your plan without accelerating it. Plot out your projected progress and post it on your fridge for daily reassurance.
2. Commit one month to come up with an accurate budget. Journal every expense. Be very detailed, include everything you spend money on.
3. Decide where you can go lean, or what you can do without—be realistic. Come up with a total dollar amount. How much can you trim from your budget? $10 a month? $500?
4. Devote half of what you trim to the first payment in your debt stacking plan and half to savings for three months. Then revisit your budget and decide if you can devote even more of it to your outstanding debt.
5. Celebrate! You now have an established plan! Post the new accelerated plan so you can see your new projected progress.
6. Consistently revisit your budget and determine if you can devote more to the next debt in your stack.

After getting a plan started, many people struggle with maintaining it and moving forward. It’s easy to fall back into old patterns, especially if the reward for all of your hard work seems far away. We tend to want more immediate gratification, which is what got us in debt to begin with.
When Robin and I first started paying off our debt, our calculations showed that we would be able to pay off our consumer debt in about three years. Three years! That was both amazing, “We’ll be free from debt in three years!” and daunting, “We’ll have to tighten our budget for three whole years.” The pain was more immediate than the pleasure, so we devised a plan—
Celebrate Small Successes!
It may be difficult for you to stay on a plan that will take three to five years, so you need to find a way to celebrate every small success. Celebrate creating the plan, then celebrate maintaining it for three months, six months, or a year. Take a few minutes to recognize what you are doing and be grateful.
One thing that Robin and I did to celebrate was each time we paid off an entire debt, we took a portion of the money we’d been paying and did something fun—go out to eat someplace nice, stay the night at the coast, something we planned and looked forward to at each payoff point. Because we had the plan posted on the fridge, we could plan on when to celebrate, based on the projection. You will notice that after each payoff, you’ll have a little bit more money to spend on celebrating. Remember that this is just a taste of what it will be like every month once you are debt free!
Finally, Accept that setbacks happen. At some point during your plan you might spend too much money on something, or an emergency will come up that can't be ignored. Money will get spent that is outside of your budget and your plan. Acknowledge it for what it is and move on with the plan.

What is your debt payoff plan? How are you going to implement it? What events are you going to celebrate and how will you celebrate them? What will you do when setbacks happen?

*For a more detailed explanation and example of debt stacking, go to
http://www.vectorchange.com/debt.html.

As we enter this year’s holiday season, people are wondering, "How are we going to pay for Christmas this year?" There’s no doubt that folks everywhere are highly stressed. So where do you find hope?

One goal of coaching is to help individuals return to their core values. Concentrating on your core values forces you to see through the fog of worries in your mind. Re-establishing your core values provides clarity of vision, which allows you to better envision the direction your life is going. And so it goes with coaching—a method for establishing solid action steps grounded in your values that will help you attain your goals. The following seven encouragements are designed to help you stay on track.

1. Remember that you are the expert in your own life. Likewise, the members of your family are your family's experts. Only you know how well you are doing financially, emotionally, interpersonally, etc... Are you going to believe what the media tells you, or are you going to believe what you know to be true for you and your family?

What is your real situation? Write it down and talk to each other about it.

2. Remember past difficulties. How did you get through them? Consider the three most recent economic downturns. At the beginning of this century, the bubble burst on the stock market as dot coms went under. I was personally affected when I was laid off from one of them. Before that there was Black Monday: On October 19, 1987, the DOW dropped 22.6% in a single day. I barely remember the one before that, in the 1970s, when Carter was president. But I do remember my family being very worried and waiting in long lines for gasoline.

What other difficulties have you made it through? What did you learn from them?

3. Cling to your beliefs and watch your attitude. This is a big one, because your beliefs and attitude are wrapped around your core values. Start by having an absolute trust and belief that you will get through difficult times. Yes, it is challenging, but you’ve proved before that you can do it.

4. Mourn your losses. If, during this challenging time, you and your family have suffered a loss, take time to recognize and embrace what that loss means to you. Many times, we don’t fully acknowledge a loss to protect ourselves from suffering. Maybe the way you deal with pain is to complain, "This isn't fair! I don't deserve this!" Some lean more toward anger, while others might just give up. But how many of us respond rationally by just pausing to weep?

When we acquiesce and seek that place of brokenness and deep sorrow, we can finally rest long enough to find the comfort that offers us the first glimmer of healing and hope. That hope may only be the size of a small seed, but it is the first sign of better things to come.

Are there losses that still haunt you? Take some time to reflect on them, mourn them.

5. Create your new vision. Rather than concentrating on what everyone else is saying, focus your energy on your own vision, the direction for your life and your family’s life together. Imagine this: At the end of a long day, you stop by to get a take 'n bake pizza. At home, you finish up some work and have to get on the kids about their chores. Before you know it, the pizza is burning! You have two choices: focus on the problem of the ruined meal and how everyone is hungry, or focus on a solution, “Well, the fire is out, dinner is ruined...the windows are open, the smoke is dissipating. Who wants peanut butter and jelly?”
New vision is about changing focus.

What will you look at differently?

6. Inspire others. When you know where you are going and your life is thriving in the midst of difficult times, you will automatically inspire others. Share your story. Don't be ashamed to share why you are so grounded.

Who will you tell your story to?

7. Celebrate. You will hear me talk a lot about celebrating. I really believe in celebration! We have to, because it is in celebration that we get to the very essence of what life is about. It is in celebration that we express our deepest gratitude to God and each other. By celebrating you create a milestone, a way to memorialize, "Hey, we made it through this trying time, so let’s plant a tree to celebrate it!" Find a way to lock every achievement into your memory. Plan your celebration ahead of time.

What will you do to celebrate your success in perseverance?

My daughter, Stephanie, spent most of Today writing essays for a scholarship she is applying for that will help her with college.  She also decided to write this essay about me.

Enjoy!

Marriage problems, family problems, mixed family concerns, work or school problems, just life in general problems, questions or concerns?

David is my step father, he is my mom’s husband, and he is my step brother and sister’s father. He is caring and hopeful. He is strong and open minded and has goals for himself. He wants to help others set goals, find themselves, and get their lives on track. He understands how hard it is to put two families into one and love each person for who they are as an individual. David is devoted to his business and is willing to coach each person for their own concerns. He will help you to answer your own questions and if he doesn’t know the answer, then he will go out of his way just to find it.

He has discovered that helping other people satisfies himself; it makes him feel stronger as a person and it gives him so much happiness in his heart to see other people succeed. He wants to help you find happiness and love for your life. He is very easy to talk to and I guarantee that he gives the best hugs ever.

You don’t understand why your mixed family is not getting along? You want answers to why your son or daughter doesn’t get along with their step mother or father? You want to figure out strategies to help them get along with each other. David will talk through everything with you. He will help you set goals and rules, even hopes and dreams.

Your marriage seems to be falling apart and you want help putting it back together? David will talk with just you or he will talk with you and the one you love to help you find ways to get your relationship back on track. He will help you think of things to do with each other and for each other. David will help you to realize what you are doing to push that special someone farther and farther away. Hopefully, he will help your find a way for you to fix the problem which will hopefully bring that person closer and closer to you. He will tell you what he sees and what he thinks needs to be changed in the relationship. He will help you set goals for your marriage and coach you to happiness.

Do you want him to help you have a relationship with God? He will show you the way and walk every step with you. He will pray with you and for you. He will pray with your family and for them. You just need to open your mind and let him know what you are wanting, feeling and thinking.

Is your son or daughter rebellious and you do not know what to do about it. Is it bringing you down as a person? Is it maybe even bringing your family down? David will help you strategize and understand what you need to do to help your child. He will be able to figure something different out for each individual for each different problem.

Is money tight in your home, David will help you find ways to budget your families needs and wants. He will help you write out a plan and help you accomplish it.

David's knowledge is useful in so many ways. He will not only be your Life Coach but your friend. He will only be a phone call away if needed.