If you don't know where you are going, you'll end up someplace else. Yogi Berra

You can't change what you don't acknowledge. Dr. Phil

The first step in saving money is acknowledging where you are. If you are in denial and think that you don't need to make changes in order to improve your financial outlook, then you are mistaken! The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result! If you are currently not where you'd like to be financially, then what you have been doing hasn't been working and you need to do something different to see different results. Get real with yourself!

The most difficult part of change is the mental part...changing the way you think about things.

We all have a mental picture of what money is or does for us. We all have a mind-image of what we deserve or don't deserve and these images and thought processes can aid or sabotage our goals for our lives. We've all heard of those people making large 6 figure incomes who are broke, or the person who won a million dollars in the lottery and a year later they have nothing left. Is is really a need? or is it a want? We may need a car, but we don't need to have a brand new one, no matter how you try to justify it. That car is just a means to get from one place to the next. "But I want something reliable", you might say....or "If I spend the extra now, I'll save it later." These are just justifications for your want, not your needs. Notice the difference.

Spending money can act like a drug, sending an adrenaline rush and a 'high' feeling when you make a purchase. The 'high' is not long lasting, though, and the spender feels the need to go out and buy something new to feel good again. Often people who love to get a great sale or bargain shop are the biggest addicts and justify their addiction by saying, "But I saved $10 on that." The high of the purchase can be followed by big lows when the bills come in and you realize you can't pay them.

Money can be a power trip. Your spouse buys a new power tool, so you feel you deserve that new outfit, then he sees the new outfit and, like a vicious circle, decides if you have a new outfit, he certainly deserves that new accessory for his truck, and so on, and so on. Often this whirlwind is difficult to get out of because both parties are in the cycle of saying, "I'll stop when he/she stops." and neither is willing to be the first one to break the pattern and keep it broken, no matter what the other spouse continues to do.

Be honest with yourself....remember: YOU CAN'T CHANGE WHAT YOU DON'T ACKNOWLEDGE! If you aren't willing to admit that you use shopping to make you feel good, then why would you ever want to change something that you think is working just fine????

Step one: Take a good look at your life and identify what your thought processes are when it comes to money and the things money buys in your life.
Do you feel you deserve things?
Do you feel that it is only fair that you get something because someone else has them?
Do you get a high from a shopping trip?
Do you want to impress others with your clothes? car? home? lifestyle? etc.??????
Do you think you don't deserve to live a better life?
What did your family say about money when you were growing up?
Do you feel that it is hopeless and there is no way out of the debt cycle?

Write down your feelings, so you can look back on them later and think about them when you are in a different state of mind again. Ask yourself, "Am I being honest with myself?" Even try ranking yourself on a scale of 1 to 10 for each area or statement.

You can create a life free of debt, filled with joy, security and abundance, it all starts here.