I’m super excited to have my friend, Camilla, sharing her story about getting out of debt this week. Finances affect us all and it’s not always easy to do the right thing. Camilla has lived on both sides of the fence and she knows a thing or two about getting it together. That’s probably why she’s a bestselling author with the book “How To Get Out Of Debt Living Paycheck to Paycheck. 9 Simple Steps to Financial Freedom”

If you’re tired of being in the hamster wheel and doing the same thing over and over with your money then you’re in good company with Camilla. Thanks for being here and enjoy! – Brad

 Camilla Kragius – Debt Busting Extraordinaire

When Brad asked me to guest post my first reaction was…are you kidding me? You know I’m all about personal accountability and taking charge of your own life and destiny. You really want me, a total stranger to your audience, to come in and be in their face too about taking charge of their life? But then I thought, inspiring and helping people (aka. kicking people’s rear’s) is kind of my favorite thing to do, now when I have finally learned to kick my own.

 Do your own thing

A big part of my story is how I got out of debt. My life has changed dramatically after I finally kicked debt to the curb. I no longer feel trapped. I can spend more time doing things I love to do. Like going skiing on a Monday. Or, a Thursday for that matter. Or, why not go camp mid-week when everyone else is stuck in an office.

 Live the life you want

Now, don’t take me wrong, it’s not like I’m rolling around in piles of money. I don’t have a huge savings account nor do I have a rich uncle feeding me money. I can’t do everything I want, yet. Currently as I’m working on building up my location independent lifestyle I’m actually bringing in less than I ship out. But because I made a plan, got ahead with my money, saved for a rainy day and picking up extra work that is also fun work I’m now able to enjoy more of the kind of lifestyle I want.

But it wasn’t always like that. For the longest time I couldn’t afford doing any of those things and it was all because I used the “blame” game.

– I was in debt because you could only build good credit if you carried debt.

– I was in debt because I didn’t make enough money.

– I deserved driving a nice car, eating out and again, if I only made more money.

– Having credit card debt was normal and part of adult life.

– No one taught me anything about money management.

 

I had all the excuses. But deep down inside I knew better, I knew I was responsible and that it was up to me to make a change, I was just too lazy to do something about it. It felt as if the mountain of debt that I had created was just too big to tackle so why even bother. So I kept using the excuses. It was easier to blame someone else than dealing with it. Sound familiar?

Wake up call

My wake up call wasn’t overnight. I read a great book called The Four Laws of Prosperity that made me connect with the inner person who kept telling me debt wasn’t normal. I tried to be on a budget for a few months but then gave up. It wasn’t until years later I finally got serious and did something about it.

Sometimes we avoid doing something until we don’t have a choice. I finally got sick and tired of feeling trapped. I wanted my pre-debt life back.

I know it can be hard and feel overwhelming no matter what you are trying to accomplish but I really want to you to avoid all that time you are wasting because you are either using the blame game or not sure where to start.

 

So what can you do?

 

1. If you are using the blame game – stop it!

Put a big STOP IT sign on the fridge to remind you. You are only hurting yourself. You are wasting your time and energy playing that game. No one ever comes out a winner. I’m sorry to tell you but no one is going to come in on a white horse and rescue you. Not the horse, not your employer, not your friends and certainly not the government.

 

The only person that can rescue you and get you out of your situation is you. Yes, you. It can be hard to make that change but do you really want to wake up decades from now being in the same situation? One of the biggest regrets of dying people is that they didn’t live the kind of life they wanted to live. Don’t be part of that utterly sad statistic.

 

2. If you are not sure where to start…

Start reading books, listen to podcasts, find MeetUp groups, find someone who is living the kind of life you want to live and ask them how they did it. We may think that others just woke up one day and instantly knew how to be successful at something. Guess what? Those people had to learn from others too and continue to learn from those that are ahead of them.

 

 

People living the kind of life they want to live are not lucky. They are able to do so because they are constantly working on it by learning from others. They go after what they want. They also surround themselves with like minded people, hire coaches to help them and are always striving to get to where they want to go. And they realize that things don’t happen overnight but with each step forward they are making constant progress forward.

 

No matter which group you are in I know you can make that change and start living the kind of life you want to live. Make a plan, set SMART goals, work towards them, turn off the TV, read more books, smile and surround yourself with the kind of people you want to be like. And if you think you don’t have anything to contribute to this world think again. Someone out there is waiting for you to step into your awesomeness and be an inspiration for them. Don’t rob them of that.

 

Thanks Brad for inviting me to your audience. I’m going to leave you with two of my favorite quotes.

 

“When you grow up, you tend to get told that the world is the way it is and your life is just to live your life inside the world, try not to bash into the walls too much, try to have a nice family, have fun, save a little money. That’s a very limited life. Life can be much broader, once you discover one simple fact, and that is that everything around you that you call life was made up by people that were no smarter than you. And you can change it, you can influence it, you can build your own things that other people can use. Once you learn that, you’ll never be the same again.” ~Steve Jobs

 

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than the things you did. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” ~Mark Twain.

 

Camilla lives in Utah where she spends her time playing in the outdoors. She is a challenger of the status quo and wants others to leave their comfort zones and start living! She loves to travel, go on adventures, and inspire others toward their goals and dreams. On her blog, No More Hamster Wheel, she writes about life, productivity, finances, and ways to get off the traditional path. On her travel blog, The Traveling Swede, she shares her passion for travel through photography. She loves to connect with people and hear their stories. Camilla also has a passion for non-profit work and helping others.

 

She is the author of the #1 Bestseller book How To Get Out Of Debt Living Paycheck to Paycheck. 9 Simple Steps to Financial Freedom.

Her next book 37 Days of Different. A Guide to Break Out of Your Boring Routine and Start Changing Your Life is available for pre-order on Amazon.

 

If you want to know more about Camilla you can find a lot more about her and how she helps people get what they want out of life here:
http://www.nomorehamsterwheel.com/

 

http://www.thetravelingswede.com/