Episode Transcript
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Brad Nelson (00:00):
Have you ever
noticed how easy it is to
convince yourself something'saffordable just because you can
make a monthly payment?
That's exactly how I stayedbroke for so many years, and
it's really no surprise.
Our entire society is builtaround monthly payments and
short-term thinking.
But here's the problem whenyou're focused on what you can
(00:21):
afford today, you lose sight ofwhere you can actually be
tomorrow.
And one simple question youguys flipped the entire script
for me and I want to share thatquestion with you here to
hopefully help you do the sameexact thing.
Hey guys, I'm Brett Nelson,founder of Debt Free Dad.
I paid off about $45,000 ofdebt.
(00:43):
I've been debt free now formore than 12 years.
I've also been fortunate tohelp thousands of other people
save and pay off millions andmillions of dollars here with
the work that we do here at DebtFree Dad.
Now, after listening to thisepisode, you guys, if you're
ready to take things to the nextlevel, you're ready to break
free from living paycheck topaycheck, reduce financial
stress, build your savings andfinally pay off that debt for
(01:04):
good.
But maybe you're just not surewhere to get started.
Don't worry.
We've created some incrediblefree resources here at Debt-Free
Dad, and I'll be sharing somedetails about those later on in
today's episode.
Now, guys, for years I used toask the same question every time
I wanted something Can I affordthe payment?
I'm sure you do the same thing,right?
Whether it be a car, yeah, Ican swing a four, five, six $700
(01:28):
payment.
By the way, the average carpayment right now, you guys, is
$750 per month as of 2025.
Or if you want new furniture,0% interest right, 90 days, same
as cash, six months freefinancing, or maybe even they
give you an entire year, noproblem, you say right.
Or maybe that vacation that youdesperately just need to go on,
(01:49):
like I did many years ago andguess what?
We throw it on a credit cardbecause we can afford that
payment, and we'll figure it outlater.
Any of that sound familiar?
See, the problem is thatquestion of can I afford the
payment.
It kept me broke because Ibecame buried by nothing but
monthly payments on a bunch ofthings.
I wasn't asking if I couldafford the actual item.
(02:11):
I was asking if I could squeezeanother payment into an already
tight budget.
By the way, I use budgetloosely because I didn't really
have one.
I didn't know what I was doingwith my money.
But then one day, as I startedworking on getting out of debt,
it hit me.
I asked a different questionwhen I started to look at items
to purchase and I started askingshould I even be buying this
(02:33):
thing in the first place?
Does this thing align withwhere I'm going, with the
financial goals that I have inmy life?
And that was a game changer,because when I stopped focusing
on the payment and I startedfocusing on the purpose,
everything shifted for me andguys.
That's why here on this podcast, we are big on this whole wire
purpose right, because once youcan establish where you're going
(02:56):
financially, it's easy to sayno and ignore a lot of the
things that keep a lot of peoplebroke with mindless spending.
And that's when I realized Iwas making almost all of my
purchasing decisions based on ifI could afford the monthly
payments, not total costs, notlong-term goals, not peace of
mind.
I was just chasing stuff andstaying stuck.
(03:17):
But let's take cars, for example.
At one point I had a carpayment over $500 a month and at
that time that was a prettyhigh car payment and I convinced
myself it was fine, I was areliable car, I had a warranty,
I had a low interest rate, yada,yada, yada right.
But that payment, guys, it keptme from saving.
(03:38):
That $500 payment kept me frominvesting or even building an
emergency fund At any time.
In my savings.
I only had a few hundreddollars.
But when I finally ditched thatcar and got rid of that payment
and I bought myself a cash car,I instantly freed up over $500
a month, which comes out to over$6,000 a year.
(04:00):
And, guys, that kind of money,that kind of money can help you
build your first emergency fund.
That kind of money can help youpay off other debt and free up
payments.
Right Now, again, I'm picking acar, because that's the biggest
payment that I had.
But go through your budget.
Go through the things that youare paying for monthly.
Are there things that you canditch to free up money to start
(04:22):
making better traction with yourfinances?
This all started to change, allbecause I stopped asking can I
afford the payment?
And I started asking does thisalign with the life that I
actually want to live?
So here's your challenge todaythe next time you're about to
buy something, especially if itcomes with a monthly payment,
you guys just pause and askyourself should I even be buying
(04:45):
this?
Is it a need or is it a want?
Is it going to help me moveforward or keep me stuck?
Would future you thank you orwill you regret it?
This one question is like afinancial filter, so to speak.
It can help you slow down,think clearly and make better
choices with your money and yourlife.
(05:07):
Also, guys, we just did anepisode not too long ago about
the 24-hour rule.
So again, give your purchasestime too.
Wait 24 hours before you spendany money on something.
That is like tearing at youlike you've got to have it right
.
That 24 hour filter can alsokeep you from spending money
that you didn't plan on spending, because that emotion will go
away within that 24 hours and99% of the stuff that you want
(05:30):
you ain't can ever buy it.
And look, if you've neverreally sat down and thought
about your financial goals oryour bigger purpose.
You're not alone.
Most people are honestly toobusy to think ahead.
Most people are busy justsurviving, but that's exactly
how you stay stuck in thepaycheck to paycheck cycle.
Guys, when I got on my journeyof getting out of debt, I
(05:51):
remember I was working a regularjob, was working 50, 60 hours a
week.
My commute was one hour eachway, so I had to get up early to
get to work.
Well, I started getting up evenearlier to work on this stuff,
to work on my life, where I wasgoing.
And, guys, believe it or not, Istill have the notebook the
first notebook I had and all thethings that I wanted in my life
(06:13):
and where I was wasn't where Iwanted to be, and I drew up
essentially what my ideal lifewould look like.
And, guys, if I go back andlook at that notebook, much of
what I wrote in there has nowbecome a reality.
So let me give you a few quicktips to help you start figuring
that out for your own life.
Number one ask what do I wantout of my life and what do I
(06:36):
want it to look like in the nextfive years and I know five
years can seem like holy smokes.
That's like a big question.
Right, you don't have to beperfect at this, just brain dump
.
Just start writing it down, andnot just financially, but in
general.
Do you want to travel?
Do you want to own a home?
Maybe you want to own adifferent home, maybe you want
to move to a different town.
Maybe you want to quit astressful job.
Maybe you want to spend moretime with your kids, your
(06:59):
grandkids, your family.
Get super specific Again.
It doesn't always have to befinancially related, but
everything touches your finances, right, so make sure you're
writing it down.
Your goals should excite you,not just sound responsible.
All right, so make sure they'reexciting.
Like this is what I really want, and by getting your finances
(07:20):
in order, it's going to help youget there.
Number two is break it down intosome money milestones.
So let's say, your dream is totake that family vacation every
year without going into debt.
That would be great, right?
So let's just break it down.
What is it going to cost you?
When do you want to go?
How much time do you have tosave up?
And then, hey, what can we doto free these things up so we
(07:41):
can use more of our money tolive the life that we want to
(08:01):
live?
Number three prioritize peaceover stuff.
Write this one down Peace isgreater than payments.
Now I get it.
A new car might look good inthe driveway, it might be fun to
drive, but I got to tell you,guys, nothing feels better than
knowing that you're financiallysecure, that you can sleep at
(08:23):
night, that the last thing thatyou're doing when you wake up in
the morning is worrying aboutmoney, debt and payments.
So prioritize peace over stuff.
Number four start small, butstay consistent.
You don't need to have it allfigured out today.
That's what I said.
You know I mentioned five years.
You know five years.
That's.
That's a big question for a lotof us.
It might overwhelm you.
So again, just start small,figure it out a little at a time
(08:46):
.
All right, pick one goal.
Maybe it's building your firstemergency fund.
Like I said, I had a couplehundred hours of my savings at
one time, all the time, right,and that's why I was always
going into debt.
But that completely changedonce I built my emergency fund.
So if you're building youremergency fund as a goal for you
, just commit to that one goal.
Don't do it all at the sametime and then think about, like,
automatic transfers, sidehustle money, selling stuff,
(09:09):
whatever it takes, right.
So pick one thing that youwanna work on and break it down
into smaller size goals andstart attacking it.
To work on, and break it downinto smaller size goals and
start attacking it.
And then, last but not least, is, like I said, write it down and
revisit it regularly.
There's a lot of people who doa good job like thinking about
all the things that they want todo, and they may even go to the
extent of writing it all down,which I think is great.
(09:30):
It's actually been proven Ifyou write your goals down,
you're more likely to realizethem and achieve them.
But you also want to make sureyou're getting the habit of
revisiting these things.
It's the same thing, kind of,with your budget A lot of people
who are good at writing abudget, but then they don't ever
look at it again or follow it,and then they get distracted by
all the shiny objects that areout in the world, right, and
they wonder why they can't stickto their budget.
You got to revisit your plan.
(09:51):
Keep it front and center ofyour life, because that should
be your guide, right?
That should be the thing thatyou are following Now.
As I said, guys, if you areready to break free from living
paycheck to paycheck, you wantto reduce financial stress.
You want to build savings andfinally pay off your debt for
good.
But again, maybe you're notsure where to get started Now.
We shared some great tips heretoday, but we got even more.
(10:14):
All right, simplify my money issent to you each and every
Sunday to your email.
Simplify my money it's kind oflike your step-by-step roadmap
to better financial control.
So you're actually going tolearn easy to follow strategies
to manage your money effectivelystress-free money decisions
that are going to help yousimplify your financial life.
With proven tips that actuallywork.
(10:34):
You're going to gain the toolsand the confidence to tackle
your financial goals head on.
You can sign up for Simplify myMoney by clicking on the link
at the top of the show notes.
All right, guys, thanks forbeing with us here today's
episode.
We will see you guys next week.