Monday 1 December 2008

Setting The Scene

A short while ago I received a wonderful gift from the IRS, informing me of a tax bill of $30,000, adding this to my piles of bills that currently total over $230,000, not including my mortgage, you can understand how overjoyed I was and I know there are only more bills to come. 

Please let me explain so you do not think that I am just a shopping addict who spends her time either hitting the malls racking up more credit or hiding from debt recovery agents. The fact is on a day to day basis the bills get paid, there are no outstanding mortgage or credit card payments and my credit score is good, the issue really for me is these large tax bills that require payment in whole. Whilst I am not the most frugal with my money, I can spend with the best of them, the problems stem from a long period of being out of work, where I had to turn to all my money and credit to get by and then when I finally went back to work I was still earning as much as I was when I lost my job but instead to get myself out of trouble I needed to have earned double, but that rarely happens. 

So for a long time now I have lived, with mounting debts, putting on a happy face, no one knows, not even close friends and family, to the outside world, I have a good job, I live in a nice apartment, in a good part of the city, things seem as if everything is going well, when in fact I am slowly drowning, each day just managing to keep my head above water. 

A strange thing happened though, as I stared at this piece of paper, trying to get my head round this addition, to my already massive debts, I could so easily have gone postal, I could have lost it at that point and just allowed myself to drown, but instead I felt a strange sense of calm, as if, that is it, this is the worst it can be, my life can not be any worse, 1) I have over $230,000 worth debts, 2) I am over 100 pounds overweight and 3) I am not far off loosing my current job as my manager and I do not seem to see eye to eye.

I could be mistaken for a loser, and a few weeks ago I would have agreed but that is not me, I am more than that, how I imagine my life to be so different to how it is now, but everything I have now, has been a thought, so why not turn the good thoughts in to the life I want, someone who is successful, a person who others envy, who is living her best life, living for a purpose. 

At that moment I made a decision, I wasn't going down, I was going to win, I was going to fight this and create the life I want for real and not just in my thoughts. Hence the reason for my this blog.

I figure I have about six months, before things start to get heavy and the IRS will not longer negotiate, so by the end of May my plan is to have paid off all tax bills, my the end of 2009, I will be financially free. You can follow my journey, my highs and lows, my triumphs and failures. Anytime somethings helps me to move a step closer to my goals, I will let you know, also those promises that turn out to be a lie I will also tell you. 

So as the days, weeks and a year goes by you can follow me and see how I do.