Plan Your Escape

A distant siren sounds and you can hear the shouts of the guards calling out in the night. Staying calm, but with a constant sense of urgency, you cut your way through a chain link fence -- the last barrier to your freedom. Behind you, the search lights are darting to and fro franticly seeking you out. Clip! As the last wire gives way beneath your cutters your make your final sprint to the tree line -- and to freedom. You've done it. You've escaped.

Fortunately, the escapes that we talk about on this site are not nearly as dangerous as this. We are mainly concerned with taking much less dramatic, much less drastic steps to work our way to financial freedom. These small changes are in fact mostly easy to make, but they can often feel just as daunting as a night time break out. With a little practice, they will soon become second nature and you'll be well on your way to your own financial escape.

One Step at a Time

First of all, escapes come in all shapes and sizes. Big, small, short and tall -- we've got 'em all. I guess the ultimate escape would be total financial independence, but that can seem out of reach to most of us. So let's think about an escape as something that is much smaller and much more manageable. How about calling your credit card company and asking for a reduced interest rate on your outstanding balance? How about even just turning the heat down a couple degrees and putting on a comfy sweater instead? Both of these will make a difference to the bills you get at the end of the month and they won't keep you up at night either. In fact, you might sleep a bit easier knowing your financial position is getting better one step at a time.

Over time all these mini escapes can really start to add up. You'll start to feel like you are making some serious headway. Your job that used to just barely make ends meet might actually start to seem like it pays well. You might find yourself with a few hundred dollars left in your account at the end of each month. You could start saving an emergency fund so that if you ever need to stop working you'll be covered for a few months. You could even use that money to tide you over while you look for a better job: one that is more rewarding and more in line with your personal goals. Once you lose the feeling that you are trapped in your job because of your monthly expenses, new opportunities will start to appear. It just takes a little dedication and some personal drive and it all becomes possible.

You Can Make Things Happen

So if your dream is to work 20 hours per week instead of 60 hour, then make it a goal. Escape from those debts, escape from that huge cable bill, escape from that massive gas bill, escape them all. One at a time your financial shackles will fall away and you'll be free. And there will be no distant sirens, shouting guards, search lights, wire cutters or anything -- just your own personal satisfaction at making your dreams a reality. So start planning your escape. You won't believe what you can accomplish.

Disclaimer

If you enjoyed this post you may want to consider subscribing to Plan Your Escape via Email or via RSS feed.