When you think you are going through the worst experience in the world, the reality is, a lot of people are experiencing even worse and feel the same as what you are experiencing.
Sure, there are times when you feel you can't do more to better your situation. You may feel that it's the end of the road for you and your financial situation won't get any better.
That's normal, but it doesn't mean that there's no light at the end of the tunnel.
When my wife and I were struggling financially, one of the things that made us inspired to keep going was reading a lot of people's financial success stories.
These were struggle-to-success stories. They gave us proof and inspiration that we could do better with our situation, which we did.
If you feel defeated that you won't be able to get your finances straight, I recommend you read these financial success stories to inspire you to move forward and fight on.
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How Carrie Rocha Paid Off a $50,000 Debt in Under 3 years
Carrie was indebted to the tune of at least $50K. In just 2.5 years, she paid off her entire debt while she was laid off from her job.
Yes, she paid off while debt while she was unemployed. Talking about success even under extreme circumstances.
Her secret weapon isn't what you think it is. Her secret arsenal: coupons.
The key to couponing and saving money is buying only your necessities. Too often, people keep buying anything that has coupons because they think they're saving money when in truth, they aren't.
While you can clip coupons and save money, don't forget to use money-saving apps like Ibotta, Paribus, and eBates to help you save extra money in addition to your coupon savings.
- Ibotta – cash back on groceries. Get it here for FREE.
- Paribus – automatic cash back when prices of products you just purchased drop. Get it here for FREE.
- eBates – cash back on just about anything online. Get it here now.
Lesson learned: Coupons can help you save money and get you out of a debt situation. Silly and simple, but it worked and it can work.
Related: Personal Budget Categories to Start Your Budget
How Allan Paid $40K Of Debt and Saved $70K in 2.5 Years
This is my story. My wife and I were able to pay off our $40K debt and saved $70K in just 2.5 years on a single low income. Click here for the full story.
Yes, we did those even when I was earning such a low salary. Let's say, we did that when my salary was just under $39,000/year.
So, how did we do it?
We focused on getting a workable, strict budget with the help of Spentapp, which we followed to a tee. We'd rather sacrifice a few things now so we could have a better future. That's exactly what we did.
We took out all the wants (e.g. entertainment) and focused on what we needed. At the same time, Spentapp (get it here for FREE) analyzed our expenses, identified our money mistakes, and recommended financial decisions.
Also, I worked on some side hustles like buying old, wood pieces of furniture and refinishing and selling them for a profit.
Lesson learned: Having a working budget and working on side hustles can help you get your finances straight and save you money fast even when you earn a low income.
How Doug Knew Nothing of Finance and Still Retired Early
Just because you aren't financial savvy doesn't mean you can't retire early. Learn it from Doug.
Doug and his wife saved money in any way imaginable. From using free entertainment such as going to the library to cutting out so much unnecessary expenses, they found ways to cut down or cut out a lot of expenses.
Doug and his wife's strategy is simple and it works. While they kept reducing waste and cutting their expenses, they sent extra money to their investments.
They also settled for a low-cost diversified equity portfolio, which is a clever idea because you want your money to work for you and not your money to work for the investment companies.
Now, Doug starts his day with a surf forecast. He said he doesn't think he'd ever go back to a “real” job. That's financial freedom in a nutshell.
Lesson learned: The earlier you invest, the greater the chance your money will grow. That's the whole idea behind compounding interest. Find low-cost diversified equity portfolio that'll work for you.
If you don't know if your portfolio is really working for you, Blooom will spot hidden fees, tell you if your portfolio is too aggressive or not, and find out how much you could be missing out on by DIY-ing your 401k. Get Blooom here and use it for FREE.
The Waitress Who Moved Up to the 1% of Millennials (Wealth-Wise)
Lauren didn't have a college degree, had no network, and had very little professional experience.
She learned how to become a full-stack marketer, which basically means she does the front-end and the back-end of marketing for a business without any help from anybody. It's more like ‘Jack of All Trades, Master of All of Them' type marketer.
She started with her family's dry-cleaning business with a simple website. His family's next door business neighbor saw the site and hired her to create one for the neighbor's business.
She, then, dedicated a couple of hours a day to cold-call local businesses that had little to no social media presence. That hard work paid off. Six months later, she negotiated a $72K salaried marketing director position with a $3K relocation assistance.
Everything after that is history. Now, she's sitting on the top 1 percent of Millennials (wealth-wide).
Lesson learned: Just because you don't have the experience, the network, the education, and others doesn't mean you can't be successful. Remember there's no one way road to success. A lot of successful people take different roads to success.
Determination, patience, and a lot of luck can make a big difference, which are what Lauren had and showed.
Read: 7 Perfect Jobs For Stay-Home Parents To Earn Money
How This Gas Station Attendant Amassed Over $8M
Who will believe that a humble, simple gas station attendant could amass over $8M? Probably, nobody.
Ronald Read, a Vermont gas station attendant was a frugal man who invested in what he knew and what paid dividends. He invested in AT&T, Bank of America, CVS, GE, and other big companies that were once small businesses.
His investments paid off.
Many people may think he was lucky. He may be, but you could make money faster in the stock market than when you keep your money in the bank and let it earn interest.
While you can lose money in the stock market, you can also make a lot in the stock market. Historically, S&P 500 return is 9.8%. That's more than what you earn from your bank.
Lesson learned: This story shows that it doesn't matter how much or little you have. You can make a lot of money with picking the right investments.
If you want to invest but don't have a lot of money to start with, you can invest your cents via Acorns. It allows you to invest as little as $0.01. If you have cents, then, you don't have a reason not to invest.
To put how cents investing can be game changer in dollar terms, I’ve only been using Acorns for 7 months and my investment is already around $2,000. My rate of return? It’s 12.5% return in 7 months and that’s without me lifting a single finger.
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Final thoughts:
When you feel like you won't be able to improve your financial situation, remember that there's always a way. The stories of the people I mentioned above prove that there's always a light at the end of the tunnel.
The only way to get stuck in a bad financial situation is if you don't do anything to get out of it. Remember that success isn't handed to us easily. We need to work hard for it.
Are you currently struggling financially? Do you think these financial success stories can inspire you to think differently and make positive, drastic changes to how you view your situation?
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