• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Celebrating Financial Freedom

THE Christian Personal Finance Blog

ARE YOU READY TO PROSPER? GET UPDATES
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Get Started
  • ToolsYou Need to Succeed
  • CoursesThe Divine Art of Money
  • Budgeting
    • Budgeting Worksheets
    • Premium Worksheets
  • Hot Topics
    • How to Get Out of Debt
    • How to Start Investing
    • Manage Money Better
    • Biblical Wealth and Prosperity
    • Real Estate Investing
    • Money Making Ideas
    • Credit Cards
    • Giving
    • Living Paycheck to Paycheck
    • Marriage and Money
    • Money Behavior, Mindset, and Habits
    • How to Make a Life Plan
    • Desperation and Hope
  • Start a Blog6 Easy Steps
  • About Us
You are here: Home / Money Mindset / Eliminate Debt Forever by Telling Yourself a Different Story

Eliminate Debt Forever by Telling Yourself a Different Story

By Jason Cabler on October 4, 2012 24

49 shares
  • Share
  • Tweet
Eliminate Debt Forever by Telling Yourself a Different Story

If you want to eliminate debt from your life and take control of your money, then you have to be all about developing good habits and discipline you can maintain long term.

You will need to change the way you think. You'll need to change the way you act with money. It's imperative to develop new habits if you want to get out of debt completely.

But those things are hard to do. Habits, behaviors, and thought processes become so ingrained that it becomes a real mental battle to make change happen.

Why is that?

It's because the deeper, more ancient part of our brain is geared to work in a mindset of scarcity.  In our earlier pre-civilization days, survival was difficult. When you encountered an opportunity to acquire food, water, or other materials for survival, you took advantage of that opportunity because you didn't know when it would be available again.

Your deep brain is all about getting what you need.

You Want More Than You Need

Your deep brain is also all about fitting in socially.  Why?  Because fitting in is a survival mechanism.  When you fit in to a group and don't have to go it alone, you have access to more resources. As an added bonus, you're less likely to get eaten by a lion!

But in the highly developed society we live in today where most of us have more resources available than we actually need, our brains still try to convince us to acquire things whether we need them or not.

Our deep brain convinces us that we “need” that 1,200 calorie supersized meal or that great pair of shoes or that cool gadget.

So we end up spending money we don't have on stuff we don't always need.

That is, unless, we use another, more developed (hopefully) part of our brain to make a conscious effort to override that deeper, more primitive drive.

When you're about to spend money you know you don't have on something you know you don't need, tell yourself a different story.

Eliminate Debt by Telling Yourself a Different Story

Let the higher brain that God gave you override those ancient urges of fear and scarcity.

When your animal brain says “I deserve it”, tell it that what you “deserve” is to eliminate debt from your life. Then you can pay for those Jimmy Choo's with cash and quit worrying about credit card bills.

When it says “Wow! 50% off!”, tell it that's not in your budget this month. And besides, you didn't come here to buy that anyway.

If the new iPhone has been out for a month and that need to fit in says “everyone is getting one”, tell that beast you'll save up and pay cash for it.

When you're shopping and a scarcity mindset says “I need to get that because there's only one left”, tell yourself that you live in an abundant world. When you get the cash to buy it, you'll be able to find it later.

Take Control, Move Into Abundance

When it comes down to it, if you want to succeed financially, or in any important area of your life, you have to learn to overcome that deep seated scarcity by learning to develop discipline, actions, and ways of thinking that move you into abundance instead.

Most of us already know what to do to eliminate debt and live a fix our financial problems. But it's up to us to take control of that inner child deep within us and convince ourselves to do it.

Once you do, it will change your family tree for generations to come!

Question:  Do you ever have to do battle with yourself over how you spend money?

Tell me about it in the comments.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. randy says

    December 20, 2012 at 8:22 am

    Great common sense info at a time i thought common sense was DEAD!!!! Kudos.

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. More Money Won’t Solve Your Problems- Here’s What Actually Works says:
    September 2, 2016 at 12:05 pm

    […] because being deep in debt is not about money and numbers, it’s about behavior.  Making more money is great, and it can help you get out of debt much faster when you use it […]

    Reply
  2. Living Paycheck to Paycheck on a High Income- How Does That Happen? says:
    August 3, 2016 at 12:32 pm

    […] Eliminate Debt Forever by Telling Yourself a Different Story […]

    Reply
  3. 9 Tips For Creating Discipline With Money says:
    August 1, 2016 at 6:14 pm

    […] along the way.  Each time you accomplish a goal, give yourself a small reward.  That helps your brain and spirit understand that good things come with hard work.  Then you’ll be more likely to […]

    Reply
  4. Goin' Commando says:
    February 29, 2016 at 3:43 pm

    […] it’s a little weird at first, it’s not normal.  But when you give yourself over to it and change your mindset, it’s very […]

    Reply
  5. Control Your Stuff, Don't Let it Control You - Celebrating Financial Freedom says:
    February 27, 2016 at 11:26 am

    […] new phone, the newest electronic gadget, or that awesome (and expensive) pair of shoes?  When you lose self control and to the point where you just gotta have it and you’ll do whatever you need to get it, you’ve […]

    Reply
  6. How to Save Money Fast by Being Different says:
    December 31, 2015 at 10:01 am

    […] money is really not that hard most of the time.  Sometimes it just means you have to be a little different and think outside the box if you want to get the job done.  Don’t be broke and living paycheck […]

    Reply
  7. A Guy Walks Into a Bar… says:
    November 18, 2015 at 2:25 pm

    […] mind.  Many are even designed to appeal to your emotions, because they know if they can get you emotionally involved, then they have you right where they want […]

    Reply
  8. Another 5 Ways to Make Extra Money Even in a Tough Economy says:
    March 19, 2015 at 12:50 pm

    […] is in, there is always a way to make a few extra bucks.  You just have to be willing sometimes to do something different and maybe even a little […]

    Reply
  9. How Do You Eat an Elephant? says:
    June 20, 2014 at 11:04 am

    […] because they didn’t earn it. They didn’t spend days, weeks or years grooming their actions and thought processes to cause them to achieve millionaire status. They didn’t build a business or spend time inventing […]

    Reply
  10. Why You Should Never Use a Home Equity Loan to Pay Off Debt | Enemy of Debt says:
    June 15, 2014 at 11:09 am

    […] biggest change has to happen with the behavior and attitude of the people that took out the debt in the first […]

    Reply
  11. Are You A Shopaholic and Don’t Know It? How You Can Tell and What You Can Do About It says:
    February 20, 2014 at 12:05 am

    […] be triggered by stress, a sale, a special offer, or any number of circumstances that can trigger a shopaholic brain to act out in an irrational way.  And when that urge hits, you might go out with the intent to […]

    Reply
  12. How Do You Get Out of Debt? (Part 8)- There Will be Resistance says:
    February 13, 2014 at 12:27 pm

    […] Solution:  Tell yourself a different story.  Actively tell yourself that getting out of debt is the best thing you can do for yourself financially.  Use positive talk and do battle mentally every day, telling yourself you can do it, it is worth it, and that you WILL succeed, come Hell or high water (Read more about why brain resistance happens and what to do about it here). […]

    Reply
  13. Talk Yourself Out of Debt- How to Create a New Script says:
    January 17, 2014 at 8:12 am

    […] human beings, we’re geared to fit in.  It’s just the way our brains work.  But spending more than you have to buy the new Lexus or your 3rd Ipad in 2 years ultimately […]

    Reply
  14. Use The 4 Keys of Consistency to Get Out of Debt | Enemy of Debt: Where Behavior Meets Reality says:
    November 15, 2013 at 11:27 am

    […] while you’re in the midst of making all these changes, it can be easy to let some of those old habits and mindsets creep back […]

    Reply
  15. Creating The Right Mindset to Get Out of Debt | Enemy of Debt: Where Behavior Meets Reality says:
    October 11, 2013 at 8:56 am

    […] that you’re done with those old habits and it’s time to start something new.  You have to actively convince your brain because it’s naturally very resistant to changing patterns that have been established.  So tell […]

    Reply
  16. DUI’s and Stolen Crawfish- Does This Describe You? says:
    October 5, 2013 at 11:42 am

    […] involves changing your mind about what money and life are all […]

    Reply
  17. Use The 4 Keys of Consistency to Get Out of Debt says:
    September 29, 2013 at 9:11 pm

    […] when you’re making all these changes it can be really easy to let some of your old habits and ways of thinking creep back […]

    Reply
  18. Living Paycheck to Paycheck? How to Get Ahead says:
    May 9, 2013 at 12:02 am

    […] is a way to get off the paycheck to paycheck treadmill and overcome the mindset that comes with living in that mode […]

    Reply
  19. Money Problems? Don’t use a Bandaid When You Need Surgery says:
    April 23, 2013 at 1:52 pm

    […] this initial step is where too many people stop.   They never really  take the further steps necessary to changing their money problems for the […]

    Reply
  20. Why a Home Equity Loan is a Bad Idea for Paying Off Debt says:
    April 13, 2013 at 10:10 pm

    […] behavior and attitude when it comes to debt have to […]

    Reply
  21. Are Minimum Credit Card Payments Really Affordable? says:
    April 12, 2013 at 8:42 pm

    […] have to get away from the “how much is the credit card payment?” mindset and start asking “how much is this going to cost me?”.  When you start realizing just how much […]

    Reply
  22. Beware the Financial Gurus! says:
    April 4, 2013 at 12:10 am

    […] favor of managing your debt and credit score, you will never learn to truly succeed with money by changing your habits and becoming debt free.  If their #1 priority is something other than leading you into complete […]

    Reply
  23. How Do You Get Out of Debt? (Part 3)- $1G for an Emergency says:
    October 25, 2012 at 7:40 am

    […] an emergency fund also helps you change your mindset about how to deal with the unexpected.  When you don’t have a plan (like most people), you […]

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

Follow Us!

Follow Us on FacebookFollow Us on TwitterFollow Us on LinkedInFollow Us on PinterestFollow Us on YouTube

Welcome to CFF

Sidebar- Divine Art of Money

Visit Our Etsy Shop

Premium Finance Worksheets
Rakuten
How to start a blog in 6 easy steps
How to budget book

How to Get Out of Debt- The Ultimate Plan for Getting Out of Debt Even if You Have No Money

The Ultimate List of Money Saving Tips So You Can Save More Money on Everything!

How to Start a Blog in 6 Easy Steps- The Best Tutorial

The "How to Make Your Own Life Plan" Series

The "Ten Commandments For Making Money" Series

The "Money Making Ideas" Series

WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING FOR?

  • Home
  • Blog
  • Get Started
  • Tools
  • Courses
  • Budgeting
  • Hot Topics
  • Start a Blog
  • About Us

Copyright © 2011-2025 · All Rights Reserved · Celebrating Financial Freedom | Privacy/Disclaimer | Affiliate Disclaimer | Terms of Use | DMCA Policy

Copyright © 2025 · Smart Passive Income Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

49 shares