Gaining Financial Freedom Living Abroad

April, 20112—Cha Jones

"Umm—I thought I came here to travel!”

When I first set sail to live abroad in Korea in 2009 I had one major goal at the time—“Become debt FREE.” Of course I had a desire to travel, but I really wanted to go back to America better off than I left. And for me, that meant that I had to have a “Game Plan.”

Pleasure vs Pain

It’s really easy to live life constantly seeking those things that make you feel good, but it takes some discipline to deny yourself things that gratify your senses. Travel for most of us is an indulgence, but it has always been so much a part of my life that without it I feel a little lost. However, while living in Korea I found that if I were going to give up something there needed to be a compromise while I worked toward my bigger goal, which turned out to be great—domestic travel. While I had to forego the pleasure trips, I was able to take smaller excursions within the country and discover the sights in and around the peninsula.

How I became debt free in a year

I’ll be honest most of my life I live very care-free, but when it comes to my money I always have a foreseeable plan. It isn’t very difficult for me to budget and save for the things that I desire to have or do. However, if you find sticking to a budget or saving for something that you want difficult, then let me give you a few little tips on how to save and still be happy.

1. Visualize it-for me I write it all out, but for you, you may want to create a vision board of what you want in the future.

2. Decide to live from the end- when you live from the end you act as if what you want is already here. So, if you want to owe nothing at the end of your contract, then you need to act the part. Think of how you will feel when that happens and focus on that feeling vs thinking about how much you are missing out on, especially when you see all the cute pictures being posting on FaceBook. Remember stay focused on what you want!

3. Decide what you can live off of- look at your entire debt and your entire income and make a conscience decision of what you are willing to live off of. Make this reasonable, because if you don’t you will be setting yourself up for failure before you get started. Don’t bite off more than you can chew.

4. Pay yourself FIRST-always pay yourself first because it does two things (1) it shows how value you believe yourself to be (2) when you pay yourself it allows you to set aside your portion of savings before anyone else gets a portion of what you worked for, look at it like you are rewarding yourself before you give anyone else a piece of the pie, “I mean you made the money, RIGHT?”

5. Create a budget and budget out your entire year- I know this may seem a little daunting, but the reason I suggest putting the whole year in a budget at once is (1) so you can see it (2) because most of us get paid once a month and you know what you are going to get paid, so in essence you already know what needs to be set aside in advance and this way you can stick to the plan with ease.

6. Celebrate you success- Don’t make saving feel like torture. When you are saving and paying off debt it may seem like jail time. If you view it as such, you will regret it and it becomes work-hard work, and most people hate hard work. Find ways to reward yourself for meeting your goals. Maybe you buy yourself an outfit when you make your 3 month goal, and maybe you go on a nice dinner outing when you hit another goal. Whatever you do, don’t sit around crying broke because you are working toward something great and you don’t want to resent the process in the meantime.

Example of my savings plan…

Based off of a income of $2,500 (after taxes monthly) with debt of $10, 000

Remember pay yourself FIRST, for those of you who attend church this is just like tithing (first fruit is yours and if you go to church and you tithe then you pay God too at this time.)

Self: $250

Credit card 1: $2,500 Credit card 2: $3,000 Credit card 4: $4,500

You still live off of $1075 a month

Month 1	Month 2	Month 3	Month 4	Month 5	Month 6	Month 7	Month 8	Month 9	Month 10
$250	$250	$250	$250	$250	$350	$350	$350	$450	$450
$500	$500	$500	$500	$500	0	0	0	0	0
$300	$300	$300	$300	$300	$500	$500	$500	0	0
$375	$375	$375	$375	$375	$575	$575	$575	$975	$975
Total $1425	Total $1425	Total $1425	Total $1425	Total $1425	Total $1425	Total $1425	Total $1425	Total $1425	Total $1425

As you can see this is only 10 months, but I based the dollar amount off of a complete 12 months. You want to start with the smallest balance and pay it off first, then you move to the next smallest debt and you use the money from the paid-off debt to pay the remaining debt. When you do this, you pay off your debt faster and consistently, and you will notice that I increased the amount I paid myself as I paid off the debt. This creates free cash flow and I suggest if you spend money from your savings you pay yourself back with interest.

To become debt free you will have to sacrifice a little, but at the end you will be much happier and more fulfilled. If you complete this goal it makes all your other goals more successful, and if you want to extend another year and travel you will be able to do it without the weight of your debt on your shoulders.

Once you have become debt free I suggest that whatever you charge you being to pay off completely every month, then you won't ever OWE anyone or find yourself IN DEBT again!