Sep

Do I Need A Money Management Coach?

Do I really need to engage with a money management coach in order to get out of debt?

Is a money management coach required to get out of debt, no it is not required for your to engage in the services of a money management coach to get out of debt.

With that said, most individuals and couples who are in financial distress are so close to the actually problem that if they could resolved it on their own, they would. When you are so overwhelmed with the situation at hand it many times is much easier to continue on with status quo instead of working together to resolve the problem. Most of my clients don’t even know where to begin.

Most of the information that a coach will teach you can be found in well written books such as Dave Ramsey’s The Total Money Makeover. Personally, I believe that Dave’s philosophy is the best as it totally focuses on never using credit again and always paying cash. When that is done, then there is no way to get into debt.

What a coach offers, is additional accountability that you don’t already have when going it alone. It is someone who will provide a third party objective view of your financial situation. It should be someone who has experienced debt first hand and has conquered the problem. Do you want to work with a coach in regard to getting out of debt if they are carrying debt of their own? I don’t think so.

A coach will provide you with recommendations as to where to begin to cut back from your preliminary budget and teach you how to work a budget each month. What a coach shouldn’t do is the work for you. How will you learn if someone else is paying your bills, or working with your creditors. That takes the responsibility off you as well as the accountability. If you don’t do the work yourself, learning and making mistakes along the way, you can’t expect to know how to never get into debt again. Sure, it will hurt, there will be sacrifice, but it will be well worth it in the long run as you will be learning new habits, change behavior and your mind set as it relates to money management along the way.

Now with all that is said, you will not always agree with what a coach recommends to you. Think about it, this is a life changing experience and change is many times a difficult pill to swallow, but if you are serious about getting out of debt, staying out of debt, building wealth and changing your family tree, working with a coach is a great first step forward.

Well, Kim, how on earth can I afford a money management coach if I can’t afford to pay my bills? This is one of my most popular questions. Simple answer is, how can you not afford it. What you are doing right now is obviously not working or you wouldn’t be in a debt situation. I have found that people in debt are more than willing to find money for a new TV, a dinner room table, or something fun and don’t begin to “claim poverty” until it comes to investing in a change for their future. Many times the reason for this is they really don’t want to change and use “I don’t have the money” as an excuse to continue on the path of living paycheck to paycheck. But if you really want to change and are tired of living in the cycle you are in now, you will find the money, just like you found it to get all the things you wanted in the past, it just depends on what your priorities are.

Please feel free to look around our site and invest in a 30-minute call if you are ready to change your financial life.