How to Shop and Remain Debt Free after Bankruptcy?

Many people have turned to bankruptcy as a solution to their financial situation – those who have, you can now put it behind you, and move forward with a fresh start.

However, in order for us to take full advantage of what the whole “bankruptcy solution” was designed for, we first need to understand how we got here in the first place. Whether our situation resulted in us filing bankruptcy to stop a foreclosure on a house, a repossession of a car, a wage garnishment, or because we simply could not repay debts owed to creditors, due to excessive shopping etc., we must understand the cause and effect. There are a lot of different reasons that led up to us filing, today we are only going to focus on the financial aspect, with regards to financial education and lack thereof. Let me explain.

MONEY; yes we all need it, it is very necessary in the society we live in. How we manage it and what we spend it on, will determine how much financial freedom will be afforded to us. In order to properly manage our money, so we can shop smart, we first need to educate ourselves in the area of finance. Here are four important, and necessary factors, we should know to help us on our journey to financial freedom: 1.) FNA – Financial Need Analysis, (which will realistically help us to determine how much we should be spending on housing, automobiles, recreation, entertainment, retirement, investments, and shopping. The FNA – Financial Need Analysis will also help us to use our money where it matters most), 2.) Budget, (which will allow us to better organize and control how our money comes in and goes out), 3.) How to Shop, (which will help us to recognize different options when it comes to shopping, so that we get the most for our money), and lastly 4.) Discipline, the most important factor, (we will have to determine how important financial freedom is to us, and then exercise the factors we have learned in order to be successful at achieving this goal towards debt free shopping).

What we will learn is that either we have money that we didn’t know we had because of the FNA – Financial Need Analysis, or we will realize that we don’t have as much money as we thought we had. With the new information we gain, not only will we have the opportunity to be in a better financial position, but we will understand how to and what we should spend our hard earned money on. Thus, being able to continue shopping, but most importantly remaining debt free after filing bankruptcy.

Let’s talk about shopping since that is the title of this blog. How many of us would pay full price for something if we knew we really didn’t have to? There are always other options available to us when it comes to spending our money. We must first understand that there are other options and second know how to locate them. Now, if your idea of shopping is limited to only the well-known high end stores at the mall, then your window of savings will be limited as well. I’m not saying anything is wrong with well-known high end stores at the mall, but what I am saying is that if you can find the exact same items, by having an open mind during your shopping search, and get these items at a discounted price, you will spend less, and be able to save more. So I’ll ask the question again, how many of us would pay full price for something if we knew we really didn’t have to? Let me show you some examples;

Ok, let’s say your FNA – Financial Need Analysis (factor #1 above) indicates that you have $300 a month available, within your budget, to spend for shopping and/or entertainment. You are in the market for a Designer Handbag. You’ve learned that full price for this particular Designer Handbag is $489. If you are discipline by following your pre-set budget (factor #2 above), you realize you would have to combine 2 months of available income to be able to afford this Designer Handbag, correct? Now, keeping in mind, and understanding the third factor above; “how to shop,” you know there are other shopping options available to you. With an open mind, you search online for your Designer Handbag at a respected online boutique Lenorscloset.com, and find the exact same Designer Handbag, but at a discounted price, not only will you find yourself in a position to be able to spend less but you will be able to save more by using your own available funds to shop with verses borrowing or charging it to a credit card where fees will be assessed for making this purchase (creating preventable debt for yourself). This is called smart shopping!”

Stay tuned for more ways to Shop and Remain Debt Free after Bankruptcy…