The reality of our dreams... years of budgeting, scrimping, and making due has allowed us to have all we ever dreamed of and more. www.FunCheapOrFree.com

Do you ever dream? Not like, “falling off a cliff jerk you awake standing in front of the class with no pants” dream. But a “someday, if money, time, and life weren't an issue, my perfect situation would look like this” dream?

I do.

And I want to share with you a bit about the reality of our dreams.

Back in our FD (Financial Disaster), we set some goals. Some were immediate bare-bones survival goals, and some were far-fetched, dream-big-with-reckless-abandon, goals. They felt more like dreams than goals, really, because we had $15K in credit card debt, $10.5K in car debt we couldn't afford, and were bringing in a $31K sporadic salary. It was hard to see past tomorrow's grocery needs, let alone dream “crazy-big” dreams.

Flash forward to now.

The other morning, one of the last lazy days of summer, I stepped out on my bedroom balcony to yell to my kids to come in for breakfast…and couldn't even find them in our back yard. I had this flooding, overwhelming feeling of gratitude for where my life is right now.

How, oh how the heck, did we end up here??

Seriously?! How did we get here?? Is this for real? Living in our dream home? With 5 healthy kids? Living financially free, money in the bank, with a plan in place and a vision for our future?

I still have to pinch myself sometimes.

7 years ago we were living off of credit cards with a mountain of debt. Instead of sitting around, being resentful or concluding that our wildest dreams would probably never happen…

…we got to work.

We sold our car, sold our couches and literally sat on the floor. We stopped eating out – like, completely. We budgeted like mad crazies. We got out of debt then saved up enough to buy a killer deal of a short sale (that we fought for 12 months to get) all the while treasuring every penny.

We lived in and fixed up the short sale for 4 years, all the while focusing on “phase 2” – abundance and success; working our tails off to be successful at our businesses.

We found our dream home that was beyond our reach…but didn't give up and kept negotiating, haggling, and saving like mad. 7 months later, we somehow snagged it. We had plenty of money in the bank, no credit card debt, fabulous credit, and a huge chunk of cash from the sale of our short sale house to land us here:

IMG_2052

I tell you all of this not to boast, brag, or make you hate me (please don't hate me!).


I tell you this to prove that all dreams – ALL DREAMS – can become reality if you are laser-focused and fight like H-E-C-K for them.

Maybe it's not an 8,600 sq foot dream home. Maybe it's your dream car. Or sending all your kids to college. Or studying abroad. Or traveling. Or funding your own non-profit. Or having a family. Or paying cash for your dream boat. No dream is too big, and there is absolutely NOTHING wrong with success. The more success you have, the more ability you have to help your family, and others. 

I encourage everyone to write down your big-picture goals, then work backward to figure out what you need to do TODAY to make those goals (dreams) happen. Because it will most likely take years, even decades, but the path you start out on to get there can't be accidental; it has to be calculated and defined. Sure, circumstances play a role. But only in part. You won't want to hear this, but excuses are often what hold us back from getting everything we want, whatever that is.

No one is stopping you.

Decide today to fight to the death for the life YOU want, and don't stop until you get there.

The reality of our dreams... years of budgeting, scrimping, and making due has allowed us to have all we ever dreamed of and more. www.FunCheapOrFree.com

Now if you don't mind, I really do need to go find my kids.

XO

(PS Find more about our story, and our exact steps for becoming financially free at Budget Boot Camp, use the code FCFBLOG to get 10% off!)

Jordan Page Signature from Fun Cheap or Free