
Barry and I are not setting resolutions. We don’t have big resolutions for January 1 to change our bodies, to start a new, good habit (or quit an old, bad one!), or to start saving more money. While those aren’t bad things, in the Myers household, we set goals, not resolutions.
In fact, our 2019 goals revolve around the fact that we want YOU to succeed.
Stacy: I don’t keep resolutions. When I was younger, I always had high expectations and set lots of resolutions, but never stuck to them. I mean, two weeks in to a healthy eating resolution, I was eating Oreos like nobody’s business.
Barry: Goals are much different than resolutions. The statistics on setting and keeping resolutions are dismal. No one really sticks to them! With a goal, you have a starting point and an ending point and things you are trying to accomplish. It’s a much better way to try to make changes!
We have two major goals for 2019 and they are time-bound, but not in the sense that we need to start on January 1st, 2019, and can’t miss a day. Our first goal for 2019 is…
1) We want to help as many of you as possible get out of debt in 2019.
Barry: We want as many of you as possible to be done with debt. We want 2019 to be the year that you kick debt to the curb for good. That’s what our idea of #DEBTFREE2019 is all about! Our family Bible verse is, “Owe no man anything except the continuing debt to love one another” (Romans 13:8, paraphrased). We’ve been debt free, including our mortgage, since 2011. We want y’all to experience the joy that comes from financial freedom too, so we came up with a plan to help.
How are we going to focus on getting as many of you out of debt as possible?
Barry: Some of you may know that I wrote a book back in 2010 based on my experiences working as a debt collector. Yes, you heard that correctly – I was a debt collector for a major credit card company. It was an awful and terrible job in a lot of ways, but I learned A LOT of things that enabled me to write the book, From Debtor to Better: The Details of Debt and How to Get Out. I have offered financial counseling for a long time, one on one. People love it, but I can only help so many people. Because as with all of you guys – my time is limited. But I want to help as many people as I can with the knowledge I have!
To help kick start our #DEBTFREE2019, I am going to do a video book club on Facebook!
Barry: I will be going live a couple of times a week over on Humorous Homemaking’s Facebook page. (We will also be sharing these over on YouTube too.) I will be walking through my book, From Debtor to Better, chapter by chapter. You do not have to purchase the book in order to watch the videos and follow along, but by all means if you want to buy the book, go for it. It’s available in a variety of formats. But as I said, it is not a requirement to have the book in order to follow along on the video series.
Stacy: And even if you’re not technically in debt – you will still find this video and information beneficial. The book is not just about getting out of debt…it’s about how to create a budget, how to live within your means, understanding what debt really is, saving for cars, college, retirement, etc.
Barry: Right. My favorite chapter in the book is actually the one talking about how to break the cycle of having a car payment. It teaches you how to never again have a car payment and how buy all your cars with cash. I promise to try to make it relevant, exciting, and useful!
Debt-free living has been our focus from the beginning.
Stacy: I got my start on this blog as “Stacy Makes Cents,” when I was doing couponing classes and teaching everyone how to save money by cooking from scratch and being frugal with your spending. Some of you have just recently joined or began following along with us and may not have known that! But guess what – these are our roots, y’all! And our second 2019 goal…
2) We want to focus more on abundance.
Barry: If you don’t already know, Stacy and I have a Young Living business we started in November 2016. In two short years, it has grown and generated abundance for our family, as well as a lot of the people we work with.
Our 2019 goal for Young Living is to achieve a VERY hard to reach a milestone called Diamond. It’s a big deal and not many people get there. You may think that’s a selfish goal but it’s really not. To advance from Platinum (where we are now) to Diamond, we have to increase the size of our business by roughly 2.5 times. It isn’t just Stacy and me who will be successful if this happens! Our goal for 2019 is to help OUR TEAM reach abundance and succeed. We cannot reach that goal if our team doesn’t succeed. That’s how it works – they grow and succeed, we grow and succeed. 🙂
We want to help YOU grow and achieve your goals as well.
Stacy: Abundance means a lot of things to a lot of people. People assume that abundance makes you evil. We want to help as many people as possible. To help people, you need CASH (resources). You can give your time – but your time is your most precious asset. It’s awesome to serve others with your time! You can donate time to someone who needs it, but you have a limited supply of this resource, and you can never make more! You have to guard it and use this resource carefully.
Barry: Money magnifies who you are today. Our goal is abundance for everyone we work with. If you want to accomplish good things, having a lot of money will help you accomplish more good things! On the other hand if you are a selfish jerk with lots of money…you’ll just be a selfish jerk with a lot of money.
Our two goals go hand-in-hand.
Barry: The first step towards abundance is getting out debt. Your stress is lower. You have more to save and you have more to give. Young Living’s focus is on abundance, purpose, and wellness. This year we are focusing on the abundance aspect! Our goal is to help you succeed in whatever way we can. We are not preaching to y’all to convince you to join the Young Living business with us. But if that’s something that interests you, please reach out to Stacy or me and we can talk.
As we wrap up 2018 and head into a new year, we cannot wait to see what is to come! #DEBTFREE2019
Hi Stacy & Barry,
I wanted to thank you for re-inspiring me with your #DebtFree2019 video.
I’ve been following you on & off since Stacy Makes Cents.
Always loved your Crock pot recipes, (now I have an InstaPot) & couponing tips.
You have reminded me to start using cash again.
This is the perfect time for me to focus on making money a good habit.
Recently, had some health issues that resulted in complete career change.
It has given me the time I usually give to others through work, to myself.
I appreciate what Barry said about Good people will do Good things with money.
I admit, I’ve never held onto money bc I did feel it made you evil. #ChildhoodDrama
It amazes me how I missed the good I’ve done with it since I am caring.
Wow. Thank you!
You have really given me a fresh start.
I’m going to start catching up on your Blog.
And even though it is June, I’m starting a goal list for Abundance2019.
For me, it’s better to focus on the positive Abundance than it’s counterpart Debt,
even if the word free is included lol.
Thank you again so much & Much continued joy to all you bless.
Julie
Thanks for this awesome comment, Julie! Reach out if you have questions along the way! #abundance #debtfree2019