I was able to build a life in Canada, work in a career I love and become debt-free before I was 40.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On top of that, I worked my way into the blogging world and built a five-figure online business<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What I do regret is letting money take control of my life.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n When I understood basic finance<\/a><\/strong>, I worried about whether I would earn enough money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Money fear can be crippling to the point of depression, severe stress and worry about life in general.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Today I want to share how I overcame money fear <\/strong>and built up a wall of financial security.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Growing up, I started earning money as a paper boy who spent many days thinking about life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I grew up in the UK, understanding that the father works full-time and the mum stays home to care for the family. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Household roles have changed<\/strong>, and parents must contribute equally with or without kids.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, even with a dual-income household, that’s not enough to reduce the fear because of debt.<\/a><\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n Unfortunately, circumstances make people never get to live their dream life without financial worry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Growing up believing you want to be a doctor or scientist takes a spin once you realize the depth of each choice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Some people make it, and others don’t due to financial and health reasons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You’re unlikely to hear that a child wants a career as a weed control service advisor or bingo caller.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I also believe that without a dream, we aren’t giving ourselves goals to work towards and hope to fall into place. <\/p>\n\n\n\n I want to say that I grew up in a family without financial worries, but there’s no truth to that. <\/p>\n\n\n\n When other kids at my school went off on vacation with their families, we had to stay home and run the family business. <\/p>\n\n\n\n As a child who grew up in a family where money was a daily challenge, it’s safe to say I wanted more in my life. <\/p>\n\n\n\n You almost grow up faster when you realize that you don’t live as others do. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Friends of mine grew up in bigger homes but were detached or on private property. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Luckily I was fortunate to see both sides of reality vs the dream life<\/strong> I desperately wanted. <\/p>\n\n\n\n I can’t explain why I became money-obsessed, but I knew I would somehow free myself from the shackles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The life I created in my mind was of hard work, career goals, money showers and debt freedom<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n That was not much to ask of myself however without those scenarios in my mind; I would likely not be where I am today. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Extreme frugality<\/a><\/strong> to downright dumpster diving <\/a><\/strong>when it is unnecessary can take over any life. <\/p>\n\n\n\n We’ve been asked why we still budget when we don’t have debt and are ahead of most people our age. <\/p>\n\n\n\n We don’t see it that way because where there is one debt-free success story, there’s another.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Debt freedom is entirely different for everyone; however, suffering from money fear should not be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Questions I would ask myself when I was alone while I went to University became myriad questions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There are probably a million more questions I needed answers to work on controlling my money fear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I wanted to control my life, including how I earned and saved money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After University, I realized I did not want to work with computers because it was boring. <\/p>\n\n\n\n You’re probably laughing because I’m a part-time blogger, but it’s far different from computer engineering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Besides, blogging is fun<\/strong> because I get to share how my family was able to beat debt and increase our savings and investments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In my earlier years, I took a horrible job in a beef factory that paid the bills on my first home<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Soon after I left that job, I moved on to a UK grocery distribution centre for frozen food.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Again, the money was more than minimum wage and helped pay my mortgage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There was always a sense of pending doom because I didn’t want to work in a factory forever. <\/p>\n\n\n\n At that time, my money fear became intense emotionally because I felt lost in life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mental health and money go hand in hand, especially when you aren’t sure of your path. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Will it be the right path, or am I going to take the wrong turn? <\/p>\n\n\n\n Either way, life is a risk; without experience, you can’t learn how to improve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Then, I met my wife, another blog post topic coming soon. <\/p>\n\n\n\n After Mrs. CBB and I married and moved to Canada, money fears disoriented my thinking process. <\/p>\n\n\n\n What would I do for a job in a new country at 30?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n It wasn’t long after landing in Canada that I knew I didn’t want a job; I wanted a life-long career. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Both men and women can suffer silently from having too much debt<\/a><\/strong> or money insecurity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Thankfully Mrs. CBB lived a minimalist life<\/a><\/strong> and had a similar sentiment regarding poverty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Both of us knew that if we started a family, we wanted to make sure money didn’t own us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After purchasing our first home since living in a basement room for two years, we kicked it into high gear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Our life goals didn’t include unrealistic beginnings because we knew everyone had to start somewhere. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Setting financial milestones<\/a><\/strong> meant we knew it would take more than working to save money. <\/p>\n\n\n\n There were always ways to reduce the amount of money we spent and increase what we earned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There are many examples I could share with you but below are what I was thinking at the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n First, we needed to list what scares us the most about growing up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I think it’s essential to be a critical thinker and look into the future with a plan for specific situations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For example, losing a job could have had a massive impact on our mortgage had we spent more than we could afford.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yes, Mrs. CBB lost her job, and we bought our house with one income. <\/p>\n\n\n\n That was a scary time and another reason we did everything we could to earn money legitimately.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There was no room for becoming house poor,<\/a><\/strong> so we talked about money daily as a married couple. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Being on the same page with a spouse about living for today, tomorrow, and the future is a blessing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I think it’s important to remember that losing control of life often revolves around money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I’m sure many Canadians feel the pain of inflation<\/a><\/strong> but never factored that into their financial plan. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Can you even do that? Not really, but you can save money for a rainy day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Insert emergency savings<\/a><\/strong> into the equation, where we began our debt-free journey<\/a><\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Budgeting was the real turning point because it took a massive weight off our shoulders. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Related: Ten Steps To Budget Like The Canadian Budget Binder Family<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n After a few months of using a basic budget, it was clear <\/a><\/strong>that our financial picture came to life. <\/p>\n\n\n\n We could see how we could save more money in budget categories<\/a><\/strong> that didn’t make sense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For example, we aren’t fans of eating at restaurants; when we do, it’s most likely a celebration. <\/p>\n\n\n\n If our goal was to save money, we didn’t eat out or feel owed that luxury. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Both of us grew up eating home-cooked meals far less expensive than convenience. <\/p>\n\n\n\n When we bought a home, we knew we wanted out of that debt hold as fast as possible. <\/p>\n\n\n\n A mortgage’s massive amount of money was scary because we couldn’t predict the future. <\/p>\n\n\n\n We did whatever we could to earn money on the side to put towards our yearly mortgage lump sum allowance. <\/p>\n\n\n\n After five years, we could pay the entire $185,000 mortgage in full <\/strong>before we were 40. <\/p>\n\n\n\n That was the most significant financial accomplishment that allowed us breathing room<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Although not having a mortgage any longer may seem like we’ve hit the jackpot, life is scary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Almost nine years later,<\/strong> as debt-free Canadians, I still find ways to save money for our family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Not much has changed today as it did while we were paying our mortgage off. <\/p>\n\n\n\n We still live a frugal life by saving and earning money whenever it presents itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Putting our investments to work for us meant playing catch up by taking advantage of an RRSP, RESP and TFSA. <\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Although we were investing in our retirement while paying the mortgage, we put more weight on burning our mortgage papers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You’ll be happy to know that I no longer have money fear running circles in my mind. <\/p>\n\n\n\n I’m glad that we were both able to stay on the same page with our financial goals and never give up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Don’t get me wrong, we’ve had hard times but found a way to make it over the hurdles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Did we go without because my parents couldn’t afford to give us what others got?<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n Sure we did, but now we are raising our son without putting the burden of money problems in his way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Stop putting a spin on scenarios that will dampen your ability to reap monetary rewards. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Call us crazy, too frugal or greedy, but we still look for ways to earn and save money. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Please don’t laugh or roll your eyes because I can’t predict whether my health will be good to sustain our goals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For this reason, we continue to use the following opportunities to keep saving money.<\/p>\n\n\n\nMoney Fear Can Take Over Your Life <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Money Fear Growing Up Poor <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Ways People Suffer Money Fear<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Money Controlled My Life<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Money Fear and Marriage<\/h2>\n\n\n
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Creating The Life, We Wanted <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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How We Overcame Money Fear Together<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Fight Debt Tooth And Nail <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Find Ways To Reduce or Conquer Money Fear<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Take Advantage Of Free Money, Rewards and Savings<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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