I would do it all over again, but I wouldn't even have attempted it in the airline environment of the last 10 years which sadly is the new norm with no good news in sight.
There will be no "taking it back". It's gone.
Debt and financial responsibility have much less in relation to career and income, than they do to self esteem, ego, social patterning, and other things.
I have an airline pilot friend and his wife who exceed 200K annually (and have for the past 4-5 years) who are now bankrupt. Even in bankruptcy his wife refuses to shop at a different grocery store where she has been shown that they can trim almost $600/mo. off their budget.
She claims that the products are inferior, even when it is proven to her that many of the products come from the EXACT manufacturer of the products she prefers. What she really is worried about is that her friends will see her shopping at the discount store...It's not about career or income, it's about emotion and perception.
They will be out of bankruptcy in 5 years.... and back into it just as quickly.
Another friend of mine is a local truck driver who makes 60k annually. He is constantly in debt over his head and always on the verge of bankruptcy. When he asked me to help him develop a financial plan I agreed and showed him where he could trim almost $700/mo from his budget....simply by changing grocery stores and limiting fast food purchases. He would have been debt free in 2.5-3 yrs. with the plan we developed.
He is now carrying twice as much debt as he was 3 years ago, blows $10-20 a day on fast food, and when he does buy groceries he still shops at the Mom and Pop market where he pays approx. 40-60% MORE for each item he buys. He claims it is "too far" to go to the other store. (it's about 4 miles ).
The real problem, once again, is that he was raised without money and in his small Kansas town it might get out that he shops at "that discount place." So living on the financial brink, having zero wealth doesn't matter....having his neighbors see him buying only "name brand" does.
When he was looking at getting a management promotion and making 75k a year he asked me: " I could live pretty well on 75 Grand dont'cha think!"
I stated: " Well, if you can't live on 60 grand a year, you can't live on 75".
He looked puzzled for a moment and then he got it...
It isn't what you make or how you make it...It's all about how you perceive yourself and your money, coupled with a small bit of logic and some self discipline, that allows you to handle finances with some degree of responsibility.
Of course, keeping ex, current, and future wives to a bare minimum certainly helps as well.
YKW
P.S. - The "Magic" grocery store in the above examples is:
ALDI.
Learn it, Love it, Live it.
http://www.aldifoods.com/us/html/service/store_locator_ENU_HTML.htm?WT.z_src=main
If you are fortunate enough to have one near you, you will knock 30-40% off your monthly food budget
immediately ... and without pesky coupons or "sales".
( No, I have no investment or vested interest in ALDI. )
