A colleague of mine was in a bad car wreck coming back from Canada earlier this year. He, his wife, and his baby son flipped their SUV five times on the highway. Apparently, there was a sudden narrowing of the roadway as it was under construction. Thankfully, and amazingly, no one was hurt! He told me that the experience changed his outlook on life, and he adopted the mantra "Life is too short." So, he and his wife decided with such little precious and unpredictable time left here on mother earth, they would buy whatever they wanted, whenever they wanted. My colleague also related to me that  he now has a change of heart as it relates to spending and is considering living a more frugal lifestyle because he is learning about passive income and the benefits of smart financial investing.

The discussion led me to reflect on my own financial situation and what I have done to avoid the pitfalls of over-spending in the last couple of years. Granted, I am not innocent when it comes to avoiding debt. I still have a small college loan and some credit card bills, but nothing that will put me in the poor house. However, there was a time, several years ago, when I thought that bankruptcy was just around the corner waiting to take me under its wing. How did I get to that point in the first place? I COULDN'T SAY NO TO MYSELF. I didn't want to wait; I needed to buy "it" right then and there! Luckily, I changed my perceptions and re-trained myself to delay instant gratification.

If you get paid every two weeks at your job, then you understand delaying of gratification. You may not think of it this way, but it is. You work 40+ hrs a week and look forward to that pay check on the 15th and 30th. You're doing a task, expecting a reward, but the reward isn't instant...there is a delay. For many, as soon as the paycheck is in hand, it's spent. This is what I changed about my behavior: I retrained myself to restrain myself. And that's a huge part of how I got out of big time debt.

[For an easier read, I broke this post into three parts]

(Continues at "How I Delayed Gratification And Still Felt Rewarded; Part 2" )