How do I come up with $3000 in 2 weeks?

[DoubleBarrel]

OP, congrats on making that goal. My issue with your post was the incredibly short deadline you gave yourself. I think the subconscious mind resists extraordinarily short deadlines.

You mentioned your cc debt. Therefore like it or not, it was up for discussion. Cc debt is a constant drain. When I looked at the money pouring out of my life in interest I was shocked.

If you’re interested, read or listen to “The Richest Man in Babylon” (the long version). There is a story within about a young man who owed money to lenders, and was sold into slavery. He was challenged by his master’s wife to escape and pay back his debts. She told him day after day that as long as he was in debt, he would be a slave. He would always be running from his creditors. She posed the question, “Have you the heart of a slave, or the heart of a free man?” He insisted he had the heart of a free man. On a journey to see her ailing mother, she provided him food and let him sneak away.
He went to all his creditors with a plan to pay them all a small amount each week until he eventually paid them all off, and attained true freedom.
The point is that facing up to these responsibilities changed his heart and he became a man of wealth and influence.
Debt erodes more than our bank accounts. It erodes our self-respect, if even on a subconscious level. I speak as a former slave.
Unsolicited advice, yes, but good advice for anyone reading this who will receive it.
There is a lot to be admired about your attitude toward self-belief. Some of us older war-horses are just trying to get you to think about the ball and chain that is cc debt, or if you will not receive it, to influence other readers who will receive it. Congrats again on achieving your financial goal.

Smasher, I read "The Richest Man in Babylon" one or two times many years ago. Looking back, I didn't think much of it. I think it was dated and lacked merit today. If a man really wants to know how to achieve wealth in today's world, he reads "Rich Dad, Poor Dad", and he makes good friends with a handful of multi-millionaires he associates with often.

But I don't see why you're so pushy about getting me to make my measly $10,000 CAD debt a priority. I won't do it. And I'll tell you why...

To me, right now, $10,000 seems like a fairly large sum. With a minimum wage job, it would probably take me 3 years of slaving to pay it back. But if instead, I ignore it for the time being and invest the money I do get into myself and developing my potentialities for further success, it will put me in a position to prosper and pay that debt back in the future when it will be pocket change to me. To use Kiyosaki's analogy, I'm building a pipeline instead of carrying buckets.

Also, my creditor is pretty cool; they only send me about three letters and give me one phone call a year. They certainly don't harass me, like some do.

Yet in spite of all this, you imply I'm a slave, and not a free man, because I have $10,000 debt. I think you are wrong about that. A slave or free man is defined by how he thinks, not his net worth. Most people don't think. I do. And it is only the man who worries about his debt and thinks on it, that it is picked up by subconscious mind, and in turn affects his mind and self-respect.

At any rate, I can follow my own council, or I can follow yours. If I follow mine, I will be prosperous and happy in 3 years (and debt free). Or if I follow yours, I will be broke and miserable in 3 years, but be debt free.

To me, the course of action is obvious.

 

[corrector]

I had over $ 165 K of debt and had it paid off through a consumer proposal. My creditors settled with me for $ 50K, I managed to pay $ 30K and settled $ 5K over the rest when the pandemic hit (nice cover excuse that reduced the remaining $ 20K to $ 5K). I still consider it a miracle to this day as I thought that would have failed many times and didn't see the pandemic would provide a way out.

With modern laws that allow for bankruptcy and consumer proposals, there is always a way out of debt by simply enlisting a trustee to take care of it all for you. It might hit your record, but the debt is gone.