APPLICANT #11: Larsen Plyler

Larsen Plyler is an 20-year-old student from Florence.

Here is Larsen's video application:

Here is Larsen's current situation:

Hey there! My name is Larsen Plyler, and I live in Florence. I’m 20 years old and a student at the University of North Alabama. I am a history major, with a religion and philosophy minor and one day I want to be a college professor. I love music. I love to sing and I play trombone and mandolin. I am extremely outgoing and have a lot of wonderful friends. I spend my time between classes hanging out in the Student Union Building talking to everyone and discussing the current events affecting our lives.  The most important things in my life are my God, my family, and my country.

Here is Larsen's blog post:

What a blessing it is to live in a wonderful land of freedom. We are free to speak, free to write, free to worship; freedom of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Truly we are the land of the free and the home of the brave. Unfortunately, there is one freedom that many in America have lost. That freedom is financial freedom.

Though we live in a prosperous land, our current economic climate is one of unrest and disarray. Realizing many factors have contributed to this financial decline, it is important to note that it has been largely product of individuals own doing. Too many people wanted financial freedom without taking financial responsibility.

Financial freedom means different things to different people. Definitions fall everywhere on the scale between just having the bills taken care of to having money to burn. To me, financial freedom is being able to do what one wants to do without having to create a debt.

Whatever financial freedom means to you, I think we can all agree we want it! A lot of the freedoms the 18-25 generation have enjoyed have been fought for and passed down to us by other generations.

Listening to the news, it seems financial freedom is not likely to be one of those freedoms. We are going to have to fight and be willing to sacrifice to earn it for ourselves.  The good news is that it is within all of us to take hold of it.  With education, support and commitment financial freedom is within the power of us all. 

There are many advantages to being financially free. The stress and worry being in debt causes one is something we all want to be free of.  Being financially free will provide opportunities for you to take higher risks that could yield higher rewards later.  

All of that sounds wonderful, right? But how do we accomplish such financial freedom? We have to create good habits, including saving and budgeting our money. It is imperative that we save some money for that “rainy day.” Even if it is only five dollars a week, saving money is a habit—if we start doing it, we will get used to doing it. It is vital that we budget. Putting down our expenses on paper will help us see where our money is going and help us to cut expenses. When we see where our income goes, it will help us make a conscious effort to fix our bad spending habits. This can serve a two-fold purpose. First, we won’t spend money where we don’t have to, and we will free up money for savings to put us on the road to financial freedom. Remember “If our outgo is more than our income, our upkeep will be our downfall.”

We’ve got so many wonderful freedoms in America. How about adding financial freedom to the list?
Together we can Alabama!  Vote for me to be the voice of A Young and Free Alabama!