The Ninth Promise of
Debtors Anonymous states that we will find acceptance and gratitude
and it will replace regret, self pity and longing.
When I looked at my
financial nightmare, seriously for the first time… I was filled
with so much shame and regret. Here I was in my 50s, deep in debt,
with absolutely nothing for a safety net. I wasn’t even living
paycheck to paycheck. I was spending my next paycheck two to three
days before I actually had it in the bank. Which meant that more
times than not, I would bounce a check and pay extra charges for
having an overdraft.
With not having any
funds available, I never really devised a plan to get out of debt
because I simply didn’t have any money. Yet, when I left my
marriage I knew that second chances for me had run out. This would
be my last chance to get it right.
My plan was simple.
Start working on the debt. One bill at a time. Starting with the
smallest one. I really didn’t care about interest rates or late
fees. My credit score was shot and robbing Peter to pay Paul hadn’t
worked. So, it was one bill at a time.
The next part of my
plan was to quit bouncing check. Every bounced check cost me two
hours of pay. So if I had four bounced checks than I was working
that day to just pay overdraft fees. To do this I started rounding
up the checks I wrote and rounding down my deposits. In a very
simple way, I had started and emergency fund. Yes, it was only
pennies… but it was pennies I have never been able to save before.
It took over five
years but by doing these three little things and sticking to them I
was able to get out from behind. I started with a debt of $65,000.
Today I am in my fourth year of being debt free. I am so grateful
that I had the strength and courage to stick with the plan and not
try to “fix” things quickly. And I’ve learn to accept that the
simple life is the best life for me. With simple things I have been
able to stay debt free and more importantly have been able to build
and maintain a healthy emergency fund.
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