Shovel in hand, I have decided that it is time to dig myself out of the financial ruin in which I have surrounded my life with. It is not easy realizing that no matter the reasoning in which one has landed in a place of self awareness, the truth remains the same. The truth is that I have made terrible and impulsive financial decisions. I was an active participant to my own financial hell. I could write about the ways that I could beat myself up or I could start fresh.

I vote on starting fresh.

So for me, starting fresh looks like this:

1). Create a budget.

2). Decrease unnecessary spending.

3). Work on lowering our grocery budget.

4). Hacking my current subscriptions.

5). Decluttering both environmentally and financially.

6). Create a debt payoff plan.

All these things seem like monumental undertakings. If I were to look at this list as a whole, I would already be overwhelmed and give up. I am not going to see the entire forest, I want to concentrate on a single leaf. That leaf will create other leaves, that would further make up branches and then the whole tree. I also write as if this is the first time that I have ever created such a helpful list. *Sigh* It is not. I have made countless lists, budgets, debt plans, gyst notebooks (get your shit together). I have paid off debt, just for it to creep upon me once again. How will I stick to it this time? How do I know that I just won’t screw it up again and start again from square one? I don’t. I only know that repetition is the key with most things, why not this? So, I begin again. It is helpful having this blog to write it all out, so someday I can look back at it and see how far I have come. I believe that we all have the power to change our trajectory. I hope you have the will to begin again, you are so worth it and so am I. Much emotional spending love,

Elle B.