Swimming

My favorite saying in high school was my own version of “Life’s a b***h, then you die”; “Life’s a beach & then you swim”. Well, swimming is definitely what I’m doing now. Swimming in debt that is.

Of course, that’s my own fault. Bad choices, depression, and burying my head in the sand have all contributed to my pool of debt. I even went through Dave Ramsey’s Finding Financial Peace course last year, but chose to continue to keep my head buried. Why the change now, you ask? Good question. The change is in me. I’m tired of wondering where the money goes. I’m sick of worrying about how much I actually owe. I’m done with being scared of finances. Yes, I’ve been scared. I’m still scared. However, it’s time to face facts. I’m almost forty, raising three children, and there’s nothing to fall back on in an emergency. I’m also joining households with my significant other and if ever there was a time to get my finances in line, this is it.

How I should start, I wonder. Well to begin with I’m rereading all of the literature I received with the Financial Peace Course. I’ve begun reading “Your Money or Your Life” by Joe Dominguez and Vicki Robin. After that I’ll tackle the two Suze Ormon books I have sitting on the bookshelf but never quite got around to reading. While immersing myself in these books I also plan to write down in my trusty little notebook each and every expense that occurs daily to see where my money is going. I will also need to order a copy of my credit report (major scary here!) and compile a list of all debts and assets to form a complete profile of my financial situation. The next step after the fact-finding mission is to complete some form of budget. That will be a bit tricky as I will be changing cities, homes, and jobs over the next couple of months. First I want to see where the money is going so that I can determine an average needed for the different areas of my budget.

My guess right now is that I’m treading water in my pool of debt and I definitely don’t want to hit the point where I’m drowning. My goal is to be floating on the top of that pool, with the debt having gone down the drain and the pool refilled with financial freedom. I hope you’ll come along for the ride and be inspired to drain your own debt pool!