There are times in everyone’s life when you will get buried. Whether it is under a pile of manure like sickness or accidents, or under a pile of joy like birthdays, vacations, or having a baby, the results on your finances can be similar. Just getting back to a level place in your finances can seem like it requires a monumental effort. Bills, statements, and even unopened mail can seemingly grow into mountains of paperwork overnight. Piles of receipts from your trip, or from your recent round of doctor’s visits and eating out, can haunt you and feel like a weight on top of you.
It is in this recovery period that so many people get derailed in their budgeting efforts. It feels like starting over. Actually, it feels like you are starting under because you feel buried before you begin. This week I am going to walk you through the process of digging out when life has handed you a blizzard, even if it was a blizzard of joy.
My dear friend Katie just returned from two weeks away from home as she travelled to the beach with her husband. He was there with work and they used the work trip as an opportunity for family bonding and a mini-vacation. However, even though she hadn’t lived in her house for two weeks, and left it clean and perfectly in order, she arrived home and immediately felt buried. The restful vacation feelings were long gone, and the mountain of mail, the piles of laundry from their luggage, and the endless “to do” lists that awaited her return left her feeling in over her head.
The key to digging out is to take it one step at a time, and I am going to walk you through those steps. I’m not going to walk you through your laundry, but I am going to walk you through the process of digging out your finances from an avalanche of expenses or neglect. The goal is to get you to a level place where you can breathe again and have a sense of peace in your finances, confidence in your budgeting plan for your money, and purpose in your spending.
I want to encourage you that if you need to dig out this week, then you are not alone. After the last two weeks with sickness, sever migraines and birthdays, I am digging out as well. I have neglected my Finance Binder, and my Finances. However, like a Northerner with a snow shovel, I know what to do to get out of this pile and I’m happy to lead the way out. This may be your first time to attempt to dig out, or you may still be trying to dig out from Christmas, but this is a great week to do it. I am going to take it one day at a time with a new assignment for each day. So don’t miss, and don’t despair. Whether it’s a pile of manure, or a pile of fun, your budgeting shovel will work on them both. And let me tell you, no matter what the pile is made of, it’s a much better view standing on top of it, then buried underneath.
I’ll see you tomorrow.
Tracy
Tracy