![]() ![]() They do appreciate you being open with them. I also called the company to find out the current figure with accrued interest. I was then able to make a list of all my debts. ![]() You can do the same sorting process digitally if you have bills through email or a portal of some sort.Īt the top of each pile, I organized by the most recent bill. Once you’ve opened all of the bills, sort them into piles based on who you owe money to. ![]() The only way to overcome it was to take that first step of facing it. I was in complete denial about my financial mess. I let unopened letters accumulate for months and ignored phone calls. As much as we want to bury our heads in the sand, we have to open those letters (or emails) that have piled up, answer the debt collection calls, and look at our bank accounts. The Buddhist phrase “the only way out is through” is so true, in both finding sobriety and facing our debts. I used five strategies to overcome my debt and improve my relationship with money. My overall advice would be to stop blaming and shaming yourself - treating yourself this way won’t help you get a handle on your finances, it’ll only make you feel worse. “Financial sobriety” simply refers to finding manageability around our relationship with money.įinancial sobriety requires a number of key steps and a lot of self-compassion. It simply refers to finding manageability, around our relationship with money, which is one of the components of a healthy overall recovery. You may have heard the term “financial sobriety” bandied about in recovery circles, but are unsure what it means. It took about six months of sobriety before I could take on my financial situation. I had to first find some stability, learn how to take care of myself, and foster healthy relationships. Only then could I tackle the money issue. For me, that meant I first had to stop drinking four bottles of wine a day and taking whatever drugs I could get my hands on. It encompasses bringing health and wellness to all areas of our lives: our relationships and how we relate to the world, our finances, and our physical and mental well-being. That phrase “peeling back the onion” - even though it makes me cringe because it feels so trite - is a great analogy for the process of recovery. Getting sober was the first step toward living a healthier life, and I had to go through the process of finding recovery before I could improve my relationship with money. I felt so ashamed that my life had come to this. ![]() There was never enough money to meet my insatiable desire for alcohol and drugs. I sold my belongings (including sentimental items), took out payday loans, pawned electronics and jewelry, and wrote checks that I knew would bounce. Payday loans, credit card debt, store cards, bounced checks, overdrafts, collection agency debts - I had them all, accompanied by a lot of shame and denial.Īt the end of my addiction, I did whatever I could to get money. Like the $30,000 worth of debt that I’d accumulated. Recovery wasn’t just about facing up to my substance use problem it was also facing up to the consequences of my actions in active addiction. ![]()
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