Whew! I fell off the wagon pretty hard over the summer and have had a very hard time getting back on. I’m afraid I went on a bit of a spending spree, and once I started it was very  hard for me to stop. In the meantime, some of my bills have been sliding and I haven’t been paying extra. I’m disappointed in myself, but am determined to climb back on top of this mess.

The good part is that, although it feels like it, I’m really NOT starting back at the beginning. I accomplished a lot for those six months I was on my program, paid off many accounts and paid a lot on other accounts. So yes, I did sabotage myself and have to do some digging before I can get even again, but now that I know how to do it and that I have less to pay off it does help.

I don’t have a huge amount to buy for Christmas, as we pick names and buy for one person, thank goodness. I’ve already paid for that and am just waiting for it to arrive in the mail. I’m buying my little nephew a movie and a book in addition to that. Then I have Tim. I have one item for him already (small) and another small item on the way. He’s buying me a nice winter coat that I need, as mine is short and I froze last year getting to work in the city.  We are also planning to visit my parents for Christmas, but it’s only a 5-hour drive and we’ll be staying with them so we won’t have to put out a lot of money. Of course, we’ll help pay for food and such while we’re there.

So, my next task is to go through that pile and figure out a realistic budget that will get me back on track, then redo the budget paydown.  I’ll post more about this after I finish these steps. I think just posting here again helps, as it solidifies that I’m working on this again.