I think this is the moral to Aesop's "The Tortoise and the Hare." And how appropriate since I played the tortoise in my first grade class production when I was 6 years old. My mom still has the costume no doubt.
So back to this organization thing. Made a baby step yesterday, created a "bill box" in hopes of keeping better track of my finances. I used to be so good at sitting down with the checkbook, paying my bills religiously on Friday. Then, when layoffs started happening for my husband and there wasn't enough money to pay all the bills, it all fell apart. What are you supposed to do when that happens? How do you prioritize 5,000 things when you know there isn't enough? I didn't. I got overwhelmed and gave up. It has taken me almost two years to get the courage to even begin to think about how can I go back to being financially stable.
Well, since my first step has been taken. Time to tackle next step. I guess that would be figuring out how much money I actually have to work with each week and prioritizing necessities first within each week so the electric or water do not get shut off and vehicles don't get repossessed.
Step after that would be trying to make sure everyone else I owe money to get paid on a regular basis.
Old Goldie didn't used to even think this would ever be a struggle. I've learned a lot since hitting rock bottom. I've also become more compassionate toward others because I had to learn the hard way that financial struggles can hit anyone, no matter how hard you work. I have worked three jobs at a time to try to keep things afloat. It didn't work. You really, truly can't out-earn stupid. And as Dave Ramsey says he has done, I too have done stupid with zeroes on the end. A bunch of zeroes.
In a nutshell, slow and steady wins the race. I hope I can keep up my momentum, no matter how small. I pray that I will not get discouraged. I pray that I can stop beating myself up and that I can keep the bill collectors at bay while I get my act together. I must be strong and not feel pressured into deviating from my organizational system to make the rude collectors go away.
With God, all things are possible and he will take care of me. I must make this my focus above all else.
