As the fog of your addiction to a substance or a behavior you may find it has resulted in chaos and drama around money.
It’s not unusual to hear at a 12 Step recovery meeting that someone is having trouble finding a job or making their current paycheck stretch to essentials like food and rent.
While there are two programs that address money specifically, (Debtors Anonymous and Underearners Anonymous) most find that they aren’t addicted to spending or charging or have a life-long pattern of underearning.
What’s needed is the rigorous self-honesty about money, just as is required for the rest of life. While it’s not just the addict that is unclear about money, money troubles can cause anguish and, unlaced, can even lead to a slip.
Track income and expense
One of the best ways to begin to sort out exactly what’s going on with you and money is to track every single penny you earn and spend over 30 days or more. Many people are surprised to find they are spending unconsciously, and this 30 days of tracking brings those unconscious expenditures into consciousness. Some call those money leaks.
The classic example of this is the woman who discovered she was spending $37.50 a week on fancy coffee. By the end of four weeks she discovered she was spending $150 each month, which turns out to be almost $2,000 by the time a full year rolled around. She realized her total got even higher when she treated herself to a cookie or two at the coffee shop.
The goal isn’t to get you to stop spending money, but to get you out of any vagueness you have around the money you do have. Once you have an understanding of how your money flows in and how it flows out again you’re in a position to make better choices.
One version of the above story has the woman deciding to buy an espresso machine and make her own fancy coffee at home most of the time. She also planned on spending money in the coffee shop once a week when she met there with her friends. She decided she wanted to spend her money differently than she had been.
List your debts
The next step is to list all the debts you have. Along next to each debt record the payment you’re making if you are, and any interest rates and terms. If you can’t find the terms in whatever paper work you’ve got, make some phone calls so you’re clear about what you owe and what it’s costing you.
Recovering alcoholics and other addicts often owe personal debts to co-workers, family members and other people or organizations. Make sure to list those, even if you’re not making payments at the moment.
You may also realize that you’ve got some money amends to make.
Again, the goal here is clarity.
Look at your credit
The third step in getting your finances in order is to pull a credit report on yourself. Again, the goal to get clear on where you are financially, and your credit score is an integral part of your total financial picture.
Often people in early recovery discover they have a low credit score or even no credit score at all. Either is far from the end of the world and both can be repaired over time, but like so much in 12 Step recovery, until you know what’s going on you’re not in a position to do anything about it.
Obviously you won’t get this all done at once. Just tracking the money will take a month and you may find you need to start over several times. This is another case of easy does it but do it.
Get clear on the money that’s coming in, the way your spending money and your credit score. Your recovery will be sounder as a result.
Love, blessings and abundance
