I thought I was doing the budgeting thing. But as Maya Angelou said, “do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.” So here I am making more of an effort after knowing better to get us to being debt free.

Before going further, I realized in preparing this post that I was hesitant. I was hesitant not because of the discussion around the big dirty word (read: money), but because I was trying to figure out how to share enough to have meaningful discussion while also balancing not sharing too much to protect private information. I also don’t want folks to get distracted on by my numbers. Just because it may LOOK like my rent is cheaper than yours, there is NO COMPARISON. Everybody gets some sort of discount or help some how. The way that I see it, we’re all in this together and looking for that sale on aisle 9 for some bomb dot com chips for taco night.

Let’s go one step further and say that dirty word together. Money. Say it with me! Money! Money money money.

Ok a little bit more on my “how.” How am I getting closer to being debt free? I started implementing The Budget Mom’s (TBM) method in November 2019.

I am sharing this in hopes that you’ll join me on this journey, talk dirty (about money) with me, and I am realizing that this will also be another form of accountability.

Since we started implementing TBM’s method, we’ve been able to save up for annual expenses (like bar dues), have increased our awareness with regards to all things money-related, and have cut our credit card dependency. I can’t really pinpoint to an exact amount or reason, but I also believe that TBM’s method has equipped us with the awareness and tools to be able to stay afloat during the current storm that we are weathering.

Will you join me on this journey to being debt free?

At the turn of the new year, one of the things that I decided I would focus on are my habits. My habits, routines, and thinking about the small, incremental pieces, that will lead up to me accomplishing my bigger goals.

I often get trapped in this cycle of having these big lofty goals, and doing short sprints to get me closer to those goals, but then life takes over and I get discouraged after feeling like I’ve made no progress. My hope is that by focusing on the smaller steps that that will help me remain motivated and not so overwhelmed.

Many experts list the following as key daily habits of successful people:

Wake up early

Exercise

Emphasis on the importance of a morning routine

And these people also (often) have a team working for them.

This whole discussion on key habits of successful people is really fascinating to me…but also another rabbit hole that I get sucked into. Even looking at this list can be daunting. I mean, waking up early?! My kids wake up by 5:30am, so what insane hour should I be getting up at? I also don’t have a team of people working for me.

And sure, similar to eating healthy, it seems more common sense-like to know that these habits are what you SHOULD be doing. But is it sustainable for me? Nope. Ultimately, while these common key habits of successful people is nice, I need to do what works best for me.

One thing that I’ve been getting better at is sitting down regularly (for the past month or so) to plan, journal, and reflect. It hasn’t happened in a daily routine-like manner that I’d prefer. But somehow it’s happening.

I often think back to when I was studying for the bar exam and the discipline it takes to study for the bar exam. As traumatic as that experience was, I also recall being highly productive during that time.

One practice that I did while studying for the bar, that I have been working on bringing back into my daily routine, is sitting down at the end of the day to evaluate how the day went, and carry over things that didn’t get accomplished for the next day.

What are your habits for success?