Shock and Awe

I've made several changes over the past few months in my attempt to reduce my debt. I've,

• Upped my car insurance deductible
• Canceled my landline
• Canceled online music subscription
• Canceled genealogy website subscription
• Canceled unneeded services on my cell phone plan
• Reduced the number of times I meet with my personal trainer
• Signed up for budget billing for my utilities
• Signed up for automatic payment for all bills to reduce late fees
• Canceled an unused email account

I've also been making efforts to spend less by making my own meals, staying away from tempting places such as bookstores and riding my bike to work or on errands.

With all the changes I've made I was expecting to notice that I have a little more money each months. It turns out, I don't have extra money, I simply have enough to support myself without using my credit card. I'm not sure whether to be proud or depressed. How did I allow myself to live like this for so long? How did I allow myself to get so far into debt? On the other hand, yay me! It took awhile but I did figure it out and am now taking steps to fix my situation. I haven't used my credit in damned near 5 months! That's freakin amazing. It's so cool to get the statement and see that the activity has been my monthly payment (and of course the finance charges.)

So, I continue to move forward oh so slowly. I'm both in awe at what I've accomplished in four short months and shocked at how bad I allowed it to get in the first place.