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The Cold, Hard Truth

For several years, my husband and I have kept track of our total debt and spending with spreadsheets charting what goes up and what goes down. On a monthly basis, we would get together and look at where we stand financially. My thinking was that seeing just how much we owe would force us to keep that total in mind and strengthen our resolve to pay it down.

Overall, I think it's helped, but it alone hasn't been enough to inspire us to eliminate all of our bad financial behaviors. If it were, we would've been a lot better off several years ago. It has, however, inspired us to be a little better about our spending.

I know this because we haven't been as diligent about the spreadsheets since our daughter was born. I say "we" because my husband is further behind in his share than he typically is, too, but I haven't really even tried to keep up with my part, especially this year after all of the long trips back and forth to visit my dad in the hospital. Eventually, I got to the point where I really didn't want to know. Ignorance may be bliss, but it doesn't help the problem go away.

So, on Monday evening, for the first time in four months, I got a glimpse of what we owe. In those four months, our overall debt has climbed by nearly $1,000.

I knew it wouldn't be pretty, but I'm still disgusted with myself that I haven't done better.

I NEED to look at this every month. It's not a cure-all, but it definitely helps me focus.
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