How Did I Get Here?

I know my About Me page somewhat explores the topic of how I got where I am today: in debt and deep in clutter. But that is just the surface. I spent more than I make and I spent it on stuff I don't need. But why did I do that?

Recently Nony from one of my favorite blogs: A Slob Comes Clean talked about the sadness that can come with decluttering. I loved this post! I am sometimes sad when I let things go, even if they aren't something that necessarily meant something to me while I still had them, like my shoes. I felt sad but also happy and empowered when 20 pairs were recently decluttered! Why the heck do I feel sad about shoes? Well I don't really know the answer to that question, but I do know that when my poor financial and clutter habits started I was at a bad time in my life.

I got married in Summer 2010 and I was happy, mostly. The short version: fall 2010 I found out my husband wasn't who I thought and I filed for divorce in December. After the ending of my relationship, I started buying things in excess and applying for more and more credit. Each time a line of credit started getting a high balance, I applied for another, especially if I could "earn rewards" by using that particular card. This was the beginning of my problems.

They got worse after I graduated from college in May 2012. I was trying to keep up with all those around me despite the fact that they had been working a lot longer than me and thus were making more money, plus they have spouses to share in the household expenses. I  had neither but I had to keep up appearances.

I also like to be fashionable so I "had" to keep getting new clothes, shoes, handbags, etc to stay "in style". Only recently when I had a very embarrassing moment, my card was declined for a fairly low amount, did I decide to change my ways. Here I am now, paying for my past mistakes and frivolous lifestyle and I will continue to pay for these mistakes for a while. I haven't figured how long, but I know it'll be at least a couple of years probably.

Sigh! One day at a time :)