Gave myself a pat on the back today and also shook my head in disbelief. A belief that if I had this kind of discipline in my youth, I would be retiring in comfort without any money worries. Yet, I wouldn't have had the experiences which gave me the inspiration to write three books.

My carefree “worry about money tomorrow” attitude, led me to alcoholism, drug addiction, and homelessness. By the time I found sobriety my life was a dumpster fire. No matter how much I wanted to clean up the wreckage of my past, life just kept throwing me curveballs.

I worked two jobs, yet I still couldn't catch up, in fact, things went from bad to worse. In 2000, my ex-wife was diagnosed with breast cancer. Even though, I had medical insurance, the co-pays, prescriptions, travel costs, and missed work, made a paycheck to small to handle it all. So, we used credit cards, until they were maxed out. Then a mortgage, followed by a second mortgage, yet nothing seemed to dent the debt.

I gave up on a second job and sunk into a mild depression. To make matters worse, my wife and I had a different belief system when it came to money. Early in 2010, I threw in the towel on our marriage. I moved out of our 4 bedroom, 2 bath, 3 car garage home and moved into a 650 square foot apartment.

First order of business was figuring out my total debt. Before I moved, I never answered the phone or opened the mail. I knew people wanted money and I had no answer for them. When it was all said and done I owed over $65,000. For the first time in well over a decade, I was slapped in the face with the reality that I was dead broke.

The first month in my new home, I slept on an old couch, that the last residents left behind. In fact, it was because of that couch that I took that apartment. It was the only piece of furniture I had. That first month also had me eating hot dogs for my evening meal, while I had peanut butter and jelly for lunch.

My first goal was to quit bouncing checks, so I lived with cash and nothing else. If I ran out of money then I would suffer. No floating checks, no credit – nothing – just cash. To help with this goal, I rounded up my checks and rounded down my deposits, in a small way, my checking account became my first savings account. When the ledger said $5, I probably had $10 or $15 in it, but just seeing that $5 figure I'd quit using my checking account. I also didn't want to know the exact amount so I quit balancing my check book and in the 11 years since starting that I have never bounced a check or abused the debit card associated with that account.

After that month, I had a few dollars in my wallet and was excited that I had that small amount of money and more importantly no new debt! With a little bit of confidence, I bought a used mattress and made a bed frame with old wood from an old janitor's closet at my place of employment. I went to Goodwill, got bed sheets, towels, a microwave and other odds and ends, and began to set up house!

Next, I started using this small extra income to start paying off my debts. My credit rating was destroyed. My score sat at 365, so I didn't care about who got paid or what the interest was. I'd start with the smallest bill and begin paying off bills one at a time.

I've had some amazing highs in my life from booze, LSD, and Cocaine. Yet, none of those compared to the high I felt when I paid a bill off. I also realized that I wasn't entitled to anything and most things in my life were luxuries. I quit having cable TV and watched shows on the internet. I quit having a mobile phone contract and instead went with a pay as you go plan. I cut down on the use of a car and walked everywhere, and in fact, I haven't owned a car in over 5 years. Instead, I purchased an electric bike and use that and mass transit.

The lesson I learned through all of this is that increasing income wasn't the only way to decrease debt. In fact, for me, it had a negative impact. I lost touch with my kids because I was never home and when I was, I was either asleep or drunk. My first marriage ended when I worked two jobs because my wife had no physical intimacy with me and found love in the arms of another man.

Earning extra money didn't help me professionally nor personally. It was when I looked at my expenses and changed my attitude on what I wanted and what I needed that things began to change. I went from $65,000 in debt in 2010, to having reached six figures in liquid assets in 2021.

I went from being maxed out in credit card debt (4 cards, $10,000 owed) to now having 6 cards with a spending amount of all at $17,000, yet have never paid a penny in interest on any of them.

I hope this doesn't sound like I'm bragging. I'm not! I just want to share what can happen if you work for it. I didn't inherit money, I didn't strike it rich by gambling. I found a respect for money. I found a discipline in myself to separate wants from needs. Now instead of me working for money, I have money working for me.

In 2010, I contemplated bankruptcy. The thing that stopped me was my word. There are a lot of things in our life we have no control over. The one thing we can control is our word. When I was in debt, I made promises to pay those debts. I gave my word to credit card companies, loan companies, and friends that “you can trust me, I'll pay it back.” That is what kept me going. If I lost control over my word – than I will have lost control over my life. Today I'm grateful that I kept my word to others, as well as myself.

Getting into debt is easy. My reality with it was simple, no planning was needed. If I had money in my wallet – spend it. If I had a blank check – write it. If I had a credit card – max it out. Getting out of debt showed me a new world. My reality said that the money I earned wasn't mine – pay it back. Eating out was a luxury – make meals at home. Driving a car was making me lazy – get out and walk. Cable TV was a luxury – use rabbit ears. Phone contracts were a noose around my neck – use pay as you go. Clothes dryer? Never – used a drying rack and clothes line.

I learned so many ways to cut expenses and never really missed any of it. Today, I don't track my expenses like I used to, not because I'm taking money for granted. Rather it's because I can now see the difference between what is needed and what is impulsive. At my age, I'll never be able to retire comfortably, but with my changed attitude about money I can live a more stress free life.

If you're in debt, try looking at it the other way. Instead of trying to figure out how to make more money, try figuring out how to make less expenses.