There’s this moment a lot of us have when we decide to get serious about our debt: we want it gone yesterday. The shame, the stress, the interest—it’s like a weight we can’t wait to throw off. I remember sitting in my bedroom with a notebook, listing every single debt I had. Credit cards. A…
Author: Harper
How I Stayed On Track After My First Financial Setback
The first time I started seeing real progress with my debt payoff, I was flying high. I had paid off one credit card completely. I was making extra payments on the next. My emergency savings—tiny as it was—had hit $600, and I felt like I was finally, finally in control. I wasn’t rich, but I…
Carrying Debt in My 40s Feels Like a Secret I’m Not Supposed to Have
There are some things that feel harder to say out loud once you’re past a certain age, and “I’m still in debt” is one of them. I don’t mean a mortgage or a car note—those get a weird societal pass. I’m talking about credit cards that never seem to go away. A lingering balance from…
Why I Stopped Trying to Budget My Way Out of Debt
In the beginning, I thought the answer to getting out of debt was simple: spend less. I made spreadsheets. I canceled subscriptions. I gave up streaming platforms, stopped getting my nails done, and switched to generic everything. For a while, it felt empowering—like I was finally being disciplined and doing what grown women are supposed…
The First Time I Felt Like I Was Winning With Money
For a long time, money just felt like something that happened to me. The paycheck hit, the bills took their slice, the rest vanished in a blur of groceries, MetroCards, and random purchases I couldn’t even remember making. I was always broke, always stressed, and always trying to figure out how the hell people were…