For about two years I’ve been on a spending freeze as I worked to improve my credit score and tackle credit card debt. If you haven’t listened to my back story, my college years put me back A LOT with credit card debt. My spending ranged from unnecessary clothing shopping sprees to travel out of my price range. My first few years out of college were riddled with high minimum credit card payments, student loan repayments, wedding savings, and housing compromises to stay within budget.

But there’s a silver lining! Although I took an unconventional approach to get rid of my credit card debt, I was placed on a much needed journey to: heal my relationship with my money in general, spending, credit cards, and financial baggage.

In listening to a podcast from my favorite nutritionist, Shantell Taylor, I was reminded that “food only solves food problems”.

Combining that wise proverb with the self awareness advice in The Mountain Is You, I realized that my means to overcoming my financial woes lies within my own financial success.

To be honest I was thrusted into this situation out of necessity. I finally paired with a credit repair specialist I could trust and she advised I stopped spending money on my credit cards. Additionally, I only had one credit card left after closing all my accounts I fell behind repaying. Every time I wanted to buy something I didn’t need or something I couldn’t easily afford with one check, I had to literally strategize how to approach it:

• rationalize why I needed it and by when
• determine how I’d save for it
• ultimately pay for it in cash

Surprisingly, this was like a new concept to me but it retaught the discipline I needed to make conscious and healthy decisions. I started to value money more and put more value on the things I ACTUALLY cared about, not just the fleeting desires. This led to me effortlessly saving more, affording a higher car note for a short period, consistently paying tithes on my gross income (not net), paying for a premium gym membership for a short period, buying a home, and much more!

But what did this look like for my daily life?

I immediately cut out a lot of things…. clothes and accessories shopping, medium to large scale trips, social activities every weekend, and upgrades around the home. I truly longed to do more in my life but I knew this sacrifice was needed to rebuild my money mindset and daily/weekly habits with my funds. This led to me developing money rules.

Similar to what Brianna Weist refers to as personal principles, these are non-negotiable parameters in my money that keep me on track to my long-term goals. These became so engrained in me, that I don’t see any other way to handle my money. Here are a few examples (if not all, because there are few):

• save a set amount of your net paycheck
• pay 10% of your gross paycheck in tithes
• refresh your wardrobe and accessories on a quarterly basis at most
• add any new items you’d like to buy or research to your wishlist before purchasing
• set aside savings each check towards mid-term transportation costs (registration renewals, maintenance)

These were game changers. They helped me figure out what was a priority before I started squeezing in anything else. And of course there are other necessities like utility bills, groceries, and gas but I never really had an existential crisis about these. It was the “nice to have for future Brittani” rules that I wavered on before. But I also recognized that doing things for myself with my money NOW was also important. So, other things I adopted into my money regimen included:

• bi-weekly hair, brow, nails appointments (when the expenses made sense for that season)
• variable personal spend budget for hygiene, convenience, and small luxuries around the home