The spending plan tool at the DA Regional Fellowship Day in Minneapolis, MN

Good afternoon everybody. My name is Renee. I'm a compulsive debtor, spender and under earner.

Can you hear me? OK, OK,

let's start up here. Well, I'm going to do something a little different than you probably would normally here for spending plan because I want to give you a little bit of a preface on how why I do my spending plan the way that I do a little bit of my story 1st and hopefully, hopefully it won't be too long. But but anyway, I want to just tell you, I came into DA in 1996 in May

and I really didn't believe that there was any way that I could get out of debt, let alone live one day without overspending or debting.

And

life pretty much

had no meaning because I just didn't feel like there was any hope for me anymore. And I didn't believe that my dreams could ever come true. And I thought the only way out of my debt unfortunately in my mind was if I inherited money. That was the only way I could think of. And I felt very sad and ashamed about that.

But when I came into Dai, think I got it right away

that I was getting against myself and people sometimes said that was kind of a cop out, but I still believe that. I didn't believe it for a lot for a while. But when I come back to it, I think it's a program of self-care and how I would deprive myself and debt against myself. And I really don't believe I would be here today if it weren't for this program because I've had medical issues. I've had, you know, who knows? But there are lots of things that could have happened that, you know,

at least I wouldn't be standing here and I wouldn't be in the situation that I am today. So I'm really grateful for the program.

We had lots of PR GS, I, we used to call pressure groups you heard before and I was like, I don't need any more pressure. I can't help one of those, you know, But then found out that it was really pressure relief groups and I didn't debt one day at a time. I really kind of grabbed on to the program right away. I didn't believe that it was possible not to debt, but by taking it a day at a time and doing the steps and having pressure relief groups, I didn't need to debt

and I kept a spending plan and I wrote out my spending plan. And I think maybe partially because I didn't, you know, we didn't use computers all that much back in 96. That's amazing. That's only 12 years ago, but but I still do my spending plan by hand today. And I do it because it's a, a meditation and it keeps me grounded in my numbers. It keeps me knowing,

taking time, seeing it as a priority, looking at those numbers every month and seeing what am I doing and is this how I want to be spending my money?

So that's kind of stuck.

So I didn't debt for while I was in the program for a really long time, except I started to feel like I didn't have enough. And I started to sit in the rooms and I felt like maybe I'm not really a debtor, but I just feel like I don't have enough. And I remember going through month after month feeling like I just don't have enough. I don't have enough money in my spending plan. How can I do this, you know? And I started to, now I look back and I think,

you know, that was deading. I started to pay my bills a little late.

I got and I got kind of lazy. Michelle talked a little bit about some of those, you know, mid year or whatever they're called, I don't know, midtimers, lackadaisical kinds of things. And I see that I got into a lot of that. But then I got hoping in through the World Service Conference and I remember Christy and I were sitting in New York and we talked about it and she's like, why don't you? You could finish that degree? Because I believe that was another thing. I hadn't started a degree and I had quit because

as I decided I wasn't going to debt. And she was like, why don't you finish that degree? I'm like, I can't do it. And we decided, she kind of encouraged me that I could do it and I could do it. And I started to go back to school and take classes, and eventually I did finish that degree without debting or without incurring debt to go to school. I should say

another one of my dreams was to go to Africa and work. And I didn't believe when I came into the program that I could do that without the degree while I went to Africa and worked without getting a degree.

But in my last lackadaisical Ness, I, I got on the plane and it was just after the World Service conference here. And then we did a lot of service work and it was great. And I had just done another 4th and 5th step and I landed in Switzerland and I, I had plenty of money and I decided I didn't have enough money and I didn't have a camera and I couldn't go to Africa without a camera.

And I was going around and I hadn't slept

and I was going around Switzerland with a friend or around Geneva or wherever it was. And, and I borrowed 30 bucks from him to buy a camera

and I was tired and I was afraid. I was afraid I didn't have enough. And I had 1600 dollars and I had to borrow $30.00 for a camera. So it didn't click. But I guess one of the lessons in that is that when I'm tired and when I'm afraid and, and just not connected, I really, those are times I have to be careful and, and it is like a very cunning and baffling disease because anytime I just have to be very cautious and watch my program

and be, be with myself.

So when I came back, I just, I'm going to get on with this story here. But I came back with a lot of money in the bank and I was going to finish school and I lived on that money and finished school for six months. And I didn't want to work while I was finishing school because I had the money saved up. I had a prudent reserve and I thought I don't have to work and I don't want to be an under earner. And the only jobs I saw were like $10.00 an hour jobs. And I thought I'm not going to work for $10.00 an hour.

And so I didn't work. And I saw other people going to school and they were working, but I didn't think that I needed to because I had money. And I thought I was going to finish my degree and then I was going to get a job and then live happily ever after. And funny to to my dismay, it came to be January. I finished school

well and I did take a part time job during that time and I thought I was, I finally became willing to take a $10.00 an hour job and it ended up being $14.00 an hour. So it's like you never know what's going to happen when you became willing. So I became willing and I got a $14.00 an hour job part time. And that job was going to end shortly and it came January and I didn't have a job. I had this part time job that was going to end and I, I didn't have any money.

So I had started with almost $20,000 in June

and by January it was 0 and so, or maybe it was 25. See that's my vagueness again. I thought it was more but I was looking the other day and it was someplace between 15 and 20 anyway, so I didn't have any money. And so I was faced with my under earning and I never thought of myself as an under earner before, but all of a sudden I had two masters degrees and I didn't have any money and I didn't have a job.

I mean, it was just like, how can this happen? And,

and I applied for a couple jobs and I think that was my magical thinking early on in the program. Miracles happened and miracles happened. And I just thought this miracle was happening, going to happen, but I didn't take the action steps that I needed and I wasn't willing to work. I wasn't willing to work while I was during that time. And I remember I didn't know what I was going to do. And it was a really, really rough time for me personally. And I remembered in October, I had gone for a test at at H Stamp or at Hennepin County.

And I got into the bathroom and this woman followed me in and I walked out and did what I was going to do and then went did this test. And I came back and used the bathroom later. And I saw that the woman

had stolen all the toilet paper. And that's February when I had no money. In March, I thought, I can see why she stole the toilet paper. I didn't have any money and I got through that time without getting and it was a miracle

and I didn't know from data one day to the next how I was going to have enough and I had major purchases. I ended up with a huge dental bill. I had a license to get. I didn't know how I was ever going to pay for those. But with getting a sponsor, temporary sponsor and in working the the steps around under earning, I didn't have to debt during that time. I didn't debt and somebody I had heard on a Tay points that if you

debt

before the very day that something is due or the very moment you're not waiting for the miracle. And I could really relate to that because there were so many miracles. I didn't know where my money was going to come from. And then it came because I was committed to not getting and I remember I I had to I took this job and I didn't want to take this job. I was offered this job correcting tests for 12 dollars, $11.00 an hour. And I was like

telling my temporary sponsor I don't need to take that job. You don't understand. I got in that room and I don't like it, you know, it feels weird. And she's like, well, how are you going to earn money? You don't have a job. I'm like, but I can't take that job. You don't, what are you going to do? You don't have a job. How are you going to earn your money? And I was like, OK, I guess I got to take that job, you know, And it turned out to be a really good job because it gave me the structure and consistency that I went to 8

finished at 4:30 for 11/25 an hour. And I got to see a lot of under earners there because you had to call have a college degree. And there were a lot of other people in my situation doing the same thing. And it got me through that period of not having that. I didn't have to debt. And I tell you what, when I really learned that I was a debtor when it came through and I got the job that I have now,

just in time, my health insurance was going to run out. And I, I then I didn't know what I was going to do,

came up and it had insurance and it was a decent pay. Wasn't the profession that I wanted to be in, but it was my old profession. It was familiar. And I took the job and I got started getting paid and I carried around an Excel bill for $15.00 in my purse for a week. And I sent in that bill late and I got a fee for it. And so I did it because I had believed once I got out of that situation, then I didn't, I wasn't a debtor anymore. I mean, some place inside of me, I thought

once I get a job, I'm done with this. You know, I didn't think I was going to quit the program, but I thought I was going to be free and then I never going to be free of this. You know, it's just there. And I think that you do become more free, but I do become more free. But

you know, I'm never entirely free. It's a day at a time. So I'm going to hand out my my spending plan is right there. I'm wondering if people want to

spending an earning plan. I'll just give you a, if you just you'll have to share. There's two sheets. There's one savings and one spending. And one of the things that I learned during that time is that during the time when I felt there isn't enough, I was thinking, all I was thinking of spending plan. And what I learned during that time of learning about under earning is the importance of savings earning and spending plan.

And so now I put, I remember John B told me years ago,

why don't you take $25.00 out of your check? There's two pages and you'll probably need to share. There's a savings and then there's a spending plan. And I remember John was telling me in pressure relief groups years ago said, why don't you just take $25.00 out of your paycheck and have it directly deposited into a savings. And I said, yeah, it's a great idea. And I couldn't do it. I, I just couldn't get myself to do it. And then when I started this,

this job, I started to put,

I took $200.00 out of my paycheck every month. No, every page pay period, I take $200.00 every pay period. So $400.00 goes into savings automatically that I don't even see. And it's a miracle because during all of my time in DA, I never saved, you know, I couldn't save money. I could save enough for a vacation or I could save enough. So if a big crisis happened, but I really couldn't save money.

And so it's a miracle that I've been able to save any money. And I also put 14% towards my retirement

because as a debtor, I kind of got a bit behind and putting money towards retirement. And so, so that's where I'm at today is putting 14%. So this doesn't include all that.

Let me just see a couple of other things. You know, if I don't, if I feel like, let's see, you can just look at, you know, the numbers really aren't important, but I sometimes will put in additional money needed. And I never could get that before because it's like, well, this is what I have to work with.

But the job currently that I have now, I work per hour and I never in my year earning days ever realized that there was a connection between working and earning. I didn't know that if you work more, you could earn more. And because I always had salary jobs, so I didn't make that connection. And I never thought that I could take an extra job. It just seemed beneath me. And besides, I was too tired at the end of the day. And

you know, I just have it, have these excuses and now I see

I can work more. And actually it takes less energy to work more than thinking about not having enough money. That takes a lot more energy for me than working more. And so I pick up extra shifts. And usually I put an intention when I don't have enough, what I perceive is not enough in my spending plan.

I put out an intention of I'm going to get this extra shift. I work one act, one

call shift per two weeks and I I get paid more if I get called in And so I just have an intention that I'm going to get called in for a certain number of hours and it almost always happens. So that's

so I always put the additional money needed and I mean, I do have other, I can always adjust my spending plan if needed.

Um, so like I said, I do it by hand and then the savings, I put a certain amount into savings and I pray about that too. And where the, the money goes into the different categories. I was going to say something about not enough. And I,

I guess the question for me to ask, I was walking around Lake Herring on Sunday and I was thinking, you know, when I feel like there's not enough, I need to ask myself that question. What is what is it that I don't have enough of? You know, do I not have enough love? Do I not have enough companionship? Do I really not have enough money or, and what is it? And then how can I fill that need within my means, within our means?

And so, you know, maybe I feel like I need a great big long retreat. And I remember once I thought I need a two week retreat. I need a two week yoga retreat. That's what I need. I'm so burnt out

and I didn't have money for it. And then I went up north for four days and I got way more than what I would have gotten, you know, in that retreat. But it was within my means. Or maybe it's just a walk around Lake Harriet. Or maybe I used to do these artist things where I would just go to northeast Minneapolis or wherever around town and act like I'm a tourist and do something. And I felt like I went on a vacation because I got to see things and I never saw before.

And so I think that's really important is what is it that I

don't feel I have enough for of and how can I meet that within my meet means? And if it means money, then I need to work more. Maybe I need to earn more or be open to something else that the universe has for me.

Let's see. There was a couple other things that I wanted to say really as kind of that I thought were important

doing my spending plan, praying ahead. Did I tell you that that a lot of times it will just come out? Exactly. Especially when I started the program, I would pray and then I would come to the dollar.

It's like, how can you come out to the dollar? It's a miracle, you know, it's a miracle that that can happen. And

you know, I save in different accounts and I kind of had a crisis this week because I decided I, I had a medical issue last year. I spent over $5000 in medical stuff and I had the money for it and I have insurance. So like above and beyond. And I don't know if I needed all those things, but I felt I needed them at the time. And this year I had said in one of the meetings that my goal is this year to not have to spend that much money on

on health because I didn't necessarily save it for health. But then I ended up using it for that. And I had, you know, I still have a decent amount. So,

so I had this health thing come up and I was like, what is it that this is trying to tell me? And it's like, well, you need to live your life. You need to do more of who you are. And so I was like, what is it that I want? You know what, what is it that? And so it came up that I really am or need to do this one thing, this conference thing or this sort of as a vacation. And it costs more than what I have in my travel fund. And so I kind of had a crisis about how much money I could

board, how much I could spend on it and what I could do because I didn't have in my plan to spend the amount that it was. But I do have enough money in my account to do it and I won't deplete my whole account. You know, it'll be a portion. And

and so after talking with some people, I'm going to go and I'm so excited that I'm going to go because I feel like I'm alive again. You know, it just and I have the money. And so when you save money or you put in your plan, I realized, I don't know, I might think I'm saving it for these things,

but maybe my higher power has another plan for me. You know, whatever it is, it's there. It's a miracle because I never could save money. And I was like going the other direction. And I don't have a lot in debt repayment because I don't have debt. I have a car and I have a couple of

people I need to, I want to make amends to. And so I put some money towards debt repayment to do that. And then I'm thinking I'm going to start paying off my car with the debt repayment. So I'm not putting a whole third in it, but I'm putting a little bit to keep

that intention. And the other thing I learned when I came back from Africa is in my savings plan, I put things like I said in categories because I came back with 15 or $20,000 and I thought that money's to spend. You know, I didn't think, well, maybe I want to save 5000 or 10,000 for a house and 10,000 for this. And, and I think I would have worked if I had had it in categories. But since I didn't, I just thought it was free, free for all. And now I am choosing to switch some of this money around because I'm seeing this other.

Is more of a priority, so. And then one last thing,

I think I did say, did I say this? My under earning, I learned that not working is more under earning. This is my opinion, my humble opinion. And for me under earning by not working was much bigger under earning than working for $10.00 an hour. So kind of like what Michelle said as humble beginnings

and my spending plan is humble. I mean it's not extravagant by any means. And I am a kind of a deprivation addict. I never got a cell phone until a month ago. And until I realized that it was holding me back from my recovery. And the same as a computer, I see by not having it, it really holds me back from from connecting with people and doing things that I want to do. So

no, I guess that's all I have. Thank you so much for listening.

Hi, I'm Mary and I'm a compulsive debtor spender and under earner

and I'm going to be talking about spending plans and under earning today and

I want to read the 7th tool

which is spending plans.

The pressure relief meeting usually results in the formulation of a spending plan which puts our needs 1st and an action plan for resolving our debts and taking the first steps towards solvency.

And one of the things that came to me as I started to prepare for this talk was many times I see a connection between the tool, the step and the tradition. And so I wanted to talk about the connections that I saw. The 7th step says humbly ask God to remove our shortcomings. And so I'm going to read a few prayers.

God please remove my under earning and show me how to earn more money.

God, please remove my poverty and deprivation mentality which keeps my life small and unmanageable.

God, please remove my fear of financial insecurity, my isolation and make me ready to accept your help and the help of my pressure relief group.

God please help me consistently use my spending plan and to follow the action steps outlined by by my pressure relief group.

And then the 7th tradition says every DA group ought to be fully self supporting, declining outside contributions.

Today I really see Minnesota DA being self supporting by putting on this fellowship day.

Individual members are contributing their time and their effort and their money to reach out to the larger community with the message of hope for the still suffering debtor. And I see that all three of those are, are related that in order to, in order to have a pressure relief group, it takes humility to to come and sit with somebody else

and to open up my. I mean, I think they talk about that the hardest things for people to talk about are sex, money and religion. And I think for a lot of people, money is harder than sex and religion. And that it's really hard to open up my life and say, you know, here's what I have financially and,

and to really look at that at a deep level, it's just a very, very difficult. And then the 7th tradition, when we put when I put money in the basket,

you know, I'm, I'm showing up for the group and I'm showing up with a willingness to

to contribute.

So I have my spending plan and it's back on a chair back there for a couple. People would

spend send them around, not spend them around.

And

I apologize for the poor quality of the handwritten numbers,

but I made a copy and then made copies from the copy.

And

of course my shame would have me redo the copies, but. So I'm showing up in my imperfection.

Yay.

So

what I do is I've put together this,

this plan. It's, it's in the, it's in Word format. And the thing that I feel really has been helpful is there was a, there was a spending plan workshop that Minnesota DA put on

sometime last year. And that going to that workshop is really tremendously helped because what I got clear about is that I get paid

every two weeks. So it's 26 * a year. And it just was really hard for me to have a month spending plan and get paid every two weeks. And it just, it never quite, I don't know, just I was always feeling like I was taking an extra $300.00 from the next pay period. And I actually sat on a PRG with, with one of the speakers who spoke at that. And then I also

got a copy of her plan. And I really like it because what it does

is I decided to start living on two paychecks a month. And then that those

two extra paychecks are kind of like windfalls and I can end up putting them into savings or, you know, doing, you know, doing what I need to do with that. A third, a third, a third, or how I usually take it with my either to my sponsor, to my PRG and say, OK, now I've got this, I've got this windfall and what am I going to do with it? So at the top it shows you my income

and

this was actually for the month of March and my work sends me to different conferences, but I end up having to foot the bill before I go and then get reimbursed for it afterwards. And so and I'm I'm also going to go to another conference in May. And so in order to pay for those, I had to take out $1670 from savings and then get reimbursed for them later. So that shows up in the

figures there, but it really helped me to see if you look at the top. So I've got my fixed expenses and for that first check of the month I pay my second mortgage, my homeowners association dues, my spiritual ties and meetings,

heat, electricity, phone, trash,

charter bill, and my debt repayment. And one of the things that I really want to celebrate today is that as of today, the only debt that I have is my mortgage. So I'm debt free

and that happened in the month of April. And the, the debt that I had taken out actually before I came into DA was I had taken out two debts against my life insurance policies. And I,

if anyone would have told me that it would take me 14 years to pay off $6000 in debt, I don't think I ever would have done it. But I, I'm a daughter, you know, and I just was pulling money from every account that I could possibly think of at after my divorce. And,

and originally my payments were like $15.00 a month and then I was able to move them up to $20.00 a month. And when I paid off my car and my daughter graduated from college, I increased it to $100 a month. And so I really feel like it's a spiritual accomplishment and victory that that was paid off. And then the other one I was encouraged to just cash out. It was a like a very small life insurance policy, $1000 and so

so they're both gone. It's very exciting. And then in my second pay period of the month, that's where I pay a smaller amount in spiritual ties still pay go to go to or still have money to put in the basket and my mortgage payment. And then down below are my flexible expenses and

I'm not going to go through all of those. And then I've recently

been asked by my sponsor to keep track of when my bills are due. And so on the backside of the page, these are the permanent bills that come every month and to figure out what day are they due and then to put down the date that I pay them so that I'm keeping track of that.

And then I just wanted to show you in order to get the numbers for that spending plan, you know what, what do I do?

And so

I have,

I just have some like small notebook paper instead of actually having the notebook because for a while I was having carrying around a little purse that was about this big and, and I managed to do all my money out of that little tiny purse. It was very exciting.

And so I put this slip of paper in there and I write down the date and I write down what the money goes for and I write down how much it is. And then when I go to reconcile it on my spending plan, I check it off on here

and then any checks that I write for fixed expenses, it goes into my check register. And it really has helped me be able to be well, I shouldn't say that, but

because recently I did debt again, ended up having insufficient funds.

And so my check registers really been kind of a source of, of pain for me as far as the program is concerned. But I think by really working more with cash

and decreasing the amount number of checks that I write, I'm going to, I'm hoping that I'm going to be more able to,

it's just cleaner when I go to reconcile my checkbook. It's simpler. I'm not making mistakes in it in addition and that type of thing. And I'm also being encouraged to keep a higher balance because one of the things that I do as a debtor is that I wanted to build up that savings. And so I was putting as much money as I could in savings and keeping checking just small and tight.

And and that's, you know, if I make a mistake, then I have nothing there to cushion it from those NSF charges. And that's my debtor mentality is, you know, let's keep this small and so that I can save for those big things that I want. And

guess what? That didn't work

and then I I did talk a while. I didn't bring my savings plan, but I do automatically have $200.00 from every paycheck

put into savings. And I have again, a little slip that shows 10 different categories and I put $20 into each of the 10 categories. And I recently, I'm very excited. Two weeks ago I bought new furniture. I've had the same furniture for 37 years that I bought in my marriage. I had slip covers on it for seven years and

I bought a new sofa, two chairs, a coffee table and end tables and all

for money that I saved by working a second job. And it was cash. And the lady was so excited and so helpful. She was like, this is the way. This is so cool. I'm going to be telling everybody, but not your personal name, but I'm going to be telling everybody about this client I had who did it the right way. And I was like, so it was, it was really, it was sweet. It was very peaceful. I had a program friend can help me go with come to my house and

look at,

you know, my furniture and look at my arrangement and help me figure out and went shopping with me. And it just has all just, it's just been easy. And I expected it to be

big and traumatic. And I think I remember someone saying that, you know, about patience, you know, it's important to have patience. And that's probably like about five or six years ago. And I thought that meant patience for like about one week, you know,

And if I probably would have known that it would have been that long, I'm not sure I would have had the patience. But it, but to me, it's different today than it was, you know,

um, even five years ago what that means. So, um,

I think that's what I have on spending plans and

I think we'll be open for questions.

Both of you,

what is your structure around?

Yeah, I think the question was what is your structure around? Working a spending plan. Is that what you said? OK, well, I like Mary write on my numbers. You know, sometimes I'm better than others. Some,

sometimes I save receipts, which I, I, I think it's better if you write it down right away. I mean, personally, I used to do that and I do it sometimes and you know, sometimes it's a struggle, but I do keep my numbers and then on the weekends, either Saturday, usually Sunday morning, I will sit down and add up the numbers on in the different categories out of the little notebook and then I add for the week. And then I do that each week. And that keeps

be kind of on track. You know, if I've overspent in one area or spend more than I kind of look at, you know, I need to spend less the next week or do I want to spend less in another category? I have you as cash. Like when I had very little money, I use cash and sometimes I use cash only. I mean, you know, like envelopes or whatever. And I don't do that consistently or I'm not currently doing that,

but I think that's a good plan and I always think I want to. I want to do that because I know it works.

And let's see. And then I do my savings reconciliation about once a month and also my checkbook once a month and make sure I've got that all cleaned up. And I tried to add in one thing I forgot to say is that I went with the $200 I have. I put in every category usually. And then, yeah. So anyway, that's kind of what I do.

I think we get the questions that we need to work on.

My my structure is in regards to my spending plan is that I'm very structured as far as writing down my money immediately when I spend it. If I don't write it down immediately, I can't remember a lot of times from the time I leave the store till I get to my car what amount of money I've spent. So if I don't do it right there,

it it's just not good. So I have that I'm very structured about that. And also with writing checks,

like I have to write it down right when I write the checks in reconciling,

not so structured. My biggest structure is in transferring that to my spending plan is that I have my rule for myself is that I have to have it done before the next month so that I can see that I've reconciled for the month. So getting it from the the register and the sheets of paper to the spending plan is I'm more on a monthly basis right now than I am a weekly basis. And I wish it were different, but I think that's what this question is

helping me to see what I need to do.

Thanks, Mary. And Renee,

I wanted to add to that too. I have a Palm Pilot that I keep for my calendar and my contacts and that has a financial area in it. And so that's where I write down all of my spending. And that's been really helpful because I sync it up with my computer and then at the end of the month, I just print it out and it's really slick.

OK, So here's another question,

Mary. Do you pay your bills on the due date or all at a time, all at all at one time during the month? Does that make sense?

Two times every month.

There you go.

What? Actually, I typically pay them two times during the month. So

I what I'll do is as the, as the bills come in,

I will, I have a, a spot for them in my where my desk is and I will put the bills there and write as I know that I'm going to be paid. And I'm going to have to switch it because I have been writing the check the night before I get paid. And then the next morning when I go

to work, I have put the put the bill into the mail after I've picked up the receipt from work that says that I've been paid. But I think I need to wait until and write them the night that I get paid rather than the night before I get paid. But

and I also, I know that a lot of people talk about NDA, about writing the check and paying for the bill as it comes in as a spiritual practice.

And I still kind of like to keep it so that I'm keeping my bills for

March, for April, I pay in March. You know, the ones that are due on the 1st, I'm paying it out of the last paycheck of the month. So I, you know, I don't think there's a right or a wrong about that. I think that people have to find what works for them. But it is. Oh, I know a lot of people use a spiritual practice to pay the bill when it comes in rather than waiting.

Any other questions,

Ann,

The question is, can you explain windfalls and what is meant by a third, a third, a third?

To me, a windfall is unexpected money that

I wasn't planning on

or that's not factored into my spending plan already.

An example would be my tax refund.

An example would be a gift of money that someone gives me. An example might be an extra job that I take in addition to my salary job.

Yes, the rebate check that's coming. So those are examples of windfalls. And then what DA recommends is that if you are getting a windfall that you take a third of it for debt repayment, 1/3 of it for savings and 1/3 of it to improve your current

spending plan. In other words, and sometimes those windfalls can be the hardest for me because

I can think of, you know, 25 things before the check is in my hands, you know, of how I want to spend it.

And so for me, when I get a windfall, it's often, it's often very important for me to talk to my sponsor or talk to my PRG. What am I going to do with that, Especially if it's a big number, you know, if I'm getting a fairly big windfall, if I just leave it to my own thinking, I spent a lot of time, you know, like Renee said, it's easy to spend a lot of more time worrying about money than it is to earn it. It's also easy to spend a lot of time spending the money without really spending it,

and that's what I do as a debtor.

So that's what you do with those, the 26th and 52nd check each year or two.

Yes, although I'm, I'm now at the luxury of being able to go halves. So I'm going to be able to put half in savings and the other half is going to go to increase quality of life, which is very exciting.

OK, there's one more question. Do you have just one savings account for all of your savings categories? And if so, do you then keep track of each category through your record keeping?

So again, do you have just one savings account for all of your categories? Do you want to talk about that, Renee?

Yeah, I handed out my thing on savings plan or savings account. I happen to have two accounts in addition to the retirement accounts, but I don't know that that's the best thing. I kind of started juggling because I would take a little bit of money out of one and then it wasn't. I've been saving for a long time for some purchases and then finding out that that