How often do we use money like Novocain, spending freely to numb the pain in our lives or the pressures at work?  But instead of making things better, it just gets us deeper into trouble.

Yet we justify our shopping sprees with thoughts like, “I’m going through a divorce. I deserve this,” or “I hate my job. At least I can enjoy my life.”

What gets us into trouble isn’t the spending, but our self-deception. It’s called denial. And denial can generate considerable debt.

Getting out of denial is a prerequisite for prosperity. Credit card debt is insidious, but not insurmountable.

Making minimum payments can take 30 years or more to pay off (because 75 percent of what you pay goes toward the accumulating interest).  

However, I’ve interviewed hundreds of women who have risen from the ashes of their once reckless spending. They did so by taking a series of steps:

• They sought help—a book, counselor, support group like Debtors Anonymous or National Association of Credit Counselors or my own online community, The Wealth Connection.
• They stopped using credit cards—no exceptions, no excuses.
• They lowered their interest payments—negotiating with creditors or transferring the balance to a lowered interest card.
• They got crystal clear on their expenses—writing down everything they spent.
• They began shaving and saving—putting their expenses into categories, seeing where to shave (make small cuts) adding that to savings.
• They created a plan to pay down their debt—as quickly as they could.

What are you doing to get out of both denial and debt? Tell me in the comments below.