Mel Robbins

And that fourth bucket.

guilt-free spending.

This is money set aside to enjoy your life so that while you're working hard to pay off your bills, to put away savings, you're not depriving and punishing yourself.

This is the bucket that allows you to buy those glass containers on Amazon if it makes you happy.

Because I remember when my husband and I were nearly a million dollars in debt.

It was all one big glob of shame and stress.

I felt like I couldn't spend money on anything, and I mean anything, even on things that brought me joy.

The fact is that if I had had a clear plan, if I had made a minimum payment, if I had gotten my life in order faster by having a target that I could hit, understanding how long it was going to take, I would have seen...

That I had an extra 20 to 50 bucks every month to work with?

Money that I could use to go to the movies or go get a latte with a friend or take the kids to the half-day, you know, admissions day at the zoo in Boston?

But I lived in such a state of overwhelm because I didn't understand that there were these four buckets.

So every single dollar felt like life or death and that it had to go towards paying off debt.

I felt like I had to say no to everyone and everything, including myself, because my only priority was debt, debt, debt.

God, I wish I had had this framework back then.

Because if I had had these four buckets, these four numbers, I would have had a very clear picture of the debt I was in.

a realistic plan and time frame for paying it off, and a way to build a life, and small pockets of money to still enjoy my life at the same time.

Because when you're in a situation of crushing debt, you start to believe that unless you get to a zero balance, you don't deserve to spend money on anything else.

And that's the trap.

And that's why I love this framework.

Because when you've made major financial mistakes, like my husband and I have, money feels impossible.