Make amends with the people you hurt because of money

READ STEP 8: Make a list of the people you’ve harmed

READ STEP 10: My money problems can’t be fixed by reading ‘The Wealthy Barber’

• Keep it simple. Avoid the tendency to complicate things: for example. No need to complicate thing and say well, it’s OK because Elizabeth is rich and she didn’t mind and she has so many sweaters so the fact that I didn’t return it is not good. In fact, it might be part of some cosmic redistribution of wealth thing and anyway I look amazing in this sweater. No, no, no. Person harmed: Harm done: sweater stolen. Amends: apologize and return sweater. There’s a reason Keep It Simple is a slogan of this program
• I was not allowed to shout at someone for not receiving an amends gracefully; nor was I allowed to hurt people with my amends; when I came up with the amends: “I would like to call so and so and apologize to her for calling her a cow and also apologize for trash talking to anyone and everyone who would listen” I was told that actually, that would harm so and so and as such I was not allowed to proceed with this amends. Boo.

• Start small. My friend Alex started easy: she wrote letters to previous employers, edited the letters, read them to her sponsor, and then rewrote them, and finally, sent them. She sent one letter to an employer apologizing for always being late. “I did not expect to hear back, but they sent me a card back thanking me for my note.”
• Call everyone you owe money to (unless they may sue you, in which case, call a lawyer first) and tell them you are cleaning up your financial act, that you intend to pay them back. Then set a date to call them back. Then call them back on the date you have planned to call them back. Keeping your word will make you, and them, feel good.

Read the full Debt Diaries series:

Step 1: ‘I was trying to fix my pain with spending‘ Step 2:  ‘My higher power cares about money’ Step 3:  ‘I surrendered my free will to finally control my debt’ Step 4: Stop blaming other people Step 5: Admit what got you into this mess Step 6: Why spending money makes you feel special  Step 7: Ask a higher power to remove your defects Step 8: Make a list of the people you’ve harmed Step 9: Make amends to those you’ve hurt Step 10: My money problems can’t be fixed by reading ‘The Wealthy Barber’ Step 11: How meditating helps me with my debt problem Step 12: My urge to binge shop won’t go away