Hi. I’d love to tell you that Katie is my real name, but that would be a lie. I’m a smart and successful woman in her early 40s. I make a good living (more than $100k). I’ve worked hard on my mental health and have pretty solid self-awareness. And yet. I find myself nearly $125k in debt.

My journey into outrageous amounts of debt has spanned almost two decades as I’ve worked hard to find myself, leave abusive relationships, struggle to find belonging, become less of a people pleaser and more ME, and find fulfillment and validation outside of things and money.

So, here I am, putting it all out there. I’ve spent the last several years rinse and repeating the same things – ridiculously complicated spreadsheets wondering where it all goes, transferring balances back and forth between 0% interest cards, continuing to overspend, and then rolling all of my balances into a debt consolidation loan. And then doing it all again.

In December of 2024, when I was introspectively reflecting on what I’ve accomplished and what I want my future to look like, I looked at an amortization calculator and realized that I have an opportunity to pay off every speck of debt in 1100 days if I stick to the plan. I’ve always struggled is in honoring commitments to myself, so I decided – what the hell! Let’s put it on the internet!

So, here I am. Putting my deepest, darkest, scariest details on the internet. Maybe at some point, I’ll share more about who I am. But #babysteps.

XO, KLB