In the past I’ve written a bit about my debt repayment and my journey to simplicity, and this week I wanted to put together some resources for those of you looking to get started on your own journeys.

I found that when I stopped drinking, I started to examine my relationship to money.

To things.

To browsing.

To adding things to my cart, and checking out.

There was a time in early sobriety where I think shopping took over where drinking used to live.

I didn’t go crazy, didn’t buy anything on credit cards.

Rather, it was a mental thing.

I went and purchased things I didn’t need during times of day when I used to drink.

As my sobriety has strengthened, it’s given me space to think about my relationship to money.

I decided I didn’t want to purchase things I didn’t need anymore to fill that space.

I wanted instead to focus on paying off my student debt (which I’ll write more about soon, but guess what y’all? Last winter I paid it ALL off. YEARS EARLY.)

First, here are a few of my favorite online resources that can help you think about your debt. They offer different tactics, perspectives, areas of debt, kinds of debt, theories about spending.

• Cait Flanders: Cait is one of the first people I came across in my sobriety and money journey. She’s a fellow non-drinker, and her two year shopping ban inspired me to do the same for a few months.  I will tell you this–the quickest way to learn about why you spend is to stop doing it. OOF. Get ready for some self-reflection because it’s more emotional than you probably realize.
• Frugalwoods: This family is honest, funny, and gets into the nitty gritty of spending. They have created an incredible online community and are an INSPIRATION for financial independence! I also appreciate that they acknowledge the role that privilege can play in minimalism as well. Their journey online dates back to 2014, and I love reading their archives as well to see how they got to where they are today, because it didn’t happen overnight.
• Student Loan Hero: This site is incredible if you are a person struggling with student debt.  It was through this site that I learned how to consolidate and refinance my student loans and ultimately pay them off years in advance. They round up news stories and multiple reader perspectives on different approaches to debt repayment, which were hugely encouraging to me in my early debt repayment journey.
• Afford Anything: Paula Pant is the creator of this site, and I love her no bullshit approach to money…You can have anything, but you can’t have everything.  I love that she focuses on every dollar. She is honest with her own journey as well, and is a big advocate for passive income (something I’m still learning about!)
• Frugal Friends Podcast: This one is fun. I just love hearing Jen and Jill talk about each week’s topic, and they offer more overviews on topics rather than nitty gritty. But it is REALLY refreshing to hear two women talk about money honestly and openly.
• Dear Debt: I love this site because of the ways that Melanie discusses mental health with debt.  She’s been really honest about her journey with debt and what a toll it took oh her emotionally, and made me feel less alone in my emotional journey with debt.

How about you, what are your favorite debt repayment, financial independence, or frugal living sites?

In the coming weeks I’ll be posting a second part to this post about some very lovely frugal resources here locally in Las Vegas…until then, happy frugal-ing my friends!