Yesterday I was tooling around on LinkedIn when I saw an old article on the new way women curse. This article discussed a January Glamour magazine cover in which one of the featured titles was "12 Ways to Get Your Sh*t Together." The LinkedIn article was about the decreasing shock value of expletives. I was more interested in finding out what the article said. Unfortunately Glamour didn't put the content online, however from my Google search, I found many other websites concerning one getting one's "sh*t" together, including an actual website called http://getyourshittogether.org/ which provides guidance on life and death planning that most people neglect when they are healthy but can leave a huge mess for their descendants.

There were a number of other sites that discussed ways in which one can get his or her act together. It was very amusing and somewhat affirming that according to many of these sites, I actually have my act together as I am not on drugs, have a planner and a work bag (!).

As I reflected upon that, I realize that having one's act together is entirely perception. I know many people here may not feel that I have my act together because I buy lunch out. Yet when I chop my fruit in the morning and put it together my brought from home items of whole grain cereal and cottage cheese, many of my colleagues comment on how healthy my breakfast looks.

Also keeping with the "illusion" of having my act together is my planner. I don't have a formal budget but I spend the same on a weekly basis for transportation, food and gym. My expenses decrease when I am not working. In my planner I record all my outstanding debt, when my payments are due and my weekly take home pay. As I make my payments, I subtract the money accordingly from my available money and keep a running tally of what I have left to live on until the next paycheck. I also keep a running tally of my total outstanding debt as well. Since these are all in writing, I can see my progress or lack of progress. Some credit cards have increased while other have decreased. Overall I am $4,000 less in debt than I was the previous year.

In my case, the mere act of writing down my debts and looking at them makes them less scary and manageable. I've been a temp for over five years. Many of my colleagues have put their student loans in forbearance and have watched their loan balances swell. Mine are decreasing and it comforts me that I have been able to make payments on the student loans, and all my other bills, in spite of working as an independent contractor.