Rose,
I am still very emotional about money, although I have been very successful in digging myself out of the financial hole I got into with my exH. Learning about my financial responsibilities was like other aspects of life, once I knew the truth there is no room for FEAR. I try to remember that FEAR is
False
Evidence
Appearing
Real
when I realized what I had to do, it made it much more managable. Like anything in life, if we don't know how to do something it may seem overwhelming until we get the facts.
There is a wonderful set of books by a brilliant woman, Suze Orman. She is a financial guru and in my mind the goddess of financial freedom. One of her main beliefs is that if you respect your money, your money will respect you. I can say from first hand experience that once I started looking at my finances in this way, I wanted to make many positive changes - and I am now in a much better financial state with just my income than I was when I was married. And my husband made TWICE what I made. I have more savings, and less debt and more piece of mind. I think that it was easier for me to make the financial changes because I was in recovery in other areas of my life.
If you have a chance check out the book "
9 Steps to Financial Freedom" by Suze Orman. She also has a website
http://www.suzeorman.com/home.asp with some other useful tips.
Money is not something we need to fear. Although I have been known to do it in the past, and still do from time to time, I have learned an immense amount just from reading a few books on what to do to get my financial life in order.
One day at a time, it works in our financial life as well as our Al-Anon life!
Peace,
Petunia