Hello

   I decided that I need upgrading. I'm not unhappy in general but my life is going nowhere. There are so many things I want to change but change is not easy. I'm already 63 (and a half) so I finally decided it's now or never.
   What needs changing? A lot. I'm not satisfied most of all about my finances, my weight and the fact that I have become a walking dead. No, I'm not a zombie but I feel like one sometimes. I feel as if my life came to a halt around 25 years ago and I'm not happy about that. There was so much potential in my life when I was young but I let my low self-esteem get in the way.
   My finances have been a mess for much of my life. I've never been bankrupt and I've always managed to pay my bills, but that's about it. My problem? I'm a shop-a-holic. It's not that I spend money eating out or buying luxuries. It's just buying stuff, which I will probably never even use, because I get the compulsion to just buy something. I decided to start Social Security early so my income is low, but it's more than enough for me. I had some money saved but I have decided to use every single penny of my savings to pay off my two credit cards. As of October 4, my only debt will be my equity line, which right now is $36,100.12. I do have to pay back some of that money since I need it to pay 2011 property taxes and insurance and to help my son with his college textbooks for the coming semester. This blog will provide a record of my attempt to rehabilitate my finances (and later the rest of me).
  I will be cutting my expenses to the bare minimum. For the next year, I will live off my food storage and food I grow in my backyard. (The gardening year will not start until around late April since I live in Minnesota.) My food budget will only cover milk, some vegetables, and meat if it's a really huge deal. I believe I have enough stored between the pantry and my freezer to last the year. Wish me luck.