There are times I despair of paying the bills but those are few and far between these days. Mostly, I see a long-term game I've learned how to play well and about which I'm learning more every day.

As a child, I spent on almost any passing desire and once ran up a $250 debt while earning only $25 a week. When that happened, I sunk into depression, thinking, this is how my life will be forever. I've always been a bit dramatic.

Paying that debt took time, but I don't remember how long it took. The task seemed impossible until I was doing and had done it.

That same thinking, and a lot of luck in the stock market, afforded me the ability to buy a Tesla. It really was a one day at a time thing.

Today, thinking about bills, I realize how little debt we have. I see ways forward. I'm comfortable walking the path one step at a time. I've grown accustomed to going up and down. Today, we are down, pushing against reserves. Friday will rise on another paycheck that will pay bills and maybe go some into savings.

No despair. Just one thing and another over the long-term. No telling where the path leads, but one thing's for sure: it won't be in the poorhouse.