In 2013, in my mid-30s, I found myself divorced with no savings and a big pile of debt. It wasn't exactly how I'd planned things. Raising my three kids was the priority, but my dire financial situation created sleepless nights. I was living on the edge.

I had dug out of debt a few years earlier, but that was different. We had two incomes. Two adults sharing responsibilities. Now I was alone with the same responsibilities and about half the income. And nobody to share this struggle with.

While my friends were moving into their dream homes, mine was being ceased by the bank. I drove over from my divorced man's special (2 bedroom condo) to find the family home padlocked and "winterized". They assumed it was abandoned.

I negotiated a short sale, which added more to my debt totals. I borrowed from my 401k to make rent and settle the debt. Child support and 401k loan payments made my take home pay laughable, so I essentially ignored finances, it was my only cope.

With the divorce final and my emotional state on the mend, my attention turned to the dire financial situation. A great break started the turnaround, a friend rented me his house in my old neighborhood. Some normalcy returned as I started to look forward.

Now the finances. I didn't have time to "think" about money much. I needed to put things on autopilot. I traded by leased car for a used minivan. Bought my furniture at a secondhand store. Accepted help from my parents. Cut cable. All of it.

The next several years were a blur of kids activities, work commutes, lifting weights at the company gym to keep sane, and lonely nights fighting the darkness. I didn't really notice, but my debts were slowly dwindling and I was growing stronger in every way.

Then the good breaks came. So much of finance is keeping steady and taking advantage of the windfalls, and that's what I did. A job change landed me a one-time cash payout that eliminated the last of my debts. In June of 2017 I was finally debt free except my mortgage!

During this time I was sharing my journey on here and started to grow a following. A finance professional by day, I was excited to share my story and help others learn from my mistakes and failures. Little did I know what this would become.

Many followed for my divorce and family insights, some for my now less frequent political ramblings, and thousands more for my financial "advice". Maybe you're new and thinking about following. No matter why you're here, thank you! You've helped me on my journey.

Starting in November I plan to share more details of my journey, as well as help others share theirs, through a new long-form venture and podcast that you can subscribe to right here. It'll have an underlying finance theme, but go well beyond that. https://markallanbovair.substack.com/p/coming-soon 

It was a long road from surviving to creating, but over the last few years I've developed a spreadsheet to help others get control of their cash flow the way I did. Simple. Straightforward. No frills. Five minutes a day. This method was the backbone of my journey.

Viewing spending and earning as a daily thing rather than a monthly thing. It changed my perception. I built it, refined it, and tested it on my coaching clients, and now I am happy to release the presale of my cash flow tracker to my twitter friends!

This humble little spreadsheet helped me dig out of a big financial hole and I still use it every day. The numbers were once red, now they're green. Things are looking up. I am glad to offer the NEW 2021 version to my twitter friends starting today. https://gumroad.com/l/wBLBA/presale20