Windfall
Seeking advice for getting back on track with budgeting after a year of shame or negative feelings.
YNAB was my go to tool for quite a while, but after my wife stopped working last year I stopped budgeting. It seems counter intuitive since that would be the BEST time to maintain a budget, but it was just so hard to watch my credit card bill rack up and not being able to fully pay it off without dipping into savings. Most of my purchasing felt justified: My wife says we need something like dog treats so I get on Amazon and instantly order it. I want to ensure I can bike in colder weather...I order cold weather gear. I constantly feel like I am solving problems, but the math simply doesn't work out.
I am 39. My base earnings are somewhere around $130K with a $30K annual bonus. I also do consulting on the side which earnings me ~$15K annually. Recently I received a bonus of $150K which was highly unusual/overwhelming. My immediate reaction was to pay off all debts including my CC which I think was the right move and threw the rest into savings which is ~$100K now...by far the most money I have ever possessed.
Here is where I am seeking advice: I feel like this is a fresh start and a lot of advice seems to be around digging yourself out of a hole. What would you do to ensure a hole is not being dug?
Thank you in advance