Welcome to Debtors Anonymous Of
Austin, Texas

 

 

DEBTORS ANONYMOUS is an organization patterned after Alcoholics Anonymous to provide support and help for those of us who have problems with overspending, compulsive debting, and chronic underearning.

Check back here for announcements on upcoming events.

Preamble of Debtors Anonymous

Debtors Anonymous is a fellowship of men and women who share their experience, strength, and hope with each other that they may solve their common problem and help others to recover from compulsive debting. The only requirement for membership is a desire to stop incurring unsecured debt.

There are no dues or fees for DA membership; we are self-supporting through our own contributions. DA is not allied with any sect, denomination, politics, organization, or institution; does not wish to engage in any controversy; neither endorses nor opposes any causes. Our primary purpose is to stop debting one day at a time and to help other compulsive debtors to stop incurring unsecured debt..

Revised Preamble approved by DA World Service Conference, August 2003.

MEETINGS IN THE AUSTIN AREA

SUNDAY
1:00-2:00 PM
"Sunday Abundance" Business Debtors Anonymous (BDA) Meeting
Open Discussion
Meets at Austin Galano Club, Small Meeting Room
6809 Guadalupe St, Austin, TX 78752
MAP

MONDAY
7:00-8:00 PM
"Debt Busters" Meeting, with Focus on Underearning
Meets at West Oak Baptist Church, 2900 W. Slaughter Lane, Room 101 (Westgate entrance.)
MAP

FRIDAY
6:30-7:30 PM
Friday Night Live!
First Cumberland Presbyterian Church, 6800 Woodrow Avenue. Enter on West side of church parking lot through open gate. Meeting in Adult Parlor. Third Friday of month includes business meeting, 6:30-7:45
MAP

SATURDAY
5:00-6:15 PM
Multi-format Meeting, with small group breakout
Meets at Crestview United Methodist Church, 1300 Morrow St. Enter on Grover Ave. side
MAP

The Twelve Signs of a Compulsive Debtor

  1. Being unclear about your financial situation: not knowing account balances, monthly expenses, loan interest rates, fees, fines, or contractual obligations.
  2. Frequently "borrowing" items such as books, pens, or small amounts of money from friends or others, and failing to return them.
  3. Poor savings habits: not planning for taxes, retirement, or other not-recurring but predictable items, and then feeling surprised when they come due; a "live for today, don't worry about tomorrow" attitude.
  4. Compulsive shopping: being unable to pass up a "good deal" making impulsive purchases; leaving price tags on clothes so they can be returned; not using items you've purchased.
  5. Difficulty in meeting basic financial or personal obligations, and/or an inordinate sense of accomplishment when such obligations are met.
  6. Having a different feeling when buying things on credit than when paying cash.
  7. Living in chaos and drama around money: using one credit card to pay another; bouncing checks; always having a financial crisis to contend with.
  8. A tendency to live on the edge: living paycheck to paycheck; taking risks with health and car insurance coverage; writing checks hoping money will appear to cover them.
  9. Unwarranted inhibition and embarrassment in what should be a normal discussion of money.
  10. Overworking or underearning: working extra hours to earn money to pay creditors; using time inefficiently; taking jobs below your skill and education level.
  11. An unwillingness to care for and value yourself: living in self-imposed deprivation; denying your own basic needs in order to pay your creditors.
  12. A feeling or hope that someone will take care of you if necessary so that you won't really get into serious financial trouble, that there will always be someone you can turn to.

Adopted by DA World Conference, 1999-2000

The Twelve Steps of Debtors Anonymous

  1. We admitted we were powerless over debt-that our lives had become unmanageable.
  2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
  3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood God.
  4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
  5. Admitted to God, ourselves and another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
  6. Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.
  7. Humbly asked God to remove our shortcomings.
  8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed and became willing to make amends to them all.
  9. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
  10. Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.
  11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of his will for us and the power to carry that out.
  12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to other compulsive debtors, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.

Adapted from Alcoholics Anonymous, © AA World Services, Inc.

The Twelve Traditions of Debtors Anonymous

  1. Our common welfare should come first; personal recovery depends upon DA unity.
  2. For our group purpose there is but one ultimate authority--a loving God as He may express Himself in our group conscience. Our leaders are but trusted servants; they do not govern.
  3. The only requirement for DA membership is a desire to stop debting.
  4. Each group should be autonomous except in matters affecting other groups or DA as a whole.
  5. Each group has but one primary purpose--to carry its message to the debtor who still suffers.
  6. A DA group ought never endorse, finance, or lend the DA name to any related facility or outside enterprise, lest problems of money, property, and prestige divert us from our primary purpose.
  7. Every DA group ought to be fully self-supporting, declining outside contributions.
  8. Debtors Anonymous should remain forever non-professional, but our service centers may employ special workers.
  9. DA, as such, ought never be organized; but we may create service boards or committees directly responsible to those they serve.
  10. Debtors Anonymous has no opinion on outside issues; hence the DA name ought never be drawn into public controversy.
  11. Our public relations policy is based on attraction rather than promotion; we need always maintain personal anonymity at the level of press, radio, and films.
  12. Anonymity is the spiritual foundation of all our traditions, ever reminding us to place principles before personalities.

Adapted from Alcoholics Anonymous, © AA World Services, Inc.

The Twelve Tools of DA

  1. Abstinence. We practice abstinence by not incurring compulsive unsecured debt one day at a time. Unsecured debt is any debt that is not backed up by some form of collateral, such as a car, house, etc.
  2. Meetings. We attend meetings at which we can share our experience, strength and hope with one another. Unless we give to newcomers what we have received from DA, we cannot keep it ourselves.
  3. Record Maintenance. We maintain records of our daily income and expenses and of the retirement of any portions of our outstanding debts.
  4. Anonymity. We practice anonymity, which allows us freedom of expression by assuring us that what we say at meetings or to other DA members at any time will not be repeated.
  5. The Telephone. We maintain constant contact with other DA members by exchanging telephone numbers. We make a point of talking to other DA members before and after taking difficult steps in our recovery.
  6. Pressure Relief Groups and Pressure Relief Meetings. After we have gained some familiarity with the DA program, we organize Pressure Relief Groups consisting of ourselves and two other persons from the group who have been abstinent for three (3) months, and who usually have more experience in the Program. The group meets in a series of Pressure Relief Meetings to review our financial situation.
  7. Spending Plan. The Pressure Meeting usually results in the formulation of a spending plan, which puts our needs first, and an action plan, for resolving our debts and taking the first steps toward solvency.
  8. Sponsors. Many of us find it extremely helpful to select a sponsor. A sponsor is an abstinent member of DA who is usually more experienced in working the Twelve Steps. The sponsor aids us in implementing our action plan and in working the steps.
  9. Attending Business Meetings. We attend business meetings that are held monthly. Many of us have long harbored feelings that business was not part of our lives, but for others more qualified. Yet participation in running our own program teaches us how our organization operates, and also helps us to become responsible for our own recovery.
  10. AA Literature. We study the literature of Alcoholics Anonymous to strengthen our understanding of compulsive disease. We can identify with many of the situations described therein by substituting the words compulsive debt for alcohol.
  11. Awareness. We maintain awareness of the danger of compulsive debt by taking note of bank, loan company and credit card advertising, and by reading news accounts of its effects.
  12. Service. We perform service at every level: personal, meeting, Intergroup, and World Service. Service is vital to our recovery. Only through service can we give to others what has been so generously given to us.

The Twelve Promises of Debtors Anonymous

In the program of Debtors Anonymous, we come together to share our experience, strength and hope so that we may recover from the disease of compulsive debting. When we work DA's Twelve Steps and use the DA Tools, we begin to receive these gifts of the program:

  1. Where once we felt despair, we will experience a newfound hope.
  2. Clarity will replace vagueness; we will intuitively know how to handle situations which used to baffle us.
  3. We will live within our means, yet our means will not define us.
  4. We will begin to live a prosperous life, unencumbered by fear, worry,  resentment, or debt.
  5. We will realize that we are enough; we will value ourselves and our contributions.
  6. Isolation will give way to fellowship; faith will displace fear.
  7. We will recognize that there is enough; our resources will be generous and we will share them with others and with DA.
  8. We will cease to compare ourselves to others; jealousy and envy will fade.
  9. Acceptance and gratitude will replace regret, self-pity and longing.
  10. We will no longer fear the truth; we will move from hiding in denial to living in reality.
  11. Honesty will guide our actions toward a rich life filled with meaning and purpose.
  12. We will recognize a Power Greater than ourselves as the source of our abundance; we realize that God is doing for us what we could not do for ourselves.

Are these extravagant promises? We think not; they are well within our means. When we work this program with integrity and to the best of our ability, one day at a time, a life of prosperity and serenity will be ours.

Approved August 19, 2001, 15th Annual DA World Service Conference.

The Serenity Prayer

Higher power, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
the courage to change the things I can,
and the wisdom to know the difference.

For more information:

Austin Debtors Anonymous
AustinDebtorsAnonymous@gmail.com

DA General Service Office
P.O. Box 920888
Needham, MA 02492-0009
781-453-2743
www.debtorsanonymous.org

"It did matter what our spiritual condition was. . . . Money gradually became our servant, not our master. It became a means of exchanging love and service with those about us. . . . We found that freedom from fear was more important than freedom from want."

(last update 05 September 2011. DT)