The Twelve Steps of D.A.
- We admitted we were powerless over debt—that our lives had become unmanageable.
- Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
- Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.
- Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
- Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
- Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.
- Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.
- Made a list of all persons we had harmed and became willing to make amends to them all.
- Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
- Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.
- 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.
- Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to compulsive debtors, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.
The Twelve Traditions of D.A.
- Our common welfare should come first; personal recovery depends upon D.A. unity.
- 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.
- The only requirement for D.A. membership is a desire to stop incurring unsecured debt.
- Each group should be autonomous except in matters affecting other groups or D.A. as a whole.
- Each group has but one primary purpose–to carry its message to the debtor who still suffers.
- A D.A. group ought never endorse, finance, or lend the D.A. name to any related facility or outside enterprise, lest problems of money, property, and prestige divert us from our primary purpose.
- Every D.A. group ought to be fully self-supporting, declining outside contributions.
- Debtors Anonymous should remain forever non-professional, but our service centers may employ special workers.
- D.A., as such, ought never be organized; but we may create service boards or committees directly responsible to those they serve.
- Debtors Anonymous has no opinion on outside issues; hence the D.A. name ought never be drawn into public controversy.
- 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.
- Anonymity is the spiritual foundation of all our traditions, ever reminding us to place principles before personalities.
The Twelve Tools of Debtors Anonymous
Recovery from compulsive debting begins when we stop incurring new, 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 house or other asset.) We attain a daily reprieve from compulsive debting by practicing the Twelve Steps and by using the following Tools.
1. Meetings
We attend meetings at which we share our experience, strength, and hope with one another. Unless we give to newcomers what we have received
from D.A., we cannot keep it ourselves.
2. Record Maintenance
We maintain records of our daily income and expenses, of our savings, and of the retirement of any portions of our outstanding debts.
3. Sponsorship
We have found it essential to our recovery to have a sponsor and to be a sponsor. A sponsor is a recovering debtor who guides us through the Twelve Steps and shares his or her own experience, strength, and recovery.
4. Pressure Relief Groups and Pressure Relief Meetings
After we have gained some familiarity with the D.A. program, we organize Pressure Relief Groups consisting of ourselves and two other recovering debtors who have not incurred unsecured debt for at least 90 days and who usually have more experience in the program. The group meets in a series of Pressure Relief Meetings to review our financial situation. These meetings typically result in the formulation of a spending plan and an action plan.
5. Spending Plan
The spending plan puts our needs first and gives us clarity and balance to live within our means. It includes categories for income, spending, debt payment, and savings. The income category helps us determine our resources and focus on increasing our income, if needed. The debt payment category guides us in making realistic payment arrangements without depriving ourselves. The savings category helps us build cash reserves, however humble, and can include savings for a prudent reserve, retirement, and special purchases.
6. Action Plan
With the help of our Pressure Relief Group, we develop a list of specific actions for resolving our debts, improving our financial situation, and achieving our goals without incurring unsecured debt.
7. The Telephone and the Internet
We maintain frequent contact with other D.A. members by using the telephone, email, and other forms of communication. We make a point of talking to other D.A. members before and after taking difficult steps in our recovery.
8. D.A. and A.A. Literature
We study the literature of Debtors Anonymous and of Alcoholics Anonymous to strengthen our understanding of compulsive disease and of recovery from compulsive debting.
9. Awareness
We maintain awareness of the danger of compulsive debt by taking note of bank, loan company, and credit card advertising and their effects on us. We also remain aware of our personal finances in order to avoid vagueness, which can lead to compulsive debting or spending.
10. Business Meetings
We attend business meetings that are held monthly. Many of us have long harbored feelings that “business” was not a 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.
11. 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 so generously has been given to us.
12. 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.
Twelve Promises of Debtors Anonymous
In the program of Debtors Anonymous, we come together to share our journey in recovering from compulsive debting. There is hope. When we work D.A.’s Twelve Steps and use D.A.’s Twelve Tools we develop new ways of living, and 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. Confidence and intuition will replace confusion and chaos. We will live engaged lives, make decisions that best meet our needs, and become the people we were meant to be.
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 replace fear.
7. We will recognize that there is enough; our resources will be generous and we will share them with others and with D.A.
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 towards a rich life filled with meaning and purpose.
12. We will recognize a Power Greater than ourselves as the source of our abundance. We will ask for help and guidance and have faith that it will come.
All this and more is possible. 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.