diff --git a/scripts/restic-backup.sh b/scripts/restic-backup.sh
index 744ce97..886595b 100755
--- a/scripts/restic-backup.sh
+++ b/scripts/restic-backup.sh
@@ -1,54 +1,96 @@
 #!/bin/sh
 
-EMAIL_SUBJECT_PREFIX="[Restic] "
+# catch the error in case first pipe command fails (but second succeeds)
+set -o pipefail
+# turn on traces, useful while debugging but commented out by default
+# set -o xtrace
+
+EMAIL_SUBJECT_PREFIX="[Restic]"
 LOG="/var/log/restic/$(date +\%Y\%m\%d_\%H\%M\%S).log"
 
-notify() {
-    cat "${LOG}" | mail -s "${EMAIL_SUBJECT_PREFIX}${1}" ${SMTP_TO}
+# create log dir
+mkdir -p /var/log/restic/
+
+# e-mail notification
+function notify() {
+    sed -e 's/\x1b\[[0-9;]*m//g' "${LOG}" | mail -s "${EMAIL_SUBJECT_PREFIX} ${1}" ${SMTP_TO}
 }
 
-# prepare_restic
-mkdir -p /var/log/restic/
+function log() {
+    "$@" 2>&1 | tee -a "$LOG"
+}
 
-if restic cat config >/dev/null 2>&1; then
-    echo -e "skipping restic repo init\n------------\n" | tee -a "$LOG"
-else
-    echo -e "initializing restic\n------------\n" | tee -a "$LOG"
-    restic init | tee -a "$LOG" 2>&1
-fi
+function run_silently() {
+    "$@" >/dev/null 2>&1
+}
 
-# prepare_backup
-sqlite3 /data/db.sqlite3 ".backup '/data/backup.bak'"
+# ###########################################################
+# colorized echo helpers
+# taken from: https://github.com/atomantic/dotfiles/blob/master/lib_sh/echos.sh
+# ###########################################################
 
-# backup
-echo -e "restic backup\n------------\n" | tee -a "$LOG"
-restic backup --verbose --exclude="db.*" /data | tee -a "$LOG" 2>&1
-if [ $? -ne 0 ]
-then
-    notify "Failed Vaultwarden backup"
-    exit 2
-fi
+ESC_SEQ="\x1b["
+COL_RED=$ESC_SEQ"31;01m"
+COL_BLUE=$ESC_SEQ"34;01m"
+COL_GREEN=$ESC_SEQ"32;01m"
+COL_YELLOW=$ESC_SEQ"33;01m"
+COL_RESET=$ESC_SEQ"39;49;00m"
 
-# check consistency of the repository
-echo -e "\n------------\nrestic check\n-----------\n" | tee -a "$LOG"
-restic check | tee -a "$LOG" 2>&1
-if [ $? -ne 0 ]
-then
-    notify "Failed Vaultwarden check"
-    exit 3
-fi
+function ok() {
+    log echo -e "$COL_GREEN[ok]$COL_RESET $1"
+}
+
+function running() {
+    log echo -en "$COL_BLUE ⇒ $COL_RESET $1..."
+}
+
+function warn() {
+    log echo -e "$COL_YELLOW[warning]$COL_RESET $1"
+}
 
-# remove outdated snapshots
-echo -e "\n-------------\nrestic forget\n------------\n" | tee -a "$LOG"
-restic forget \
-        --keep-daily 7 \
-        --keep-weekly 4 \
-        --keep-monthly 3 \
-        --keep-yearly 3 \
-        --prune \
-        | tee -a "$LOG" 2>&1
-if [ $? -ne 0 ]
-then
-    notify "Failed Vaultwarden forget"
-    exit 4
+function error() {
+    log echo -e "$COL_RED[error]$COL_RESET $1"
+    log echo -e "$2"
+}
+
+function notify_and_exit_on_error() {
+    output=$(eval $1 2>&1)
+
+    if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then
+        error "$2" "$output"
+        notify "$2"
+        exit 2
+    fi
+}
+
+# ###########################################################
+# backup steps
+# ###########################################################
+
+running "checking restic config"
+
+run_silently restic cat config
+
+if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then
+    warn "restic repo either not initialized or erroring out"
+    running "trying to initialize it"
+    notify_and_exit_on_error "restic init" "Repo init failed"
 fi
+
+ok
+
+running "backing up sqlite database"
+notify_and_exit_on_error "sqlite3 /data/db.sqlite3 '.backup /data/backup.bak'" "SQLite backup failed"
+ok
+
+running "restic backup"
+notify_and_exit_on_error "restic backup --verbose --exclude='db.*' /data" "Restic backup failed"
+ok
+
+running "checking consistency of restic repository"
+notify_and_exit_on_error "restic check" "Restic check failed"
+ok
+
+running "removing outdated snapshots"
+notify_and_exit_on_error "restic forget --keep-daily 7 --keep-weekly 4 --keep-monthly 3 --keep-yearly 3 --prune" "Restic forget failed"
+ok