The End

The credit card debt? It is done.

The payment was posted yesterday but it didn't appear as such until this morning. After working toward this day for over three years, I could barely contain myself the last 24 hours waiting to see that zero balance.

I had the goal of 10/10/10, but I very much wanted to pay it off earlier. I couldn't see how that would be possible, what with buying a place and moving. But here I am. I still don't know how it happened (beyond divine intervention) but I am so thankful for it I have to testify.

Hallelujah!

April 2010 Update

Anyone who also reads veronica's day in the life knows that I'm trying to buy a condo. Well, that's not entirely correct: I have put in an offer on a condo and it was accepted. But I still have to go through the appraisal process (which is making me anxious) and then go to closing. I mention this because my savings is totally up in the air these days. So I'm not updating those numbers. I am, however, updating the debt:

The Debt: $4,095.56

Yeah, yeah ... I know that I had proclaimed that my debt was officially under $4,000. It was. But since then, I have donated some money to a worthy charity. To get the rewards, I used the credit card but haven't paid it off yet. But I will, and soon.

The savings picture will be undergoing changes over the next couple months while I go through this home buying process, so I doubt I update the balances for that anytime soon. Once things stabilize, I'll be back on track.

Also, with the mortgage and condo fee, I'm going to be paying more for living expenses sooner than October 2010, the deadline I'd given myself to pay off the debt. While it will take a bit longer, it will get paid off. Not only will the mortgage and condo fee affect the incoming cash flow, but so will the loan repayment to my 401(k), which will decrease my paycheck. The good thing about borrowing from my retirement is that when I pay it back, I'm actually paying myself back. If necessary -- and if I have enough money leftover -- I may use that to pay off the debt. The interest rate is better and I'm paying myself, not the bank.

By the way, I know I'm a day early with the update, but it's 11:28 p.m. and that balance isn't going to change in the next 32 minutes. ;-)

So ... that's that. Stay tuned. And wish me luck on the appraisal!

365 Days and Counting

One year from today I will be debt free.

I say this partly to restate my goal. But I'm also manifesting it into being. :-)

I am kinda sorta freaking out. It's not so much about whether I'll be able to pay off the debt by 10/10/10, but I'm planning to move next year. In fact, I'm hoping to buy a place next year. That will affect things quite a bit. Actually, to be honest, I hope what happens is that my living expenses go down with the purchase. Still, before I sign on the dotted line for a new home, I have to find that new home. And I'll have moving expenses, including the bill to have the carpets in my current place professionally cleaned. It's part of my lease agreement and I don't want there to be any problem with getting back my almost $1,000 rent deposit.

There's also the grad school thing, which I'm having second (third, and fourth) thoughts about. For one, in the end, I'm not sure how much it will help me professionally. Also, the cost is a factor. It ain't cheap; if I can't get my current employer to help foot the bill, I'm going to have to pass. Also, there's the matter of my freedom. Part of why I want to be debt free is because I want to be able to do those things that give me joy -- yoga classes, pottery, travel ... If I'm in grad school, all I'll be doing is studying. And even that would be OK if what I was studying was what I wanted to be studying. So we'll see.

In other news, I've completely blown my October challenge. Once I started sliding, I just gave up. I had to buy some extras for a friend's birthday present the other day, and today I bought some black leggings and a $30 lipstick. (I know that sounds like a lot for a lipstick. It sounds that way because it is. But it's the exact same shade of a favorite lipstick by Clinique that Clinique made only for a limited time. And I love this shade. I've been trying to find a replacement for about five years, and today I discovered that Chanel makes a color virtually identical. It was worth $30 to me to have the lipstick.) Now that it's getting close to holiday season, perhaps I'll hold off on trying to do a challenge until January.

There was also some good news this week: I got another freelance gig. Yay! The job will be in December, but they went ahead and e-mailed me the contract and other forms yesterday. It will be some welcome extra money, certainly, especially since I'll likely get paid in January. We can always use extra cash after the holidays, yes?

So that's where I am 365 days away from my goal date.

Decisions, Decisions

I desperately want to be debt free. So much so, that I've been thinking about suspending my automatic savings deposits. I've been considering it a while, but at first, the interest rate on my savings account was pretty decent. As we all know, though, interest rates for savings accounts have been in free fall since last year.

My idea is that rather than that amount going into my savings account, I could put it toward my debt. While it's not an insignificant amount, it would go a decent way toward helping me knock out the debt a little sooner. Of course, it would definitely affect my savings goal of $10K for 10/10/10.

My fear, though, is that I'll get out of the habit of saving. And I like seeing my savings grow. I really do.

Maybe I could make myself a deal -- I can suspend my savings deposits but only after I have a certain amount socked away.

So ... what to do? I don't know, but I welcome your suggestions.

October 10, 2008

I woke up this morning (a full hour before my alarm went off, unfortunately) with the realization that today is October 10 -- the date I've selected to be debt-free day in 2010. I thought it might be a good idea to say a few words today and on the next two October 10 dates.

How 'bout a little snapshot? Last October my total debt was a scary $19,774.47 spread between two credit cards. Today, at this moment, my debt is $14,631.93 (more on that in a minute). For those of you who suck at math as much as I do, that's a $5,142.54 difference. And one of those cards from last year was paid off this past July.

And since we're making comparisons, the savings in October 2007 was $3,690. Today, $5,663. That's a difference of $1,973.

This means that in the last 12 months, I've invested $7,115.54 ($5,142.54 + $1,973) in myself. That's nothing to sneeze at.

I should note that the reason the debt and savings balances are a bit different than they were just last Sunday is because I decided to pay from savings the last half of September's snowball payment amount. Also, there were a few credits from boot returns (from the failed boot quest) that have finally been processed.

It hasn't been all roses this year, though. There have been missteps. The first was the haircut in July. That was a lot of money right down the drain. The second was my loan to one Danny O'Neal, who still hasn't paid me back the $193 he owes me. I'm trying to think about it in terms of "well at least I tried to help a friend," but you know what? I'm really pissed off about the whole thing. I thought he was a better friend. And for someone who is so involved in the church -- he's a deacon, for crying out loud! -- he should know better. I left him a message yesterday telling him just what I thought about his behavior. Obviously we can't be friends -- there's no trust. I'm really hurt. Worse, I'm embarrassed for being so stupid.

So that's October 10, 2008. Here's hoping I make it to October 10, 2009.