The 200th Post

Yep, still debt free. But you know what? I'm still living like I did while I was deep in debt.

I'd planned to treat myself to a much-needed massage after I moved. Didn't do it; didn't want to spend the money. I've wanted to treat myself to a getaway. Haven't planned anything; afraid to spend the money. I desperately need to replace my old mattresses. Haven't done it; haven't wanted to ... well you get the idea. I haven't even had the new prescription put into my eyeglasses yet.

This is not acceptable. The point of getting out of debt and increasing my savings was so that I could live my best life. I had to sacrifice a lot and learn some new habits. Turns out I learned those habits so well that I can't break myself out of them. I'm not saying I should go crazy and throw responsibility out the door, but when I start second-guessing small purchases -- like a frappe, for crying out loud -- something is wrong.

I'm afraid of that slippery slope. That it'll be a little here, a little there, and before you know it, all my hard work was for naught. But life is about balance, right? Seems I've swung too far the opposite way.

How am I going to fix this? I don't know yet. I've only been debt free for a week. Who knows? I could be handling this the right way. Maybe it requires small steps...

... and maybe it's time I called a professional. My employer covers the cost of one visit with a financial planner. I've met the guy at a few of the talks he's given at our company. He's a nice guy. In fact, one of my friends uses him and likes him. We'll see.

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!

Giving Back

While I wait for that last payment to get posted, I thought I'd check in to comment on something I've been doing lately. Ever since I signed the papers for my place, I've been donating more to charity. It started when I got money back from my settlement on my place. And since then, whenever I've received extra funds, I've made it a point to donate a portion to a worthy cause.

It feels amazing.

Debt-Freedom Eve

The money from savings was transferred to checking today, and the payment -- the full payment -- for my debt is scheduled to be paid tomorrow. Yeah, yeah, I know that it usually takes a day or two for the amount to get credited, but just knowing that the payment is scheduled for tomorrow gives me such joy I can barely contain myself.

Only one person knows, and he knows only because I sought his advice last week about what to do. And, obviously, anyone reading this knows. As much as I'd like to shout it from the rooftops, I know that sometimes, despite the best intentions, people have a hard time feeling happy for others in these situations. On the contrary, sometimes they feel envy and spite. I don't want anyone to feel bad. I've been there -- heck, envy is something I still struggle to overcome. It sucks to feel that way. And so I'll keep my secret.

The money that I had been dedicating to my credit card has been scheduled to automatically go into my savings starting in September. I'd still like to have $10K in savings, and the only way to do that is to save. So that's what I'll do. As I've learned with the debt, every payment counts. It might take some time, but I'll get there.

And with that, I'm heading to bed. I'll check in with the official zero announcement later this week. See ya then!

August 2010 Update

How crazy is it that it's already August! Is it me or has this year just flown by? And my, oh, my, what a year it's been. Just a year ago I never would have imagined that I'd be thisclose to paying off my debt and living in my own home. Wow...

Anyway, let's get this monthly update off the ground:

The Debt: $1,622.74
The Savings: $5,947.26

The spike in the savings amount is because of money that I'd had parked in checking for a while but finally moved over to savings. I hadn't been counting it as savings since it technically wasn't in a savings account.

You might be asking yourself, "With her savings, why doesn't she just go ahead and pay off her debt?" That's a very good question. In fact, about three days ago, I asked myself the same thing. You know what? I didn't have a good answer. And so I'm paying it off next week. It's scheduled for next week.

And that brings me to this: What should I do with this blog after that? Certainly I'll keep it up. It is my hope that others will stumble upon this blog and realize that if I could do it, they certainly can. Do I post about my savings? I did name it "Saving Veronica," after all. It'll just be a tweak of the meaning from verb to adjective. We'll see.

For now, though, time for bed. I'll check in again soon. :-)

Cutting the Cord

After I closed on my place, I realized that I had a larger cushion than I had expected. This, of course, is a good thing -- a great thing. It has come in handy in getting my place together. I've used it for home-related things, bills from the old place, and the like. But the party is over.

It's time to cut the cord.

Mind you, the money is still going to be there. But I'm putting away the card that accesses that old account and am flying solo on the everyday account. When I made the decision to buy a place, I looked long and hard at the budget and discovered that though it might be tight, I would be able to do it. And do it I shall.

Things are going well. I've decided to put a third of every freelance check toward the remaining credit card debt. This will be in addition to the regular payments I'll be making every month -- all of which will be more than the minimum due. I just want to knock it out, you know? And the sooner I get it done, the better.

I haven't heard anything about my rental deposit for the old place, but I'm not worried. My feeling is that no news is good news. Had something been wrong with how I left things, they would not have hesitated in letting me know. What else is coming? Well, my freelance job for the Big Nonprofit isn't done, so it hasn't been billed yet. (I'm supposed to be getting at least one more statement to edit before I'm done and can bill.) I have an invoice pending with Regular Freelance Gig, and that check should come and be deposited by the end of the month. And the Writing Gig has already paid me for last month's work; I've directed a third of that payment toward the credit card bill.

And though this isn't entirely related, I finally took care of my oil change and got new brake pads for my car. So the car is in good shape -- and all for less than $200, thanks to the new auto shop I've been going to.

So things are in good shape, I'm happy to report. I'm so, so happy to report. :-)