Blogging in a Bubble

There are a few PF blogs I check out regularly. Inevitably, I then check out the folks on their debt blogs. And you know what I've found? I seem to be the only single person over 35 with credit card debt. Well, I know that's not true, but I do seem to be the only one blogging about it.

Is anyone else out there? It would be great to share experiences and encouragement with someone similarly situated.

Also, if you're a visitor, please feel free to comment.

In other news, I received my new 80-hour net salary amount from HR. I've decided to increase my 401(k) amount a little bit. There will still be enough left from my raise to cover new expenses -- increases in rent, auto insurance, and gas -- with just a wee bit left over. This is my diplomatic way of saying that my raise is not going to fast-track my debt payoff. But that's OK. Saving is good.

Also good is that I'm starting to consider what I'd like to do when this is over. I've a couple ideas. It'll be fun to be able to pursue other things without this albatross.

See ya May 1!

Only the Lonely

Part of the reason I decided to start a blog about my debt was because it made me feel accountable. Even though I know no one is reading this, knowing this blog is out there and that I'm charting my progress -- and that I have to share my missteps -- is helping me stay on track.

I was encouraged by a news article I read online regarding the popularity of debt blogs and how they were helping people achieve their goal to pay down their debt. But neither then nor now have I encountered a blog by someone whose situation is similar to mine. That is, a 40-something single woman without kids and without home equity. Everyone out there seems to be married or in their early 20s or homeowners -- or a combination thereof.

Not the same. Is there anyone out there like me? I can't be the only one, can I?

Just the same, I added over there on the side a list of the scant few links to blogs I like. If nothing else, one of them makes me feel very happy I'm not married.

In other news, over the last year, I've also kept a written journal. I'd been using it to contain my random thoughts, but my random thoughts tend to get repetitive, so much so that many of the pages I've written have been not much more than a waste of paper. So I've started a new one to mark the beginning of the great debt payment plan -- aka January 2008 -- and am going to try to limit my entries to only a couple times a month. In Broke Ass Student's blog entry on a holistic approach to life and finances, she writes, "Obsessing and fretting over financial situations which do not directly affect day-to-day situations sabotages" finding financial peace of mind. I've been obsessing about my debt payment. It's one thing to be excited about tackling it head-on, but my wanting to blog it or journal it so much is getting out of hand.

It's going to take me some time to get this done. Journaling and blogging every bit of minutia is pointless, and it's making me one-dimensional. There's more to life -- my life -- than debt repayment. It's time I get started on living it.