Zero Balance

I wanted to share with everyone a bit a good news. I've been bragging about it to anyone that has ears, so why not brag to those that have eyes too, haha. Last week I made my final payment on my credit card... that's right folks, the first step in me being debt free (not counting student loans, shh) After I moved back home last October I realized this gave me an opportunity to do something smart... get out of debt. Being married and in the particular situation we were in got me into some debt. I didn't have a lot and without getting into the nitty gritty details I ended up having my credit card with about a $4,200 balance and my car payments. This is the first time in my life that I was working and managing my own finances. Twenty-seven is WAY too old to be doing that, but I was excited. I've always liked numbers and figuring that sort of thing out so I set out with a plan. I came up with a number that I could pay each month toward my credit card. Let me say this... I first needed to decide which thing to pay off first - the credit card or the car. The credit card had a higher interest rate but the car had a lower balance... so I did debate. I decided to go with the credit card first. The other thing that I debated was if I should put all of my extra money into my debt or try to save along side that. In the end I decided to put all extra money towards debt. My reasoning here was the sooner I get that stuff paid off the less I would end up paying to get it paid off. I also told myself that if something crazy came up where I suddenly needed a lot of money, I could always charge it. That of course wouldn't be ideal, however, it was always an option. I also decided that I am going to be cashed based from now on. No charging anything to credit cards. I got a debit card and only used that. I kept my credit card in my wallet (still there) but only used the debit card. It was tough at first, but easier over time. I set up some repayment schedules and determined when I could expect to have my credit card paid off. Originally it looked like it would be June or July. That seemed so far away, but what else can you do, a little at a time. Then when December rolled around I suddenly had all those Christmas presents to buy, so that set me back a little, but kept on plugging away. After Christmas was much easier, and with some tax return money, cutting out some of my spending, living at home, etc, I am happy to report to everyone that last week I paid off my credit card... Let me say that again... I paid off my credit card. It felt so amazing to make that last payment and I'm still riding that high. I am just so proud of myself for getting everything in order and making smart choices. Sure it isn't glamourous living at home in the bedroom I grew up in, but honestly, living with my mom, sister and brother has been awesome. Especially during the really tough divorce times. And I made myself work at this goal... I'm just so so happy with myself. So what's next? I am hoping to have my car paid off by June. It's an ambitious goal, but one that does make sense. Basically I've been snowballing my debt. I made the minimum payment on my car and extra money into my credit card. So now that the credit card is paid off I can take that money plus the money I was already paying into the car to make large payments. So that should be done by June. After that I'll make a pretty low payment to get rid of one of my student loans (the smallest). Then I will put all that extra money to beef up my savings. I am thinking I will be able to move out on my own in September or so... roughly a year after all of this started. I've had a lot of healp along the way and dear friends and family I really appreciate it. I'm so happy I set a goal and made it. I love keeping track of all my own finances. I like being accountable to me and me only. I have set up a system that works for me. I track all of my money on a spreadsheet with different categories. Eventually I will hopefully set budgets for each of these areas to be even better with my money, but right now I'm just tracking everything. The simple motion of having to be accountable and record the purchase cuts down on a lot of silly purchases. I'm also loving being cashed based and hope to never go back to that credit card. So here's been a fairly long post of be bragging... but I'm excited, this is big for me. I'm turning into a responsible adult!