good and bad
This morning, before I went to work, I paid off my student loan. I was very close to paying it off anyway, but I had enough money to do the lump-sum payoff now, so I thought, eh, what the hell. And with that, I am officially debt-free. No credit cards, no loans, nothing*. I. owe. nothing. I have to keep saying that over and over, because it’s the first time in my life that’s ever happened, and it’s probably never going to happen again!
Unfortunately, this was followed immediately by having my hours cut at work – nothing personal, just that business is slow and my boss can’t afford to pay me the OT she’s been for the past month or so, and it’s understandable. Since I’m still the only income for our household, it’s going to hurt a little, but the fact that I’m so damn good at managing money means that it really won’t be THAT bad. I’ll keep the roof over our heads, which is the important part. The new tattoo, however, will have to wait, I guess. Darn!
* No debt in my name, at least. Obviously, I’m paying a mortgage, but it’s technically Adam’s house, not mine. I am free and clear!
I am *so* jealous! Congratulations! I think it’s going to take me the rest of my life to pay off all my student loans. Stupid grad school. (But I wouldn’t have met Mike if I hadn’t gone, so it’s worth it in the end, right?)
I’m sorry about your hours being cut. That really sucks. I’m sure that things will work out for the best!
CONGRATULATIONS! Casey, that is amazing. Well done!
Debt is something that I’ve struggled with all my adult life, not having the best role models in my parents and having to make stupid mistakes to learn from.
Any tips you want to share on how you did it?
Hah – I definitely did not go about things in the best way possible. In a couple cases, I was so over my head in credit card debt that I had to let them go to collection… and at that point, I was able to settle for about 15% of what I actually owed, and paid them off. The rest was just a matter of paying things off as I could. I feel like I’m always spending money, but I guess I’m really tighter than I thought! Haha.
For me, the problem has always been STAYING debt-free – I’ve paid off cards in the past, only to immediately start using them again once I have a clean slate. This time, as I’ve been paying things off, I’ve been closing accounts and cutting up cards. I just can’t have the temptation there.
Congratulations!
Don’t you feel good?!?!?