Two years ago, I bought 10,000 dollars worth of furniture. I really wanted to give our house a facelift, and I totally succeeded. I just put us in a lot of debt at the same time. Two years ago that decision or really lack of planning, caused me to start this blog. I have had LOTS of blogs before and since then, but this is the only one that still gets any posts.
I was reading back to some of my earliest posts and man was I lost!! I remember the first mistake I ever made. I had been reading Women and Money by Suze Orman and she said to pay off all debt at all costs (that is how I read it) then she talked about having an emergency fund. However, she never put any of the stuff in any order!! So, I took all the cash I had left from my tax refund and put it toward my debt. Of course soon enough we had an "emergency" which had to go on a credit card.
Anyway, it has been over two years now since I have put anything on "plastic". We did buy a used car last year, but I feel that we got a good deal and that vehicle is included in our debt that will be paid off in 3 years. When I say DEBT free, we will truly have no debt at all. I can't wait!!
I am getting ready to pay off my last credit card. Then it is on to vehicles and student loans. And, YES, it is the furniture that I will be paying off. The debt that started it all is about to be gone!
I am really proud of myself. I used the financial plan that I showed everyone how to create last summer to plan things out and I have stuck to it. I have faithfully snowballed the money. As soon as one debt was paid off the next debt got the money. I have made it a bill that I pay each month so there is no such thing as "extra" money. I follow a zero budget each month. Every penny is spent before I even get it. (In other words each dollar is spoken for so it can not be squandered.)
It has been much harder than I anticipated. I really thought when I started that I would have all my debt paid off in a couple of years. I thought with tax refunds and my teaching summer school we could do it faster. But, as you know life likes to throw curve balls. One of those just celebrated her first birthday a few days ago, by the way! We have also had some serious medical issues arise in the last year or so. So, we have had times when we had to put money into other things.
Also, early on my husband and I decided that we did not want to live a spartan lifestyle in order to pay off our debts. I am a firm believer in living your life while you can. But, that does not have to mean buying every single thing you want.
Anyway, I am sure that I will be picking up the pace of posting soon. I don't know, there is something about this time of year that gets it all started. And, then of course I have all summer "off".
Happy Birthday POW!!
Sunday, March 29, 2009
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