We were at karaoke when my paycheck came through. July 19th,
11:40 p.m., 20 minutes before my 30th birthday. I grabbed my phone
and did an online transfer to my boyfriend, to whom I still owed $600. He was
such a good sport, he raced through the steps on his phone.
“Accepted!” He yelled over the music. 11:58. Two minutes before deadline. I
made my goal.
First, the celebration. Look at all I've done over the last 11 months. I've consistently added $1,000 to the goal of financial security, and am now more than $11,000 more toward financial security. I paid off $5,000 in debt, such a scary number to look at. I've almost doubled my retirement.
I did it, little by little, and, really, thanks so much in part to this blog and the support I get from it. (Thanks to Jeri!) I'm reading this book right now called Influence that talks about the power of commitment, and that writing something down really makes a difference in your commitment to accomplish it. So here's my next commitment: I'm going to save an emergency fund of $6,000. Whoa, another scary number to look at.
The graph below is interesting. If I had just stayed the course, I would have been out of debt by March. I was feeling like crap after I let that valley happen, and then, having a solid goal with a deadline this last month and a half really sent me into high gear. I told everyone around me that I was on a money diet.
Now the darker side of all this. I celebrated, but to be honest I felt a little empty. I guess that’s because when you pay off debt, you’re left with nothing.
Nothing is the improved state that you have reached. After all that work, all
you’ve done is set the groundwork on which you can try to build something.
Not the best way to look at it, I know. The feeling
surprised even me. But I guess it’s a good reminder to stay out of debt.
What I did gain is the confidence and the hope that if I
have a large goal I can get there little by little.
