FIRST DEBT....PAID OFF!

Today is a very special day, folks!!!! I paid off the first debt in my debt snowball!!!! And do you want to know how I feel?

 

 

 

Like this! This is how I feel!!!

As of today, Patty the Pancreas, (my loving nickname for my insulin pump), is mine all mine!! I got her in March of 2009, which means I had been paying on her for 4 years. FOUR. YEARS. Almost to the day. And let me go ahead and answer your question...YES, insurance paid for MOST of it. (It's an expensive little device.)

It feels good to be able to take that payment off of my calendar and put it towards other debts and savings! And I absolutely can't wait to finish paying off these little debts! 

WOOT WOOT WOOT!!!! I'm going to celebrate today by smiling, eating some leftover poppyseed chicken for lunch (my favorite, thanks mom!) and maybe taking a few bucks out of my "food" envelope for some ice cream! (and really putting that insulin pump to work!!) Haha.

OH YEAH. Speaking of envelopes, check out what I bought from thirty-one! 

It's a "coupon clutch", but instead of using the little dividers for coupons, I'm using them as categories to divide up my cash money!! It's WAY prettier than the envelopes, and absolutely reusable. :) It's a good idea, and if you want to do the same thing, you should order one when I have my thirty-one party next month.

A HUGE THANKS to all of you who have been incredibly supportive of me throughout this process. You make it so much easier! I can't wait to share more victories with you all!

It's Happening!

Hello fellow debt haters!

I just wanted to give you all an update on where I am in the progression of getting rid of my debt and how I'm doing in continuing with Dave's plan.

I recalculated my debt snowball, due to the addition of Charlotte. If you didn't hear about Charlotte, well take a minute and catch up! :-)

I am happy to say, that with the debt snowball, I'll have my "little debts" paid off by July! (happy birthday to me!!) Even better, my car will be paid off in October of next year (as opposed to 2018, if I were to just stick to my loan agreement. Yuck.) Then, it will take just a short 3 more years to pay off those stupid student loans!! 

I understand that things happen. Cars break down. There are unexpected medical/house expenses. You get married. You have babies. Things happen that will cost money! In a perfect world, I'll have everything paid off by the time I'm 31. That's...pretty amazing. Realistically? I'm shooting for debt free by 35. 

I only say that because being diabetic, my health costs surpass that of most healthy people. And with technology evolving constantly, there will always be something new on the market that can drastically improve my quality of life. And I am perfectly at peace with putting off being totally debt free for a few years, to be able to extend my life for several.

I know that's not "gazelle intensity" that Dave preaches, but I think it's pretty dang good. 

Can we please consider where I was 5 months ago? I was nervous, scared and digging a hole to crawl in and hide from the world afraid to face the numbers. Debt was something I thought I would always live with. How wrong I was! And that was just 5 months ago! 

As far as the budget and envelope system goes, my boyfriend is WAY MORE diligent than I am. (reason number 1,928,375,759 i'm not letting that boy go!) I just now got to the point where I feel comfortable pulling out a huge chunk of cash from my checking account for said envelopes. But yes, I have my envelopes. Yes, I do a budget. Is it on an official budget form in an excel spreadsheet? No. Is it on a grease-stained piece of notebook paper? Absolutely. 

Does not reflect my actual budget. Mine is way less fancy with less-than-technical terms. 

For example, my "income" is labeled as "dolla' dolla' bills, yo"

Point being, 5 months ago, I did none of this. And now? Well, I'm a budget rock star! Ok, maybe not rock star, but I'm definitely a budget indie-singer-songwriter who plays at small obscure clubs and has a really good voice and will be discovered someday.... star.

I am excited to see progress! And I love seeing those numbers I was once intimidated by become smaller and something like I feel I have total control over.

I guess it is just nice to see light at the end of what has seemed to be a never ending tunnel.
With trains, planes and automobiles constantly trying to smash me down to a pile of human goo for the tunnel rats to eat.

Ah, I digress. 

If you're thinking about going through Financial Peace University, stop thinking about it and just do it. You can find all info you need here. And if you have any questions about it, you can always send me an email or find me on twitter!

-Rachel

I HAVE A CAR!

Hey blogoids!

So, after 5 months, 2 weeks and 4 days of hitching rides, borrowing cars, and feeling like a mooch....I FINALLY GOT A CAR!

The process was not easy. I encountered some salesman that closely resembled Yosemite Sam, and had offers via text message (from car dealers) to pick me up from work to look at cars. Hello. No thank you. Creepy.

After a month of tragic experiences (yes, tragic, I'm not being dramatic), I finally met Larry at Carnival Kia in Rivergate. He is from a small town in IL (like my parents) and was cool, and not pushy, and I felt like he...wait for it......wait for it....actually wanted to HELP me, instead of pick me up, and ring out every penny I didn't have!

So, ladies and gentleman, I present to you my 2006 Volkswagen Passat, Charlotte. :) (Of course I named her!)