It is September, and I have been putting off this post for a long time. Frankly the longer I could put this off, the longer I didn't have to be accountable to everyone for my financial goals. So here goes, let me list the goals I have/have had since I started this journey in November of 2008.
1. Pay off loan to my sister. This goal was met in February of this year. It wasn't a huge loan, but it was a monthly payment we were making to her family.
2. Pay off Visa bill. This goal was met in March this year. This bill was about $1100 from when our washing machine died on Christmas Eve. We went without a washer for a couple weeks until we found out the old one would cost more to fix than it was worth. It hurt to charge that washer, but it felt great to pay it off.
3. Pay off hubby's car. Yeah, this was accomplished on the last day of May! My goal was to pay it off before June and we squeaked by with one day to spare. Either way, it is paid off!!!
4. Pay off the van. This started at $10,000. We have been throwing any and all extra money at this debt right now. My plan is to pay off this bill by the end of March 2010. I know we can do it if I work hard on meeting the budget every month and paying any and all extra moeny twowards this debt.
5. Pay off my student loan. This debt has been following us around for way too long. For now I make the normal minimum payment, but once the van is paid for, this bill will be next. I am giving us one year to pay this off once we are done with the van. That will take us to March 2011. Right now this bill is around $17,000.
I am following the Dave Ramsey Total Money Makeover methods for attacking this debt. If you have any questions about this method, contact me or click here.
To some of you, having a budget plan for the next year and 1/2 may seem like a long time focus on this. But once we get to that point, we will be DEBT FREE. I can only imagine what that will feel like when we get there. Once we are there, we will have more money to do the things we want to do. I consider it a short term sacriface for our family's long term goals.
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Sounds like you are doing great. You have accomplished a lot in less than a year!
ReplyDeleteYou are doing great, way to stay focused. don't forget to reward yourself in a small way each time you hit a milestone. it makes the long journey more bearable.
ReplyDeleteI should add that when I say "Debt Free" I don't include my mortgage. I will still need to pay that.
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