I of course live most of my life away from this blog and there is something about the everyday journey of getting out of debt that seems to get missed. A couple times a week, I talk about the mental journey, and once a month I share my progress in numbers, but what do I do every day?
First off, it’s probably a lot messier than the numbers can capture. Messier even than all my talk about motivation, and especially my talk about not buying stuff. I’ve written about the lack of decisions involved when you’ve accepted that you’re going to get out of debt no matter what. Indeed, it is a very powerful mental trick just knowing that the answer to every, should I buy this or not? is no you should not. It makes things simple. It cuts out all of that distracting deliberation. But, there are of course still many decisions to be made all the time. There are many days in every month that I don’t buy anything at all–not even chips from the vending machine. But, I still eat out at least twice a week when I really only mean to do it once, and I still debate buying the cheap beer I’m just fine with or the slightly more expensive beer I really enjoy, and my schedule is so crazy that sometimes I’m left with very few options other than chips out of the vending machine. Yeah, these expenses are small, but they add up, and they are not part of the plan. It is really rare I buy something I absolutely don’t need, like nail polish, but that happens too. I am proud of how little I buy, but I don’t mean to make it look like I’ve got a perfect streak going over here.
Second, I work all the time. I’m at work right now as I write this. It’s 11 pm, I’ve been working since 9 am this morning (started at the part-time job and now I’m at the full-time job), I still have another hour to go before I can go home, and I’ve been doing this all week just as I do it every week. And, you know what? I like my job, but there are a million other places I’d rather be right now. Like, my bed. There’s probably a gap between talking about working all the time and actually being in hour 14 of a 15 hour day. Even here in hour 14, though, I can absolutely say it’s worth it. No question.
Third, I’ve got my budget imprinted on my brain. I’ve heard a lot of people say they make budgets, but then never look at them again (I used to do the same thing). Obviously, that doesn’t work. I go a little crazy, because I love organization, but my budget, which from the very beginning has accounted for my entire journey out of debt from start to finish, is revised at least twice a month and probably something closer to four times a month. You can’t just budget for your expenses; you have to budget for every dollar. In my case, that means that every dollar that doesn’t go to bills and living, goes to my debt. If one thing changes, like an expense comes up or I don’t make as much that week as I was expecting, then I have to readjust the budget. If you see me writing lists of numbers on scratch pieces of paper, that’s what I’m doing. It might sound tedious, but the whole point of it is that I always know how much money I have and where it’s going.
Fourth, the stress. I’ve said this a couple times recently, but the stress about money just does not go away. It’s different from the money stress I had before I started. That was dread. This is just that I want to be out of debt so badly that it makes me nervous to think of anything hindering me. More than that, really. There’s an urgency to this for me that makes it never register that I’m doing just fine. The truth of the day to day is that I’m always stressed about money and I never forget that I’m on this journey.
And, fifth, failure is not even on my radar. I knew from the beginning that I was going to get out of debt, and I have never doubted that. I love in fiction when characters make up their minds to do something and then do whatever it takes to make it happen, but that’s also really frustrating, because things almost never happen that way. If they did, I would have written my second novel this Summer. I would have done a lot of things over the years. Even with all my stress about money and the anxiety that comes with being overworked, I have this confidence (something I can almost feel in my body) that I’m going to get out of debt. Not just some time eventually, but by the end of this year. I have that knowledge in me all the time and it motivates all the rest of this.
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When I was first out of college teaching, I was dirt poor. Like dirt, dirt poor. I had enough to get by but that was pretty much it. Take away rent, groceries, utilities, car payments and student loans, I probably had $50 left over each month. It was tight but I managed. However, no matter how limited my budget was, I knew that I enjoyed good beer too much to go cheap. So beer was one thing I splurged on each month. I’d spend the extra dollar or two to get a 6pack to enjoy.
As for budget being ingrained in your mind, that’s how I am about the Europe trip. I’m still about $2K shorter than where I want to be. I’m cutting corners wherever I can, but I’m nervous. I’m strict as it is but I’m not where I want to be.
This blog is a constant never-failing inspiration for me. Especially b/c I’ve actually spent the last 2 weeks debating buying 2 bottles of nail polish. I’ve now decided not to, so thanks! And the amount you work is always astounding. No wonder you’re almost done with your credit card debt!
So, I know that you said you would stop this blog when you finished with your debt, but will you continue saving/putting money towards your school loans? How much debt will have from those when you are done with school? I am so impressed with the way you are putting money towards things.
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