While I’ve still been working 55 hours and six days a week this Summer, it’s certainly been a lot easier than the 15 hours days I was working when school was in session.  I have at several points this Summer, especially while enjoying a previously forgotten delight called free time, marveled at how I was able to pull off working so much during the school year.  I kept eying the end of August, thinking, “how can I do this again?”

But then several weeks ago, I was talking to one of my coworkers, who’s been in a similar situation, and he and I were trying to explain to another of our coworkers that you just do it.  You really don’t know what you’re capable of until you push yourself to the limits. Not to continue to force Nike slogan-like motivational statements on you, but there’s no secret except to just do it.  And that made me feel better, because I know that I’ve done it before and I can do it again.  That simple thought has taken away most of my anxiety about the end of Summer and the start of Fall.

Adding to my motivation is that the finish line finally seems so close.  There has been a lot of time between the exhilarating start and the fantastic end.  Months and months of just plugging along.  But now the end is only four months away and I can smell it, feel it, taste it.  Getting there is, to me, worth whatever it takes and I’ve been working on making all the preparations necessary to start the final sprint.  Most important has been to get my mind in the right place.

I was certain of success from the beginning. I guess because getting out of debt is really so simple.  There’s never been a point where I didn’t know what to do or I was confused by someone else or I could possibly convince myself that not getting out was the better option.  It took me a long time to get my mind in the right place, but then it was and I’ve had complete focus ever since, which stands in contrast to the rest of my full-of-distraction life.

Getting out of debt has been my biggest priority this year and it has demanded a lot of my attention and nearly all of my time.  I’m looking forward to my money being my own more than anything, but I’m also looking forward to having this burden off my back.  I think about money all the time and not having enough of it/expenses coming up/not making my debt goals are a constant source of stress for me, often even when I don’t realize it.  I’m making a lot of money and yet I always feel broke.  I’m tired of that.

So, watch me as I go is I guess what I’m saying.  I’m going to do everything I can to be out of debt by the end of the year.  I want to start 2011 differently.

Related posts:

1. The Job Front
2. As Time Passes
3. It’s Going to Happen This Year

Those of you who read my personal blog know I’m Vlogging Every Day in August (VEDA).  In a recent video, I talked about money and mostly about my debt.  Seems perfectly relevant to this blog, so here it is.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mbv2pXLAHjs

No related posts.

I said I wasn’t expecting anything and I would not have been shocked had it not worked out, but it did work out and in the best possible way. I mentioned a week or so ago that I had asked my boss whether working this Summer would be a possibility.  Technically, my full time job is only for 9 months out of the year (only while school is in session).  Last Summer I filled in for a coworker who was away, so I ended up working all Summer anyway. I had hoped I’d be able to do the same this Summer.

Yesterday was my first day back at work after a few days off. After lunch, my boss found me and said she had news. The news: not only can I continue to work full time through this Summer, but they are going to make my job a full 12 month position.

This is such a relief.  Even in future years when I will not be focused on getting out of debt, I won’t have to worry about supporting myself through the Summer or think about looking for other jobs to fill in that gap.  And, as evidence that I work for great people, they wanted to make sure I knew that any time I need to take an extended time off (for school, for travel, etc.), I’d have a job to come back to.  They act like I’m doing them the favor of working here, but I consider this a great job.

It took me a second to figure out exactly what this means.  It means I can reach my New Year’s goal of being out of debt by the end of this year.  Like, nine months from now.  As soon as I got home from work last night, I started crunching the numbers to be sure.  It’ll still be a push, but totally within the realm of possibility.

My motivation really was never lacking, but with such a clear date in mind and without uncertainty to cloud it, I feel more focused than ever.  There’s a lot of hard work ahead of me still, but I don’t have any doubt I can do it.

Related posts:

1. The Job Front
2. A Very Big New Year’s Resolution
3. Watch Me As I Go

I was pretty nervous to come out of the debt closet (as Kahea put it).  I suspected I wasn’t alone, but I worried that was just projection.  I also suspected that I wouldn’t regret admitting to my debt, but when I woke up Monday morning knowing that there was no going back into the closet, my stomach was in knots and I almost didn’t want to read the comments.

Of course my initial instincts were annoyingly accurate, which made all the fretting for not.  Even my best friend was beyond cool about it.  I am not the only one burdened with debt and I am certainly not the only one who understands what that feels like. Like most secrets, once it was out there, it didn’t seem like such a big deal.

One thing I did not expect was this general response of, “I’m in debt too.  It sucks.  Let’s do something about it.”  That was really moving to me.  I am already pretty crazy motivated right now, but the idea of doing this with other people took it to a new level.

I am still planning on blogging my personal story out of debt, but if anyone wants to use this as a place for accountability or venting or sharing ideas, I would love that.

This is already posted under the My Plan page, but I thought I would get into more specific detail about what I’m actually doing, since we’re probably all on different pages here.  A few people recommended Dave Ramsey to me.  I had actually already been listening to his podcast.  He’s the one who finally broke through my denial.  I have a few issues with Dave, but listening to him is super motivating.

So, here’s what I’m doing to get out of debt:

1. Working as much as possible. I’m saying yes to every work opportunity I have.  Knowing that I’m working toward a goal makes the long hours not so bad.
2. Cutting my expenses to the bare minimum. My bills are limited to rent, food, car insurance and gas, cell phone, and debt payments.
3. Restricting spending. This includes all non-necessary spending, like eating out and buying clothes and stuff.  As Dave Ramsey says, I’m working will gazelle intensity right now, so I am being super strict here, trying not to spend any extra money except for pretty rare occasions that I have budgeted for.  I might not always be so strict, but the motivation is high right now.
4. Budgeting every month. Right now I am planning out my finances all the time and not just at the first of the month. I want to keep my eye on my money and know where it’s going, budgeting for every dollar.  I’m the kind of person who thinks budgeting is fun, though.
5. Paying down debt using the Snow Ball method. This means that I have listed out all of my debts and am paying down the smallest first. This is another Dave Ramsey thing.  He advocates smallest to lowest (over, for instance, highest interest rate to lowest), because paying off your smaller debt quickly will motivate you to keep going.  It doesn’t win as far as numbers, but it works for getting people to follow through.  (It happens for me that the interest rates actually correspond so that the highest is on the card with my lowest balance).
6. Blogging to hold myself accountable. I don’t want to use this blog as just the place I confess when I’ve messed up and make goals to not mess up in the future.  There will be some of that, but I’m trying to work through some issues and also keep my motivation up.  Talking about it is a way to keep my head in the game and be reminded that I’m not alone.

I think getting out of debt is a lot like losing weight where everyone knows how to do it (make more than you spend), but it’s actually doing it over an extended period of time that’s a challenge.  There really aren’t any tricks, but you do what you need to do in order to keeping moving along, because the goal you’re working toward is worth it.

Related posts:

1. From Dave Ramsey