Sillybrry

Haven’t written an entry in forever…but I’m making steady progress. In fact, I’ve paid off yet another account, and this one was huge, in terms of original balance AND in terms of the monthly payment. So that payment, which is enormous, will roll to the next card down. They’re falling now like dominoes – I will pay off one at the beginning of August, one at the beginning of September, and one in December. Which only leaves one last account, which will pay off in March unless my year-end bonus is good, in which case I may be able to pay off completely in December or the first of January.

There’s no real difference in my money situation at the moment – things are as tight as ever, and in fact are unpleasantly tight, with gas prices and food prices skyrocketing…but somehow, seeing the light at the end of the tunnel makes it more bearable. I do have to pay property taxes, which might require the bonus and so might interfere with early payoff – but worst case scenario, I’m paid off in March. I cannot even begin to describe how good it feels to know that I am this close.

As hard as it was, I am so glad I worked the second job. It’s made all the difference not only in time to pay off, but in my mind state. I know that I’ve worked really hard to do this and that feels great.

As of today, I am down 18 pounds from my “restart” weight. I am exceptionally happy with this; it’s coming off slow, but it’s steady and it IS coming off.

I am in size 8s now pretty much across the board – of course every brand and store are different, so there are some that I can’t fit into, but I am wearing size 8 jeans and that’s the real benchmark, to me. I can still wear my 10s comfortably; 12s mostly fall off or are just too loose and flobby (yes, that’s my word, I made it up, so ha!) for comfort.

I’m not there, by a long shot, but I’m getting there, and I can actually begin to believe that I might BE there some day. I have been doing the workouts from Jillian Michaels’ website and loving them; it’s circuit training and it’s perfect for me, absolutely perfect. Like they were created just for me. I think I’ve found my niche. It makes me wish I could rejoin Curves but alas, the hours are still crap and the closest franchise has closed down. So I’ll stick with Jillian, it’s working very well.

I’m not sure what my goal is any more, the scale is bizarre – last time I was in a size 8 I weighed 135, this time I’m at 162, for heaven’s sake – but I know that I still want to tone and sculpt and there’s some fat that needs burned. So I’m just sort of taking it one week at a time right now. Right now it’s more about behavior – am I eating right nearly all the time, am I working out at least five times a week – than anything else. I figure if I keep the behaviors where they need to be, the rest will sort itself out.

So anyway…only 17 pounds to go on this 35 pound goal, which is no longer “by Christmas” but oh well. :-) Maybe by Christmas 2008! Slow but steady wins the race, and it’s very important to me that it stay off…

Well, it’s been a while; I’ve been very busy and haven’t had time to write, but I paid off another one at the end of December. This one wasn’t on the debt management plan, it’s actually more of a revolving line of credit, but I was making only minimum payments on it. I paid it off completely when I got my bonus at the end of the year. So even though it doesn’t speed up my payoff of the debt management plan, it is a huge dent in my overall debt and I am very very happy about it. That leaves me with only two accounts that are not on the debt management plan, both of which are in excellent standing and which I will keep. One is through Sam’s Club – not getting rid of that unless I cancel my membership, as they’re linked – and the other is my one and only failsafe credit card that I have to keep so I will have one. I don’t use it, in fact I have the card locked away so I CAN’T, but I will need it for hotel reservations, etc.

Meanwhile I have gotten the promotion at my main job, and am leaving my second job as of this Friday. I am not certain how much extra I will be bringing home, and it may slow down the overall payoff, but I am okay with that. By working the second job for six months, I have shortened total payoff time by over a year already, so I have to feel good about that.

At this point, worst-case scenario (no extra payments at all), I will be paid off in March of next year. Three extra months, in exchange for my nights and weekends back and being able to actually be a part of my family again. Well worth it.

I’m feeling pretty good about this one despite the fact that I have NO money and won’t for at least another year. It’ll be well worth it in the end…I am LOVING those statements with the zero balances. :-)