get out of debt

I just passed up another milestone, after several setbacks. IRS audit, cha ching. Brother out of work, cha-ching again. Mom needed money for doctor bills, cha-ching again. BUT, dh got a third job. I became this super-frugal freak for groceries with very careful menu planning and shopping and got our monthly bill down to, like, half of what it was. So, despite all the setbacks, we managed to get to another magic number. HALF of our monthly take home. We are really getting into this. Only problem, it isn’t in time to have anything but another super-frugal Xmas.

Something really magical happened the other day. I had no idea that it was going to feel so incredible, in fact, it was altogether unexpected. I paid off the bills from yet another ridiculously frugal Christmas (we gave each other shirts, I mean really!) and then I sent everything else off to the cards, and the new total is: less than our income in a month. That is just a magic number, because somehow our new total debt is a Small Number. I had no idea. Yippee! We still have our TV from a dumpster. It makes a loud sound now after it has been on for a few minutes, a sort of a hum. It is my cross to bear.

I need to examine my one remaining credit account. I thought I’d have it paid off by now but I’ve still got more to go.

Just one left to go!

So, basically, a digit has been dropped from the total amount of debt. This is very exciting, but it has been sooo long and it is soooo hard.
We cannot invite anyone to sit down when they stop by, because there is no place to sit. And, I am so sick and tired of nt having a place to sit. What furniture we have is froma dumpster, or whatever, and it is just so disheartening.
My car or his will die soon, if we are really unlucky, both. So, although the pace has been bruising and worth it, I just do not know how long we can keep it up. But, we are now to the point where our credit rating has really started to take off. And, I think the light is at the end of the tunnel- 2 more years? Maybe less? We’ll see.

Mr. Terrierhead and I purchased a queen mattress set – kind of a TempurPedic set, only by Sealy – less than a year ago. Today I paid that sucker off. Yay! No matter what craziness may come, our bed won’t be repo’d.

The check is in the mail, and within 15 days or so I’ll have the title to my very own brand-new-five-years-ago car. I don’t think I’ll ever buy a new car again. I paid the car off six months early, and it would have been dealt with sooner if not for Mr. Terrierhead getting laid off three times in the past five years and a passel of family emergencies.

Yay! Now it’s just credit cards and my student loan left to demolish.

Six weeks after receiving confirmation of my loan being fully paid off, I’ve received a letter and an email from the same company telling me how quickly they could give me up to £24,000 (~$50,000). They certainly didn’t waste any time in trying to dig me a whole new hole, did they? Whilst having such a sum of money on hand would definitely give me some comfort, I think I’ll pass.

As Des pointed out, I’m quite possibly the only person in history who has gone to Walt Disney World and actually gotten out of debt! :-D

I have a sneaking suspicion that the loan company will mess it up, as they did before, but hey! I’m very nearly debt free! Yay me!