Suck it, Firstmark! I'M DEBT FREE!
3 - 2 - 1...
I'M DEBT FREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
Well, sort of.
Not a single penny of credit card debt.
No more $40k+ of student loan debt.
No house mortgage...yet.
No human dependents, ever.
I do still have a $300/month car lease that I can't hand over until October 2020, but other than that, I'M DEBT FREE!
A decade after graduating from an in-state university with a Bachelor of Arts in International Studies (that I never actually applied professionally in the real world), I can finally say that that damn degree is all mine - all $100k + interest of it. Fortunately, my graduate degrees were fully covered by scholarships, so just incredible work racking up those B.A. loans, 18-22 year old Courtney.
Those necessary late night Chipotle burritos really added up over the last ten years!
It took a lot of hard work, sacrifice, and far too many time consuming Facebook Marketplace parking lot meet-ups, but paying off the last $20k of my student loans over the past three months was absolutely worth it to me.
It's rather terrifying to know that I no longer have more than $1,500 to my name after putting my entire life savings toward my student loan balance. But, it's even more liberating that I can rapid-fire-throw that $1,800/month payment into a growing emergency fund.
Dave Ramsey often preaches about the inner peace and freedom that one feels when they are no longer burdened by being indebted to someone. If I were to lose my job tomorrow, I'd be disappointed, sure, but I wouldn't be immediately panicked by the thoughts, "How am I going to pay my bills next month and how fast can I get into another job?!" Now, don't get me wrong, I'm still a 9-5 salaryman in this modern-day capitalistic system that requires the majority of us to spend 1/3 of our lives making money for other people. But...progress.
For my entire adult life, I've been controlled by one creditor or another, my first one being an REI credit card at 18 and my last being Kia Finance at 35. I'm finally in the driver's seat of my personal finance journey. I'm no longer going to be dragged behind the car on a never ending trip for which I willingly continued to fill the bottomless tank. Well, that tank has dried up and you're going to have to ask another well-intentioned 18 year-old for gas from now on - shouldn't be hard to find.
When you don't own anything to anyone, you hold the reins over your money (I'm really into transportation metaphors right now).
When you don't owe anything to anyone, you have more choices - not only more choices about how to spend your money, but how to spend your time. Because when you're no longer working full-time, plus two part-time jobs just to cover your bills, you get to start placing your personal values on your newfound free time.
While I'll still keep a few of these side gigs during Baby Step 3 to snowball my savings, I'm looking forward to delving more deeply into some passion projects and hobbies that I've been putting off in order to...
sell thousands of dollars worth of crap on the internet
diligently fold and re-fold luxury athleisure apparel
hand out cups of electrolyte water at sporting events
walk dogs
cat sit
prepare 5:00am coffee and 5:00pm burritos; and
glamorously clean sweat, gum, and body hair off of spin bikes.
Now, I finally get to act my wage. I can begin building a solid foundation for my life, with money that's actually mine to keep! I get to start telling my paychecks where I want them to go, instead of wondering where they went every month (thanks, Dave).
It took me a bit longer than I'd like to admit to get a handle on my expenses once I started working full time. I'd never had this much money (but not really that much money because #highered/#nonprofitlife) deposited into my checking account before! So, I made minimum income-based repayments to my student loans for years because why would I willingly choose to live paycheck to paycheck? My 401k is still non-existent because I never felt like I made enough to be able to part with any of it. Since I wasn't putting extra money toward my loan or anything into a retirement account, I spent the last extra bit on stuff that I felt I deserved "because I work hard and should treat myself sometimes."
Looking back, I treated myself All. Of. The. Times. ...and I never worked too hard.
Post grad school, I spent 42% of my full-time income on rent so that I could live in a damn hotel (literally, a hotel) in the nicest part of the city, for two years. I've leased three brand new cars in the last seven years. 75% of my wardrobe is from Athleta, even if it was purchased with a hefty employee discount. I've never said no to an appetizer or drink at dinner. I have an iPod shuffle, iPad, iPhone, MacBook Pro, Apple TV, Sony DSLR camera, Kindle, FitBit Blaze, and a Garmin 735XT (because a person with one left wrist apparently needs two fitness tracking watches)...and I'm broke with less than $2,000 to my name.
'Merica.
This is why we all need to break out of the comparison trap, but because I have a tendency to wander, that's going to be another topic for another day.
I'm choosing to celebrate the good choices that I have made over the last decade, especially the ones that have added up and brought me to today's big occasion. I just submitted my very last student loan payment of $496.97 and I'm going to frugally party tonight at the Madison Capitols game with $1 Beer Night! Tomorrow, Baby Step 3: SAVE ALL OF THE MONEY officially commences!
Baby Step 1: Save $1,000 for starter emergency fund ✔️
Baby Step 2: Pay off all debts (except car until October 2020) ✔️
↪️Baby Step 3: Save 3-6 months of expenses in fully funded emergency fund
Next Goal: Save $1,600/month and have $10K in savings by June 2020
3 - 2 - 1 - I'M DEBT FREE(ISH)!!!