Debt Reduction 101

It was rather anti-climatic. After an afternoon of baking and getting ready for Halloween parties, I decided to sit down at my desk and pay off my final credit card bill. I suppressed the urge to gleefully shout at the customer service representative who assisted me with my final $388.71 payment – “don’t you understand? I am DONE! Praise and hallelujah, I am DONE with credit card debt!” So I’m content to holler with joy at all of you.

Does it sound dumb for me to tell you that I don’t know what this means yet? My life will continue on – much as it has for the past few years of my debt reduction journey. I’m just thrilled that all of the extra money I’ve been pouring towards my credit cards will be paid towards ME and my emergency fund.

This is where I’m going to go all Sally Field on you folks – (”You like me, you really like me!”) – or at least acknowledge some of the people who have been immeasurably valuable on this journey … first off is my husband and words can’t express how much he has taught me and how much he has helped me over the years that we’ve been together. I’m also thankful to his parents for creating such a wonderfully frugal fella and our sister-in-law Amanda who has always been there with a kind word and encouragement. I’m thankful to my parents for financially helping me out of tight spots here and there and for leading by example – my work ethic is something that I’ve inherited from them. And while I have been blessed to be surrounded by some of the best friends a person could ask for in this journey – I am especially grateful to my friends Deb and Paul. Again, words fail me, but I think if you look back to our many email conversations over the years that I’ve been friends with both of you, you’ll understand why you guys mean so much to me.

And if there were a camera, I’d be looking directly into it now and speaking to each and every one of you: My thanks for your continued reading of these truly random thoughts that I get to spew out in this very public forum. I appreciate the criticism, I appreciate the praise and I appreciate knowing that all of us are on this journey together. We may be at different points on the path, but the finish line is towards financial freedom.

I am thrilled to be starting another leg of a different journey. And I will continue to blog. My dentist reminded me today that I still need to get a crown for last year’s root canal. There are still many, many things that I need to save for.