Found Money

I found $60.65 in an old dormant account I completely forgot about.  This is great news!  My idea: Empty the account out and put it toward my debt.  Any extra money I earn/find I essentially refuse to spend on anything but killing debt.  The tricky situation here is that it takes quite a lot of work and time to get this done.  I had to fill out quite a lot of paper work (this account hasn't been touched since 2005) and a lot of time went into wakening the accounting from dormant status.

Anyway, point being, I found the $$, and it's going away.  At this point it won't speed up my debt defeating at all, I'll still be done by late December/early January, but at least I'll save some extra $$ from my income during the last payment month.

Today's Debt Defeating Accomplishment(s):

• Finding money and throwing it at the debt!

November's End

In about 3 days I get my monthly income from work, of which I have already allotted a good chunk toward debt.  This amount will put me down to the low $2000s range left, and leaves me with just about one more month before I've completely paid off all my debts.

Now that I see the debt crushing coming to an end, I wonder what it is I will do with the new found $$ that I'll have. There are so many interesting things I'd like to do and so many interesting things I'll feel free to do. 


Today's Debt Defeating Accomplishments:

• Searching for toiletries in bulk online.

Avoiding the Circumstance

I managed to avoid my money giving situation to the person close to me by sending a parcel to indicate that I care.  I think this gesture was a good one, allowed me to save money, and allowed the individual to learn that I won't be there for financial support.

In other news, I can taste the end of the debt attack coming soon.  My original plan was to be complete by February but I project to be done by early January.  I'm looking forward to sharing the end and the success when it comes.

THE END IS NEAR.

Today's Debt Defeating Accomplishments:

• Saying "No, I can't afford it."
• Giving up my log

Helping Out

Last night I made a potential mistake. I promised someone close to me that I would help them out financially.  Why is this a potential mistake?  Well, not only could it set me back on my road to being debt free, but I've helped this person out before.  Maybe I'm an idiot for helping out again, but this time I made it clear to the individual that they need to get their financial affairs in order and start taking responsibility for their own life.

To be honest, with respect to clearing my debt, this situation is not a big set-back whatsoever.  I'll still be debt free by early January.  However, it's the principle of the situation that I worry about the most.  I truly hope that this individual re-gains strength in his life, for from this day on, I will never assist the individual in any financial matter whatsoever.

Today's Debt Defeating Accomplishments:

• Promising a future without financial assistance to the aforementioned individual.

Disciplined Weekend

My budget allows me $160 for entertainment for the month. This includes going out with friends to bars, going to social events, and eating out.  Typically I spend about $20-$40 on Sunday afternoons as a way to relax with some buds at various areas around town.

Instead, yesterday I tailgated a football game with a bunch of friends.  This was my first time tailgating.  What fun!  And expenditures?  Let's take a look:

Mango juice - $4
Champagne - $8
Tortilla Shells - $6
Cups - $4
Parking - $10
Two beers at nearby bar - $12

I spent about $42 on Saturday by 3:30pm.  For some of you that may seem like pennies in your weekend spending, but for this guy who is trying to clear his debt AS SOON AS HUMANLY POSSIBLE, this is quite a general waste, and over 1/4 of the month's entertainment budget.  However, this is quite okay overall.  I have a budget set for Thanksgiving and I generally don't use my entertainment funds at all on weekdays, so I shouldn't be dipping into the fund at all until the last weekend of November.

Today's Debt Defeating Accomplishments:

• Deposited monthly part-time job earnings to go toward debt!
• Cooking for Mon-Wed.

Nearing the End

So I did some calculations, and it looks like I'm going to be done with my debt sometime in January.  I can't believe it.  It has been so fast, yet soooooooooooooooo long. 

Living on 30% of my gross income has been quite an interesting experience.  My quality of life has not changed much at all, and it let me know what is truly important to me.  It has been quite an amazing ride, and I'm very very excited about the end coming.

I made a dream budget for my first debt free month and noticed that there even if I add in the frivolous things I want to buy, I still have a lot of extra for savings.  I've built a habit of not spending, and with budgeting every month, I can continue that great habit.

SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO EXCITED!!!!!!!!!!!

Bonus!!

My boss gave me an opportunity to do some freelance work on the weekend that will give me an extra $600!!!  Guess where that's going?

STRAIGHT TO DEBT.

I'm really excited about this extra boost.  Combined with my income from my part-time work (which starts coming in at the end of November) and my regular income, I'm going to be putting a very sizable dent on my debt this coming month.

 WOOHOO!!!

Today's Debt Defeating Accomplishments:

• Cooking at home despite being lazy.
• Avoiding alcohol purchases though temptation arose.

Update

It has been a while!  I was in the process of losing my computer and gained a temporary one to use in the meantime.

Things have been going well overall.  I stayed within my budget (for the most part) in October, and I'm on to bigger and brighter things for November.  In fact, that's not exactly true, since I've made a more strict budget for November . However, some things are certainly still true.  I'm making headway toward my debt!  Just sent off another $2,000 check, and waiting for it to be cleared so I can determine how much debt is left, but it should be around $5,300 or so.

I can't wait.......the engines are burning and I'm really pushing through.  Only a couple of months left at the most, which is fantastic!

Today's Debt Defeating Accomplishments:

• Avoid Starbucks drinks!
• Planning my November budget.