It’s a mild day in Denver and I’m sitting on the patio of one my neighborhood coffee shops that I will call Doglandia. Sipping on my badly made latte I reflect on the year that is coming to a close. I’m amazed at the progress that I’ve made in 2013. When I began this blog I really wasn’t sure how writing every other day, reading other blogs and commenting on other blogs would help turn the course on my financial journey-that was leading no were fast.
I’m amazed that I kept up with blogging.
- I’ve saved money outside of my retirement!
- Traveled 3 times using cash and 3 times for work. I made sure to understand how per diems work and was able to request back moneys used on business trips.
- It’s incredible that I’ve paid off 3 credit cards that I’ve been half-heartedly working on for awhile. I would pay more than the minimum. But tended to run balances instead of paying off the card-or not “buying” things that I couldn’t afford.
- Home Depot-$1700
- Visa-$700
- Mastercard-$1400
Total paid off: $3800! At first glance this isn’t a lot of money until you look at the complete picture. A different way to examine at my financial picture it to look at all of the money I freed up this year!
- $3800-Debt Repayment (3 cards)
- $1,000-FinCon13-Hotel/Airfare (booked late because of work issues)/food/registration/ground transportation
- $1900-Trip to London. Was a bridesmaid. I went over the average bridesmaid by $300 which is pretty good considering that I went overseas
- $1700-Mommy/Daughter trip to NYC. This as the first trip I’ve gone on with my mom for quite awhile. We made memories that were priceless. My mom had an amazing time and I am very happy that we spent time together.
- Total: $8400 Those are good numbers
I also got rid of my Self-Storage from Hell freeing up almost $2,000 a month.
Monthly Payments Eliminated=Freed Up Money
- Home Depot-$50 a month x 12 months=$600
- Visa-$50 a month x 12 months=$600
- Mastercard-$50 x 12 months=$600
- Self-Storage-$160 x 12 months=$1920
Total: $3720
So, I’m still looking at the whole picture.
- $3720-Freed Up Cash (no more monthly payments a year’s worth)
- $3800-What I paid to clean up the cards. Had to come up with this money.
- $4600-Trips
- $12,120-That’s a nice amount of money to play with!!
It’s clear that 2013 was the dress rehearsal on my debt repayment.
- I practiced disciplined thinking with my money.
- Learned to appreciate what I have through different challenges-No Spending Challenge.
- I earned extra money
- I learned to create opportunities to make money. It’s amazing how many ways you can legally make money in the United States!
- I completed financial goals that I set for myself-it has been a long time since I’ve done that. Usually I would save money for trips. Amazing how I can prioritize that as evidenced by above Trip Line Item.
Financial goals for 2014! Here is the list.
- Save my entire emergency fund-$10,000
- Make a lot more money!! I need to make more money to accelerate my debt repayment,
- Pay off my last credit card a.k.a. Mr. Chubbs.
- Spend less $ without affecting my quality of life. I’m looking at my overall budget again and seeing what I can get rid of.
- Pay off large chunk of El Gordito or The Fat One. Which is the smaller of my 2 student loans
- Start matching and exceeding my current take home pay by July 24, 2014-my birthday!
- Begin preparing to pay off Tiny-the bigger student loan
- Yes I’ve named them. They’ve been around for so long they have a life of their own.
I will still:
- Take a couple of small trips. Specifically to see my Grandma.
- Save for the big trip that I’m planning to take in 2015 to Australia. I will be saving cash, working my mileage points, using my paid vacation time, and staying at friends’ places. It’s a LONG overdue trip.
Let’s see how this goes!
Latest posts by Michelle (see all)
- How Work Policies Against Black Women Birthed a Love of the Soft Life - 20 March, 2024
- How Taylor Swift’s IP Victory Could Change the Business of Music - 28 February, 2024
- Why Don’t More Personal Finance Content Creators Talk About Policy - 16 January, 2024
Looks like a great plan, Michelle! Mr. Chubbs, El Gordito, and Tiny? Love it 🙂
I love that you still plan on traveling while you continue to pay off your debt. I have some vacations in mind for 2014 as well. As long as you are working through the debt at a pace that you feel comfortable with, there is no reason to put your life on hold.
Mr. Chubbs, El Gordito, and Tiny-I named them because they have been around for so long they are like members of the family. You know those cousins who eat up all of your food and never leave. I won’t be traveling too much…but, I have a ton of vacation time soooooo….paid vacation=no brainer.
I think 2013 was more than just a dress rehearsal for your debt repayment journey Michelle! Great job on getting rid of that storage locker! 2014 is looking pretty bright for you. 🙂
Thanks chica!! The storage unit was a huge chunk of change on a monthly and yearly level. I’m beginning to feel a little more relaxed about things in general. I guess when you’re not dealing with tons of annoying people you begin to feel a lot more chilled out.
Good luck, I’m sure you have great things in store for 2014! You’ve done an amazing job of getting your financials in order and paying off debt this year, congrats! I’m also planning on tackling my student loans big time next year, while hopefully earning extra money. I’m hoping to pay off the smaller of the two.
Thanks for the kind words. I really want to knock out the 3 big bills as soon as possible. However, as soon as possible will be about 2 or 3 years 🙂 That’s ok! Will continue to focus and thin positively.
Umm.. FANTASTIC!!! 🙂 I always look at the whole picture, myself. It can be easy to beat yourself up after each week or month.. but the overall outlook should be rosy.
I might as well focus but be mellow at the same time. I know that it’s going to take several years to pay off school so am just going to stay focused and get it DONE!! I’m still planning on taking a few tiny trips so that should balance out the pain.
It looks like your debt is almost paid off, no? If so then it wouldn’t be the dress rehearsal! But you’ve done really good. Keep it up!
Sadly, Mr. Chubbs, Tiny, and El Gordito are really big 🙁 So, I will be paying off these debts for the next two or three years depending on how much extra income I can scare up! So, wonderful readers come along for the ride! Thanks for the support-I need it!
You’ve had an amazing year Michelle. Building the right foundation for debt clearing is so important. If you’re head’s not in the right place (and yours most definitely is), then it won’t happen.
Good luck in 2014 🙂
Thanks Laura! I wish I could have blasted through everything this year but I think I wouldn’t have been able to sustain that in the long run. I think by going through the process this way I won’t forget the life lessons that I’ve learned during the course of this journey!
*your
I love how you gave them names. 🙂 So would you ever be comfortable sharing how much you owe in total? Not that I need to know, it’s just hard to get the overall picture. Anyway, I thought about doing this trip to Croatia in July, but realized it would cost me around 3k to go, and although that’s MY dream trip, I have other financial goals that are more important. It’s always a give and take isn’t it. I might do the 2 week thing in Detroit again as I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it. Great thing about that is low cost and I can actually get some work done as well. Hope you have a great 2014. And we need another Skype session since ours was cut off on Sunday. This Sunday?
Tonya, did you forget that you’re going to ICELAND?? You can always go to Croatia in 2015-it’s expensive too! I am doing the opposite of everyone else. Basically, after it’s paid I’ll share the amount that I owed. I just am not totally excited about full disclosure of the amounts. Bleh. Mr. Chubbs, Tiny, and El Gordito work for me! I’m excited about 2014 as 2013 is going out with a whimper. Check your email re: SKYPE!
It looks like 2013 has been a great year for you, Michelle! Well done for all your accomplishments this year! I hope 2014 is even better and you get to complete all your goals! Good luck and happy holidays! 😛
It was a pretty good year! I do want to make a bigger dent in my debt repayments…and hopefully shift to working for myself by this time next year. I will have to really push myself so that I can make that happen. Thanks for the kind words and well wishes! Looking forward to reading about your adventures too.
I like the idea of thinking about this year as a dress rehearsal for paying of debt. Even if that is the case, you made a lot of positive financial moves that are a great foundation for your goals. I need to do an overview like this to see what I accomplished!
I can’t wait to see us attack our debt in 2014. 🙂
Thanks Khaleef!! I do wish that I had paid off a little more this year, but it was important for me to spend time with my mom and with my bff. Those trips were priceless and I am so happy that I did them. Since I traveled so much this year it makes it easier for me NOT to travel as much in 2014. That will free up a lot of money to: pay on debts, buy an inexpensive car, and fix some issues with my place. I am looking forward to reading your overview and you and SheriAnn are going to ROCK IT in 2014!!
Dress rehearsal? You did awesome in 2013! I love your nicknames – El Gordito is my favorite. 🙂 2014 will be amazing for you, can’t wait to see how your adventures unfold!
Thanks Anna for the kind words. I just want to get the amounts down. Am so over these debts. I’m resting up for 2014 I think it’s going to be great…if effort=results.