I have spent all of 2013 paying on debt and setting the foundation to a much healthier financial life. I’ve done something I’ve never tried before-I became intentional with my money. Every single thing that you do has a financial (and time) component. As I slowly but surely paid off my debts I was able to grow my existing income to the point where it will help me pay off my debts a lot faster.
I would argue that if you make a decent wage-and you have fewer debts your ability to grow your savings, investments, and to leverage financial opportunities will grow. This is obvious to many people but may not be obvious to people who have dealt with high debt loads or financial obligations for a long time. It’s not obvious to these people (myself included) because they’ve never experienced the full power of a wage that isn’t already allocated to bills on payday.
I owed on credit cards, a storage unit, and student loans. I don’t include my mortgage because I wether or not I was paying my mortgage or renting I have to pay to live somewhere-until the mortgage is paid off. Through sustained effort I have freed up the following cash:
- Visa-$50 a month or $600 a year. Paid off $900
- Mastercard-$50 a month or $600 a year. Paid off $1400.
- Home Depot-$50 a month or $600 a year. Paid off $1500
- Storage Unit-$160 a month or $1900 a year (and had to find an additional $200 for the movers)
Money freed up for trips
- NYC trip-$1700
- London trip-$1900
- FinCon13-$1000
Switching my cellphone service. The first week of February I am buying out my Verizon Contract and switching to Republic Wireless. That switch will save me $500 for the year.
Total: A lot of freaking money!
I also wrote about additional money that I discovered in my budget in a post called “Money lost and found.” Some of my daily habits were keeping me from my financial end game. I am so over owing so much money to other people. This owed money has kept me in my golden handcuffs and I’m over it. I’m amazed at how much money I already have with the income that I currently make! I’ve reflected on this in other ways in other posts recently. I can’t get over this feeling. This year I will be tracking my daily expenses a lot more closely as I try to really eliminate the leaks and get this debt project taken care of so that I can move forward with my life.
This year is huge for me and I hope I can achieve the goals that I’ve set for myself. I’m nervous but hopeful. Let’s see how it goes.
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Excellent job. We’ve also freed up money just by being careful with what we spend on and asking ourselves if we really need this and that. Keep up the good work 😉
It is such a simple thing to do-but I think people don’t understand the power of watching expenses until they actually go through the process. It took a relatively short time for me to free up a good amount of cash. I still need to make more money, but the money I’ve freed up makes a huge difference in my bottom line.
I have to admit I’m not starting off the new year being as money conscious as I should. I’ve been so busy with work that it’s been a little too easy to spend money, but more on that in a post tomorrow. I do need to get back on track because even though I’m making more, it doesn’t mean that every month will be like this.
You’re kiling it Tonya! I think that you can give yourself a little slack..just a little. If this year is at least as successful as last year you’ll be ok.
So proud of you girl! You are doing a great job getting rid of the leaks. I am trying to be more conscious as well, and really think of every dollar spent as a political act. Who and what am I supporting? That helps me re-focus my goal and makes me “wants” less immediate.
Thanks chica, it has been a revelation to see how much money I could free up. I’m just about to change my phone service-it’s too expensive for the number of calls I actually get! I can’t wait to switch providers. It’s amazing how political my spending has been getting. That’s for another post!