One Less Debt to Worry About
Today I grabbed my paycheck and headed to the bank to make my last car payment. I marched up to the teller and proclaimed, "I'm here to pay off my auto loan!" And then it was kind of anticlimatic. There's not special paperwork to do, no one to talk to, you don't even get the title (it'll be mailed out and I should receive it in 2-3 weeks).
Huh.
Well, then.
My roommate and our friend Jess took me out for crab to celebrate. It was messy, it was tasty and it was very sweet of them. I kind of feel like a responsible adult. Kind of.
I bought the car in November 2006. So my five year loan went on a bit longer than I meant for it to. At one point I wasn't working and had to get a deferment for a few months and then refinanced it. Eventually I tinked away at the debt and got it done.
Now, the only debt that I have to worry about are my student loans, which should take about five years to pay off. (knock on wood) Barring any problems. Luckily the payments are less than my car payments.
I have two options:
1) I can take the amount I was paying for the car and put the whole amount at the student loan.
Or....
2) I can pay the regular payment and chuck the difference into savings.
I'm leaning towards #2. My emergency fund is still rather anemic. Okay, if I'm totally honest, it's damn near non-existent. I had car repairs that needed doing, then I blew my budget once or twice (for no good reason). It slowly inched back down, but I managed to staunch the bleeding. It's better than nothing, but barely.
Today I'm rather pleased to have one debt off my table, but am kind of unhappy to have another one to have to chew through. I just want to be done with debt. Completely done with it. Thankfully I have no credit card debt. In fact I don't even have a credit card at all. Me and credit cards are a dangerous combination. So, for the past several years I've only lived off of what I've made, which while not substantial, is enough to live off of if I'm frugal. I've been trying to be frugal, but it's trying. I want to be able to travel and play and get pedicures or ice cream or books when I want them. I want to have a nice sized nest egg established and be able to fritter money on the fun things that I like.
Or maybe I just need to find a sugar daddy...or momma? I'm not picky.
Huh.
Well, then.
My roommate and our friend Jess took me out for crab to celebrate. It was messy, it was tasty and it was very sweet of them. I kind of feel like a responsible adult. Kind of.
I bought the car in November 2006. So my five year loan went on a bit longer than I meant for it to. At one point I wasn't working and had to get a deferment for a few months and then refinanced it. Eventually I tinked away at the debt and got it done.
Now, the only debt that I have to worry about are my student loans, which should take about five years to pay off. (knock on wood) Barring any problems. Luckily the payments are less than my car payments.
I have two options:
1) I can take the amount I was paying for the car and put the whole amount at the student loan.
Or....
2) I can pay the regular payment and chuck the difference into savings.
I'm leaning towards #2. My emergency fund is still rather anemic. Okay, if I'm totally honest, it's damn near non-existent. I had car repairs that needed doing, then I blew my budget once or twice (for no good reason). It slowly inched back down, but I managed to staunch the bleeding. It's better than nothing, but barely.
Today I'm rather pleased to have one debt off my table, but am kind of unhappy to have another one to have to chew through. I just want to be done with debt. Completely done with it. Thankfully I have no credit card debt. In fact I don't even have a credit card at all. Me and credit cards are a dangerous combination. So, for the past several years I've only lived off of what I've made, which while not substantial, is enough to live off of if I'm frugal. I've been trying to be frugal, but it's trying. I want to be able to travel and play and get pedicures or ice cream or books when I want them. I want to have a nice sized nest egg established and be able to fritter money on the fun things that I like.
Or maybe I just need to find a sugar daddy...or momma? I'm not picky.