Finally. It has FINALLY happened. That moment when one of your debts finally dips below the $1,000 mark. My personal loan has dipped to $987.27 with my payment of $177 made on Friday. I now have 29 days from the date of this post to get it paid off, completely. I CAN DO THIS!
Sure, I won’t have anything to show for the last payment, in that it just pays off the balance on a car I no longer have, but it’s ok. I mean, I’m not thrilled about it, but it does mean that the only debt I will have left is my student loan debt, which has been an albatross around my neck for years now. Also, what it WILL mean is this: in the last two years, I will have beaten down my total debt balance by about $28,000 if you count the beginning loan balance on my car that I bought in July 2012 (approximately $20,000 and some change). Then, it’s full steam ahead with my savings dream for my little house or RV on the west coast, and beating my private student loan into submission until it’s down and just can’t ever get up again. All before interest rates rise again!
This is what the new figures look like as of December 1st:
- Simmons loan: $23,620.04 (paying interest only right now)
- Big Daddy loan: $75,390.94 (paying interest only right now)
- LAL loan: $20,564.98
- Personal loan: $987.27
GRAND TOTAL: $120,563.23
Do you have any idea what this means?? Well, For me, I’m now worth more alive than dead!! Between my retirement savings and debt, I now have a positive net worth! It’s not much but it’s not a negative!! (Hey, I try to have a sense of humor about my debt. You have to, or you will be constantly overwhelmed.)
Having sold my TV, I watch a fair amount of YouTube videos. A line I heard last night really stuck with me. It was “you will miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” The speaker was Bryan Binkholder and he was talking about goals. While you might google him and think he’s kind of cheesey, some of what he says is pretty accurate, IMO. I used to miss 100% of the shots because I was too afraid to try and fail.
It may not be exactly what he was touching on, but for the longest time I felt this debt was hopeless to overcome, so I didn’t even try to think of drastic steps I could take to reduce it. I felt like to be a success in life, I needed all the same things I thought everyone else wanted.
Last week, I happened to take the chance of asking if they were hiring front desk help at my gym, and that evening, I found myself talking to the manager. By studying and taking small steps to be involved in the health and fitness industry, I’m taking my “shot” and I have to say, it feels good.
Takeaway from this post – have you ever thought something felt impossible to achieve but found yourself actually doing it? It’s an awesome feeling, isn’t it? Please drop me a line below if you’ve ever felt something was impossible to achieve, or if you’ve achieved what you thought was impossible!
Chasing Simple Dreams 
Love your progress!
Thank you! Once I set my mind to it, it really started happening.
You’re going in the right direction and taking the actions needed to make your goals a reality. Life is about taking some chances for sure. Playing it safe all the time gets us nowhere. I’ve had some missteps along the way and hoped like crazy an opportunity would work out that in the end really wasn’t right for me. For six months ending 2 years ago I had a feeling of hopelessness, thinking no one would ever hire me and the only jobs I’d ever be able to get were for work a high school graduate with no specialized training would be able to do.
28k in 2 years is great, wish I was able to do that. I’m around 10k down on the principal, closer to 14k including interest in 20 months on mine. Keep up the good work, you’re making great progress.
Thank you so much for commenting. I’ve been reading your blog for a long time, since I read the book by Joe Mihalic, No More Harvard Debt. I believe he linked to your blog on his site. You are doing great on your goals, too. I like how open and honest you are in your posts. I strive to do the same. 🙂