Debt.

I don’t want this blog to become some help guide to getting out of debt. However, a lot about my life right now revolves around – getting out of debt.

I’ve been in some financial troubles in my life, most of them happening about 7-8 years ago when I was in college. Has anyone else had this moment:

Del Taco: $4.61
Bank Account: $4.00
Overdraft Charge: $15
Worth it? YES.

I ate a lot of Del Taco in college, even when I was poor, because everyone needs to eat crinkle-cut fries with tacos full of questionable beef product at least once (or in my case, multiple times) in their life.

My undergrad loan was a little over $2,000 when I got out of college. Lucky me. Unfortunately I also ended up getting laid off and spiraling into a 4-year-ish ride on the unemployment/temporary employment train. A majority of my days went something like this:

Finally I decided to do something: Get myself into even more debt! Brilliant!

I went back to school taking online classes for homeland security and saddled myself with another $20,000 of debt. Unsettling fact: I then proceeded to work at TSA for almost two years and am now selling advertising at a newspaper. Fuck! – I mean, Life! amirite?

I’ve since paid off my consumer debt, my undergrad debt, and I am currently working on the grad school debt and car loan debt. Here’s what I look like financially:

Car Loan: $14K
Student Loan: $20K
Future debt: $300K (For a house, which I will be sharing with my husband, because that is love… or something.)

I like putting it all out for the world to see because I feel like it pushes me to continue paying it down. That’s one of the things I do, here are some others:

• I critique every. single. purchase. I make and weigh it against making payments on my debt.
• I coupon and comparison shop, and I enjoy it!
• I over-pay my debt by leaps and bounds every month if possible.
• I pay consistently on my debt every day, even if it means just making small payments.
• I often find myself researching ways to stay out of debt, get rid of debt, and reading success stories about getting out of debt. It keeps my head in the game.
• I have resolved to stay out of debt and not take it on unless it is absolutely necessary.
• I have discovered I can live a full, wonderful life without it.
• I have rallied against the cry of consumerism and said NO.
• When I do make purchases I make sure they mean something, are important, are thought out carefully over an extended period of time, and I make sure what I am purchasing is crafted well and will last a long time.

Someday I will be debt free.

Word Count: 480/500

What do you do to stay out of debt? Comment below!