I keep up with the blog pretty often, and occasionally read up on stuff in the forums. While I'm not the biggest fan of the cheesy/corny MMM writing style, I can't argue that it's some great advice.
Financially, I've had some ups and downs. Not quite as high or low as others, but enough for me to want off the roller coaster. Last year was the breaking point. My employer illegally terminated me. Between legal fees, medical bills, and cost of living, I was stretched beyond thin. I picked up the first job I could get, making half of what I had been making. My credit card was maxed out, I was living paycheck to paycheck, barely eating... My schedule was a balancing act, where I went to Uni at 8am, got off at 3pm, slept until 8pm, went to work at 9pm, and got off at 7am the next morning. Wash, rinse, repeat. To make matters worse, my car (which was financed, at a monthly rate I used to be able to afford) took a massive hit to depreciation -- so while I had been balancing around the break-even point, I ended up about $5k under on the loan.
I'm still working on spending habits, cutting some bills, and learning about investing -- so I'm not quite "out". But I just managed to pay off the last of my debt.
The first part of the equation was the school / work balance. While everyone values an education, I simply could no longer afford it. I applied for a financial withdrawal, got the paperwork signed, and was relieved of half my busy schedule. This left me with a little bit of debt from that semester's worth of tuition and fees, but only a few hundred dollars worth. I paid those off with the money I had saved. I cancelled internet, cut my phone plan down, and stocked up on basic groceries. Told myself no eating out, no junk food / soda / etc, until I had a new job. Then, spent every minute of free time applying for jobs and interviewing. Luckily, I'm a freaking word-smith when it comes to resumes, and I manage to talk myself way up at interviews. Within 8 weeks, I managed to secure a job that paid 2x more than the overnight job (so, back to my previous pay), and with better benefits. The commute was a little further, but not unmanageable.
Through all of this, I had a few other complications. My employer had terminated me after injuring my knee on the job. The worker's compensation paperwork had been started, so my personal health insurance denied my claim. This meant I had to get a lawyer, and fight to get the injury covered by worker's comp. Because of this injury, biking to the new job (either the overnight one, or the new one I got in the Spring) were out of the question. A car was a necessary expense. While I couldn't justify the car payment / insurance I was shelling out, getting the $5k to pay down the loan to a point where I could break even on the car was a difficult prospect.
That's where a finance buddy of mine helped me out. Through a creative understanding of automotive finance, I turned a $5k loss into a $5k profit. This route won't work for everyone -- it required a certain set of circumstances that all managed to fall into place -- but I ended up with no car (meaning no car payment and no insurance), and a lump of cash in pocket. This money immediately paid off the rest of my debts (credit card, money borrowed from family).
I'm currently in Hawaii for work -- getting paid a not-insignificant amount of money to be here. They're also putting a roof over my head, and food in my stomach while I'm here. Best part is: our office flooded during the tropical storm last week, so our two month long work trip just turned into a vacation until they get us into a new building. My lease was up just before I left for Hawaii, so I didn't bother to renew. So, currently, the only bill I have is health insurance and my phone bill. Because I don't have anything else to spend money on while I'm here, every penny I make is going into an investment account.
To add icing to the cake, I should be receiving a settlement check from my old employer (I pulled the trigger on 14 consecutive law suits at the state and federal level. They came back to me with their tail between their legs) within the next week. You can bet all that money is going to be similarly invested.
While my situation is fairly unique, and required a bunch of stuff to simultaneously fall into place, the relief is just as real. It literally feels like all the weight is off my shoulders. Logging into my online bank, seeing no debt, and a comma in my account summary, is a wonderful feeling I don't want to lose anytime soon.
When I get back to Arizona, I plan on finding every way to cut my regular expenses, and keeping a closer eye on my miscellaneous spending to see where else I can save.
