Less than 6 months from being totally debt free - NOT EASY (and feels unreal)

[kirsten]

I'm 43 and if all continues to go as planned (fingers crossed), mortgage and car debt will be paid off within 6 months.  It almost feels unreal. 

Have made this a priority for so long and it's been SUCH a struggle - and got derailed (who doesn't) so many times, but was determined to keep the focus.  Friends and family never understand and really think something is wrong with me ("you have a good job, why aren't you buying nice things for yourself, why aren't you hiring someone else to do that"). 

I tried to tell them my goals in the past, but they think I have my priorities all wrong.  I will probably tell them once I get there, but for now, very thankful I can share this info on this forum.  And now that it's this close, I am slowly starting to let myself say "This really feels good!!!!"

Hard work and perseverance! 

[nktokyo]

Good on you!

[footenote]

Congratulations and an early "welcome to the club!" You are going to straight-up love-love-love it.

[Zamboni]

Yay!  Be sure to take off your shoes and take a barefoot walk around the lawn and/or carpet as you let the feeling of mortgage freedom soak in.

Those same friends and family might need your financial help down the road, so don't ever let them get you down! 

[TrulyStashin]

would you mind sharing some more of your story?   How long has it taken?  What kind of derailments hit you and how did you recover?

I'm at the start of my journey and could use a little inspiration.  I've made MAJOR changes in the 8 weeks since "finding" MMM but I'm not feeling the positive impact yet (June has tons of one-off high expenses such as personal property tax and summer school tuition for my kid).

Thanks and congratulations!

[BlackRat]

You could start saying that you owe some money so most of your income 'has to' go to pay that off, then people might be used to you having a 'reasonable' reason for not spending money on things - and you just don't mention when you pay them off... the being able to say you own everything that is yours  might be more satisfying though ;)
Congratulations.

[MissStache]

Wahoo!  That is awesome- big pat on the back! 

Taylor in DC

[Iceplant18]

I often get confused and bewildered looks from people when I describe my lifestyle to them. 

Me:  "I save/invest over 60% of my income every month in order to pay off my debt." 
Them:  "Ummm, how and why do you do that?
Me:  "I avoid spending money whenever I see an opportunity to because I don't like having debt."
Them:  "Everybody has debt.  It's just part of life."
Me:  *half smile*

My motivations are probably somewhat similar to yours.  At my current rate I'll have my mortgage paid off in 8 years.  The day I payoff my mortgage will be a glorious one.  Enjoy yours to the fullest when it arrives.  :-) 

[George_PA]

kirsten I know how you feel, we are debt free except for the house which will be paid off this Dec.  As you get closer to being debt free time seems to slow down.  The closer you get the more it slows down.  I am just counting down the days, and counting down the paychecks.  The wait is a killer.

I found that at least you can make some of the time pass by being a hang-around on this blog forum.

[Rural]

kirsten I know how you feel, we are debt free except for the house which will be paid off this Dec.  As you get closer to being debt free time seems to slow down.  The closer you get the more it slows down.  I am just counting down the days, and counting down the paychecks.  The wait is a killer.

I found that at least you can make some of the time pass by being a hang-around on this blog forum.

I know that phenomenon. We paid off the last of ours in a lump sum this summer because of it. We'd intended to do it on a schedule and pay off next summer, but the wait was killing us, and we couldn't make as much elsewhere as the interest we were paying, anyway.

After the wait to pay off comes the wait for the deed to arrive in the mail, by the way. We're still waiting on that one. :)

[olivia]

Damn, that's awesome.  I hope to be in your shoes soon!  Pre-congratulations! :P

[MakingSenseofCents]

Congrats! :)

[dizzean]

would you mind sharing some more of your story?   How long has it taken?  What kind of derailments hit you and how did you recover?

I'm at the start of my journey and could use a little inspiration.  I've made MAJOR changes in the 8 weeks since "finding" MMM but I'm not feeling the positive impact yet (June has tons of one-off high expenses such as personal property tax and summer school tuition for my kid).

Thanks and congratulations!

Truly,

I've been paying down my debt as aggressively as possible for nearly 1 year and I know what it means to need some inspiration.

Might I recommend the debt snowball method of debt pay-off?  Focus your debt repayment on your smallest values first while making the minimum payments on every thing else.  More often than not, the smallest value is a CC with the highest interest-rate anyways.  But what this allows for is some "quick wins" that make you really feel like you are making a visible tangible progress.

After 11 months I am free of credit card debt and my wife and I are down from 5 student loan payments to 2!  We are set to be completely debt free (and own our house) in 39 months assuming our incomes don't go up and I don't make any $ with my side-gig (which I will).

[Inevitable]

Congrats!  One quick warning though.  Don't tell the naysayers when you're out of debt.  They'll start thinking you have more money than they do and that you're just lucky/overpaid/etc... and then pretty soon they will expect you to pay for everything/loan them money.

Just tell the people that will really understand :)

I'll be free from all non-mortgage debt soon enough, but only a few people will know.

[cdub]

Awesome! I'm debt free except for the house and I hope to have that paid off in 5-7 years! :) People think I'm nuts when I tell them that.

[Michelle119]

Congratulations!

I have been aggressively paying off debt for the last year and I love hearing stories about this since they are inspiring and motivating.