From the archives: Paying off Debts

As I often do, I bring over a blog entry from my myspace blog so I can keep them all together. I thought this would be a good one to bring over now because I just paid off my 2006 Honda Civic, less than two years after purchasing it (and I had a 6 year repayment plan). I got the Civic when the Altima got a damaged engine due to a defective catalitic converter damaging it. I was already in the process of getting a new car when I found out Nissan would cover it due to the emissions warranty (8 years, 78,000 miles - the car already had over 77,000 miles on it). I decided to go ahead and get the new car, and sold the Altima to my brother. I love my car, but I loved that Altima, especially the sound from the Bose speakers and the seat warmers. If I had kept it, I'd have a paid off car with a new engine and could be saving money over the last two years for its replacement. Oh well, do I love my Honda! I mean, it's blue! What else could you want? And the console looks so cool.







Oh, and I did pay off my student loan, and luckily, even with the downturn in the real estate market, my condo's worth more than I owe.

Friday, February 24, 2006

Paying off debts Current mood: happy Category: Goals, Plans, Hopes
I just sent in my last payment for my car. I bought my Altima in 2003 and financed for five years. About a year and a half ago I realized that if I just put in an extra $170 each month, I could pay it off in three years. So I did. It feels good to have that paid for and taken care of.In addition, I just got my tax returns back from federal and state and decided that I would devote a lot of it to pay off credit card bills. Now, I don't normally charge a lot on my credit card bills, but a combination of a fantastic Disneyland trip last September and my dog dying in October (and all the expenses that came with that), and a spending spree I went in I believe to get over my grieving process, I found I have a couple thousand on my cards. I've been paying them off since then, but with my tax return I was able to pay them off completely.And I used a little bit to help pay off most of the remainder of my student loan debt. I should have it completely paid off in two to three months, thus making my 15 year payment plan debt paid off in 7 years! Why post this on a blog? I just feel so great to be basically debt free. I only owe the remainder of my student loan and my mortgage (and of course my mortgage won't be paid off anytime soon - but since my condo's increased in value, it almost doesn't matter - I still have positive equity).Be careful of debt. It's really so freeing to know I'm not in debt. Now of course the big thing is to make sure I increase my savings. I hope that I take good enough care of my car that it lasts me several more years and that I can then save up enough to buy its eventual replacement outright, without financing. Our country is going to be in big trouble soon. Most people are heavily in debt and have absolutely no savings. My own savings aren't anything to be excited about right now, but I plan on working on it. I plan on staying free.
Currently reading : Like a Fire Burning (Work and the Glory, Vol 2)By Gerald N. LundRelease date: By January, 2001
3:55 AM
Dragon_Fire
Wow that is impressive!!!! I'm hoping to be able to say that by the end of this year, now wouldn't that be nice...
You are an inspiration to us all...
Posted by Dragon_Fire on Feb 24, 2006 11:05 AM