Guess What?!?!!?!? I'm Debt Free!!!!!

This week, I paid of the remaining $1600 and change to my last credit card. It is done. Finished. Finito. The End. I am completely out of debt. I am so excited about this! After years of struggling and not being sure I could get it done -- and missing my original payoff goal of April 2012, it is finally done. I paid my standard $500 per month, then used most of my regular savings account balance to wipe the rest out.

It kind of feels weird... as in what do I do now? One of my friends told me that I should do something big and fun to celebrate! That sounds great, but blowing a ton of money just seems wrong. I thought about it long and hard, and I think my celebration will be to get my and the Princess's hair professionally cut and colored and our eyebrows done. This may seem silly, buts its been years and years since I had my hair totally professionally done. My haircuts have consisted of quick trips into Super Cuts and my grays have been covered by at home kits. Given that I have a 25 year class reunion coming up.... well, vanity thy name is Sass! It also rewards the Princess --- as she has been on board with the getting out of debt thing. I think it is probably a LOT easier to get out of debt when all household members are on board.

And don't worry, while a "pro" will be doing my hair, I won't be paying Salon prices for it. A friend of mine does hair, and she's REALLY good at what she does, and she's offered to come to the house at a discounted rate to do it. Hooray for frugal indulgences!!!!

So, the next step is where to go from here. While it would be GREAT to be able to adjust my standard of living a bit, its just not possible. My car is 13 years old --- and while it is doing great right now, I know its just a matter of time before it is not so great. Then there is the Princess's college -- that is going to take some serious bites out of my bank balances. And then maybe one day, a home I actually own. All of these things combined mean that $500/month I was paying towards credit card debt needs to get banked. So no lifestyle inflation for me. Darn it.

Putting that $500/month into savings will help me restore my savings levels in just about 2 months. So, here I go.... debt free, but not out of the woods yet! Wish me luck!