by Tricia
This post is included as part of the Problogger Group Writing Project.
If someone asked me last year how much debt we could pay off in 2006, I would have politely laughed and said, “Yeah, right.” That was my attitude back then. I didn’t think we had it in us to increase our income and buckle down on our spending. But, we did have it in us…it just took us a while to find it.
Thinking back, probably the hardest part was making the decision that we had enough of being in debt and it was time to do something about it. It’s not all that different from someone who decides to lose weight or someone that wants to quit an addiction. There comes that point where you just decide that things are going to change.
Once that hurdle is overcome, then it’s a matter of planning and putting that plan into action. For us, it was a matter of trying to make extra money where we could and then sending as much money as possible towards our debt. Seems easy enough when you think of it that way. But you need motivation to keep going.
Lack of motivation is one of the biggest saboteurs of a good plan. Even the best plan can fail if the motivation behind it is lacking. Where did we get motivation from? Everywhere we could find it! Movies, other bloggers, quotes and my own feelings…you get the idea.
There are days where I am clearly not motivated to reduce debt and I even get the urge to go on a shopping spree. I am human, and a nice LCD TV still makes my head turn. But I am learning to live with those urges and making sure that I do not act upon them. The amount of information that I have learned since starting my journey is amazing. I’ve learned things about myself and about personal finance.
Now, if you ask me how much of our debt we could pay off in 2007, I will look you straight in the eye and tell you we will pay at least $12,000 more. No laughing this time, just a realistic answer from someone who is motivated to make it happen 😉