Pants in a Can: 1 Year and Counting…
Well, I’m one year into this now…
Has it paid off?
I like to think so.
I was well into my journey when I started the site last year (on tax day — total coincidence), but I was still carrying over $20k in non-mortgage debt — much of it at a high rate.
In July, I then went out and used credit cards to finance over $20k in home renovations, which sounds crazy, but in the end, it worked out nicely.
Today, I’m only lugging around $6300, or so, and it’s at a low rate of 5.35%.
The site has definitely forced me to hold myself more accountable in regards to spending.
There’s just something “extra” about wanting the net worth numbers to go up each month and just that little tiny additional incentive makes a huge difference.
Let’s be honest… It isn’t much fun to broadcast down numbers, so it’s become a habit to avoid having to.
The site has also also forced me to keep better track of where my money is going.
I’d done that routinely in the past, a couple of times per week, but never like I do now. I’m a lot more detailed now — I can tell you to the penny how much I’ve sent to Citgo, Mobil, or Sunoco this past year.
Apparently Shell is my gas station of choice… Interesting. Or not.
Weekly tranfers into savings? No way I would have considered doing that a year ago. No way.
I’m starting to think that, by April 15 next year, it’s a given that I will easily be 100% non-mortgage debt free and I’ll have a nice savings cushion to fall back on.
That is unless I finance another huge home improvement project between now and then — which is a definite possibilty…
Stay tuned…
