Last night, my wife reminded me that it was exactly one year ago that we got into our car accident.

It was hard to imagine with it being in the windy and cold 40’s yesterday while a year ago we were cruising with the top down in the sunshine — it just doesn’t seem like it was the same time of year.

But honestly, it’s one of those points of reference that I’m able to immediately go back to. When I think about all of the things we’ve accomplished since then, it makes me feel pretty good.

No, I’m not going to go all wishy-washy here and talk about how a near death experience changed my life for the better. Hardly.

It wasn’t a near death experience in my head — my thoughts as we were sliding sideways (and backwards) towards the guardrail were:

• Please don’t let another car hit us.
• Why aren’t we slowing down - my foot *is* on the brake!
• There’s plenty of shoulder for us to stop before the guardrail.
• Oh crap — this is going to hurt!

When the car finally hit the guardrail, and stopped, it turned out that we didn’t hit any other cars and there really wasn’t enough of a shoulder. Oh yeah, we weren’t hurt either.

Since then, going back to my reference point, the thing that I notice that has changed the most, physically, is the exterior of our house. It’s all new — and somehow we managed to pay for it too.

On the inside, we tore out a ton of plaster, fixed a plumbing problem, and threw out tons and tons of junk that we had sitting in a storage unit (to the tune of $140/month).

Financially things have been nothing but positive, with the credit card debt eliminated and my 401k finally maxxed out.

Over this last year, things even got comfy enough that I threw in the towel and stopped working so much (outside of the office).

Quitting the hockey team was the first big step — dumping a long time difficult and frustrating client was the next. Can’t tell you how nice it was on Sunday to return from a weekend away and not have a single business related email in my inbox. Not one.

That’s been a huge change for me — and in just one year.

A guilty pleasure of mine is the television program Survivor.

This season I think I may have missed one episode — and it only snuck by me because of some wacky scheduling on CBS because of March Madness College Basketball.

Last night was the finale where they crowned the winner — Parvati outlasted Amanda to take the $1 million prize.

For those that aren’t familiar with the show, when the game gets down to the final two contestants, their peers (and former rival contestants) are permitted to directly ask them a question (or in some cases, just vent).

Based on the contestant’s answers, these eliminated players get to determine who wins the game. Usually it’s just a fluff/spite fest full of uncomfortable moments. If anything, the final episode of each season is usually the worst (not to mention the least climactic). It’s just not great television.

But on last night’s episode, one of the contestants, Eliza, really ripped into both of them by saying things that I think a lot of people feel, but rarely express.

For the record, Eliza was never a popular player (this was her second run on the show). She’s one of those people whose face can be read in an instant — she doesn’t seem to have the ability to be subtle, it’s all out there all the time. Not exactly a great character trait.

So when she gets her chance to speak to the remaining two players, she vocalizes her feelings. She calls Parvati a “mean person”. A person who very openly insulted her, put her down, talked behind her back, and was, in essence, downright rude for really no reason.

Essentially, this was the unpopular girl telling the popular girl, “You know what? You might think you’re so awesome, but you’re a real jerk. You hurt me, and I want you to know it.”

I know people like that. There was a guy in middle school, Rick, who would just walk right up to me and say out loud, “Why don’t you have any friends?” It was bizarre. I didn’t have a real answer, other than a befuddled, “What?” But he kept doing it. Day after day.

I was embarrassed.

Why was I his target? I mean, how do you answer that? I had friends. Did I have to justify it to him? Why should I have to justify anything to this prick?

At the time, I just couldn’t figure it out… He sat at a lunch table of sports losers. You know, the guys that could recite the 1927 NY Yankees batting order or tell you how much Charles Barkley weighed on any given day. Real important stuff.

At the same time, these were also the guys who always wore sweatpants in gym class and never actually participated in any of the “sports” we were forced to play. To them, talking about sports was what mattered, not actually participating in them.

They threw like girls. The kicked with their toes. They couldn’t sink a foul shot.

In the grand hierarchy of social order in our school, I was easily 200 seats ahead of this guy. What was his problem?

Plain and simple, he was a prime example of a mean person. He carried it into high school even — at which point we were segregated and herded like cattle based on our academic, athletic, and artistic talents so thankfully we never really crossed paths again.

Back to Survivor — for the second remaining contestant, Amanda, Eliza calls her really disingenuous. You know, the type that smiles at you, moves in for a hug, and says something like “Oh, it’s so great to see you!” with a slightly ‘off’ tone of voice.

There’s being polite, and then there’s going over the top, and that’s called insincere. Amanda was the type that would turn on the tears to get a reaction. She’d bat her eyelashes and frown. On a genuine person, both would be very meaningful expressions, but on her, it was so openly fabricated. And Eliza called her on it.

Relating, again, to my own experiences, I can’t stand when kids say “thank you” like robots. You know what, if you don’t mean it, don’t bother saying it. I’ll be a lot less offended — and I don’t think I’m alone.

Even better, most cashiers these days… I know that they have a “script” to stick to, but please, don’t bother saying “Have a nice day” if you’re going to say it like you really couldn’t give a crap how the remainder of my day goes. Just don’t bother.

Perhaps it’s just me, but I find it more polite to say nothing rather than saying something I don’t actually feel. A slight smile will do. No, not a smirk. A smile. Thanks. Oh yeah, no eye rolling either…

In the end, it was Eliza’s vote that determined the winner of this season. I’m sure the show was edited heavily to make it look like Eliza debated longer and harder than she actually did on whom to award with the million dollar prize — the mean girl or the phony girl — but in the end, she chose Parvati (the mean one) to be the winner.

In the same situation, I think I would have done the same. Rick, from my middle school days, certainly wasn’t fake. He was just a mean-spirited loser. Sad that someone like that could be rewarded for it. Society… ugh.

That’s the part that sucks about many of these reality elimination shows… When you get right down to the end, you’re left with two people who don’t really deserve it. Erik and Cirie should have been the final two, at least I like to think so, but between them, there wasn’t enough meanness or fakeness to get it done… Hey, even Eliza would have been more deserving…

Tonight I stopped by the bank on the way home from work — you know, the drive up ATM…

Well the car in front of me was one of those beat-up used sub-compacts like in the catchy FREE CREDIT REPORT .COM commercials.

Seriously, it was even the same color.

I didn’t pay them too much attention until they peeled out after completeing their transaction… Real winners, let me tell you.

I mean, the squealing tires immediately solidified their “coolness” in my eyes.

So I pull up to the ATM and their receipt is still in the machine. Now usually when this sort of thing happens at a gas pump or something, I just grab it, crumple it, and tuck it into my pocket.

But due to their obnoxious behaviour, I took at look at the receipt.

Wow.

Can you imagine? I had to look at it twice to make sure I was reading it correctly. Yep, 95 cents.

I mean, I’ve run my checking account down pretty low, but never this low.

I also thought it was kinda funny how the little advertisement up top is for “Debt Consolidation”. My receipt advertisements are never for stuff like that — usually it’s BoA’s “Keep the Change” program.

I wonder what the balance threshold is to get the “Debt Consolidation” header… Under $1 perhaps?

Anyway, little things like this make me feel even better about my current financial standing.

Earlier this week I came upon a couple of acquaintances discussing some sort of financial matter. I didn’t get all of the details, but it was apparent that one was giving the other some advice.

It was sad to me in that it was the one who is openly terrible with money doling out the advice as if they had all the answers — and the receiver appeared to be accepting it as sound guidance.

I didn’t say anything. Though I wanted to, it really wasn’t my place.

But it did get me thinking…

Was this person seeking financial advice blind to the obvious fact that the “expert” advising them didn’t have their own financial house in order?

Sure, their exterior might look well-off, but it’s a paper thin veil. We’re talking onion paper. Yeah — it’s that sheer.

Perception is a strange thing.

Do they really want to follow such a lead? I know I wouldn’t.

Perhaps I was just over-analyzing the conversation…

Connecticut might not be gaining people very fast, but it’s at the top of the pack when it comes to gaining income. In 2007, Connecticut not only remained the nation’s richest state — it widened its lead, a report today showed.

Total income per person rose from $50,762 in 2006 to $54,117 last year — the highest in the nation and more than 40 percent higher than the national average of $38,611, according to the report, from the U.S. Department of Commerce.

The 6.6 percent gain in Connecticut’s per capita income from 2006 to 2007 was well above the 5.2 percent national average.

Connecticut’s high proportion of white-collar workers has been a major factor in keeping the state’s per capita income the highest in the nation; 39 percent of workers over 16 saying they are employed in management or professional jobs, according to the Census Bureau’s 2006 American Community Survey. Another 15 percent said they held office jobs.

I knew I lived here for a reason…

But seriously, while it might sound like it’s the greatest place in the world to live, it’s also very expensive… Not Southern California expensive, but not real far off either…

I couldn’t find the raw data anywhere, but I find it shocking that the total income per person was around $54k!?

Do they really mean per person?

I’m pretty sure the “average” family of 4 in Connecticut isn’t pulling in over $200k… Atleast I hope not… or I’ve got to start thinking about getting a second job!

My guess is that it should say that it was the average among wage earners.

Still seems a wee bit high to me.

Yesterday Trent from the Simple Dollar quoted a list a of 20 questions from the book Money Drunk, Money Sober that he’s about to review.

While I’m not really interested in this particular book, or any of the other thought-process based finance books since that line of thinking rarely applies to me, I’m always up for a game of 20 questions, so here goes:

1. What five things do you most truly love doing? Think of things that you both enjoy in the moment and also enjoy looking back on later. Do any of these cost money?

Sadly, I’m not sure I can think of five. The first thing that comes to mind that I enjoy most is driving around aimlessly with my wife when we have nothing on the agenda. No place to be, no place to go, just finding new things to drive by and maybe even stop. It’s basically just wasting time, but very fulfilling at the same time.

I like mowing the lawn too when, again, there’s nothing else on the agenda. I also like watching hockey… Pro or youth, it doesn’t matter. I just enjoy it for some reason.

And relating to that, I also enjoy my hobby of collecting game worn hockey jerseys. In the end, that’s the only one that actually costs money.

2. What five things that you do regularly do you truly hate doing? You hate thinking about them and doing them in every way. Are these in any way worth the reward you get for doing them?

Again, five is too many for me to come up with.

I hate talking on the phone so I don’t do it very often.

I’m not real fond of all of the questions my wife peppers me wife before going grocery shopping. In that case, the reward is food, so I suppose it’s worth it, but it’s one of those weekly things that I kinda dread.

But the real thing I hate is, well, my side business. I’ve painted myself into a bit of a corner doing work on topics I have no real interest in and I’ve also grandfathered my pricing to a point where I’m not earning enough to really make it worth it. It’s not hard work, by any means, but it’s never at a convenient time and it’s, well, often just plain annoying.

3. What things are preventing you from doing more of the things you love and less of the things you hate? How can you remove those obstacles?

The side business is what gets in the way. Absolutely 100%. I mentioned the “lack of agenda” a few times above in my list of “loves”. Well, it’s rare that I don’t have an agenda. I *always* seem to have something waiting in my inbox that needs to be done. There is always something sitting there in the back of my mind where I know I need to get in front of a computer and get it done.

I’ve already started removing this obstacle. When I dropped my highest paying customer in the Fall, that was a huge step in the right direction. Unfortunately, I’ve been keeping them “on” in a smaller capacity since then. More unfortunately, they’re months late on payment again which was one of the main reasons I dropped them the first time. Sigh…

4. When was the last time you felt guilty about an expenditure? Why did you feel guilty about it?

Last month. I spent far too much on my hockey jersey collection last month. I felt guilty about it because had I not done it, I’d have been already out of credit card debt weeks ago.

5. What would you do if you went to work tomorrow and your boss handed you a pink slip? Get as specific as you possibly can. What could you do right now to make that less of a shock?

I’ve thought about this a lot lately with all of the crap reported in the news.

If it happened, I think I’d be content. I mean, there would be obvious hardships on the horizon, but my wife’s income is enough for us to pay the mortgage and I’ve cut down my debts to a point where I think we could scrape by — especially because I think I’d be paid for my saved up vacation time as well.

Not something I’m hoping for, but in the event it happened… I don’t think the world would end. It would just put a lot of my plans on hold. Indefinitely.

6. What five people (besides yourself) do you care for most in the world? Do they know this? What could you do to show them that you feel this way? Does your reaction involve money? Does it need to involve money?

Wow. Five?! Again? Well, I’d start with my wife. Then my parents… After that, I can’t really suitably rank people. No one really jumps to the front. But one thing is for certain, money isn’t involved in the equation at all — for any of them.

7. Have you ever been in a situation where you felt powerless about your spending, almost as if something else was in control of it? Why did you feel that way? What do you feel was driving that spending?

Nope. I’ve always been pretty aware that I’m the one in the driver’s seat. My debts are 100% my fault.

8. Can you think of five ways you attempted to control your spending? Did they work or not? If they didn’t, can you remember the exact moment when you realized you were losing that battle?

I’m really starting to hate this “five ways” trend. Can I add that to the list of things I hate?

I kinda blogged about this topic already, but the main thing for me that controlled my spending was to keep it on my mind every time I went to spend. Having just sent $600 to Visa and then spending $750 on a new monitor wasn’t going to get me anywhere.

Once paying down debt almost became like a contest or a game, it got addictive. It originally started back in 2003. It really got going at the tail end of 2006.

9. Do you remember a time in your life where you weren’t concerned about money? What specifically changed between then and now? Is the difference between the two mostly “stuff”?

I think buying a house is when things changed. I’m not really sure I remember a time when I wasn’t concerned about money. I mean, I always knew how much I had and tried to spent it wisely. Sometimes I thought wrong, but for the most part I did okay.

The one thing that has changed in recent years is that it’s not just about paying the bills anymore, it’s more of a “let’s see how much I can accumulate” type of mentality.

10. Can you name all of the individuals and organizations that you owe money to, and roughly how much you owe and what the interest is? Which one is dragging on you the most? Why does it drag on you?

Yes. As of this morning, I owe Chase Bank one thousand dollars. I owe Toyota just shy of $7000. And I owe Countrywide around $116k. Interest rates are 5.14%, 5.35% and 6.735% respectively. I didn’t even have to look those up.

The Chase Bank one is the one that dragging me down the most, simply because it’s a credit card balance. Yeah, it’s the lowest interest rate and it’s also the lowest balance, but it’s just one of those things I want to be able to say. “I have no credit card debt.” I’m almost there.

11. Where do you want to be in one year? Describe your life in as much detail as you can. Can you name five actions you can take in the next week to lead you to that goal?

In one year, I hope to have remodeled or have enough cash banked up to remodel the interior of my house enough so that it’s something I’m proud of and not something that looks it’s age. I also hope to have abandoned the side business enough so that I don’t always have something on the agenda. I want to be able to come home from work, greet my wife, and say, “Now what?”

I won’t take any actions in the next week to lead me to this goal. I’ve been putting things in place for months already to get me there.

12. Where do you want to be in five years? Describe your life in as much detail as you can. Can you name five actions you can take in the next week to lead you to that goal?

A lot can happen in 5 years… But in 5 years, I hope to stay on my new course. I think I should be able to “save” well over $1500/month. A huge interior remodel will hinder that, as could the pink slip scenario, but I’m certain that my life will be a lot better 5 years from now. Hey, the last five have been nothing but an improvement!

13. Do you actually ever want to retire in the traditional sense? If not, what do you want to be doing with your life at the typical retirement age?

No. I don’t golf. But really, I think that when I retire I’ll like to spend my time doing my own things and things that interest me. Thankfully, most of my interests won’t tap into my retirement savings.

14. How much do you actually earn for each hour you work? Don’t just divide your salary by the number of days you work and the number of hours you work each day. Subtract out the cost of commuting, clothes, social events for work, eating out, taxes, and other such expenses, and add in the hours you spend commuting, attending conferences and meetings, working late, and so on. That dollar amount is the exact value you put on an hour of your time - your true hourly wage.

I don’t do this because it just makes me angry. When you put in a minimum of 50 hours per week at your day job, and often times approach 70, then tack on another 30 or so for the side business after hours, it’s just not something you want to calculate. And I’m not even working in all of those other related expenses.

I make enough to get me where I want to go and that’s good enough for me.

15. Once you know that exact value, what else could you be doing to put that much in your pocket, particularly work that leaves you feeling more fulfilled and happy?

I don’t know the exact value, but I’m not sure there’s something else I could be doing to earn this wage. Or at least something I’d be comfortable switching to. I am trying to limit the work I do after hours. Raising my rate was an option, but in the long run, I’d rather not have to work at home at all.

16. What would happen to those around you if you walked out of your house and were hit by a Mack truck and killed? What would happen to those around you if you walked out of your house and were hit by a Mack truck and put into a long-term coma? What could you do differently to cover those bases?

We’d be screwed. I think the coma scenario would be worse actually. We’ve talked about life insurance a little bit, but I think at this point we’re just putting it off until we have children.

17. Think of ten childhood memories about money. Do these memories point to a healthy relationship with money (saving and planning for the future) or an unhealthy relationship (spend, spend, spend!)?

Ten?! Are you kidding me?

Two come to mind…

One was when I was in 5th grade. My grandmother had just had a heart attack and we went up to Toronto to visit her in the hospital. At the time, for whatever reason, I really wanted an Opus (from the comic strip Bloom County) doll.

My grandmother caught wind of this and, from her hospital bed, gave me a $1 dollar bill and told me to get that “penguin doll”.

Well, one buck wasn’t going to cut it…especially in an over-priced hospital gift shop. I’m not sure if she did that on purpose or if she was just out-of-sorts (she died a couple of weeks later), but I never did get that doll.  And I never spent that dollar either. I still have it.

Not sure if that makes the memory a “saving for the future” lesson or a sad “holding on to the past” lesson.

The other childhood memory was when my Uncle came to visit us and because I had bunk beds, he ended up sleeping in my room. As he was preparing to leave to head home, he gave me a $100 bill and told me to keep it hush-hush and to sped it wisely. At that moment, I had 5 times more money to my name than I’d ever had. It was exciting.

Sadly, I think I blew that $100 on Double Dragon for Nintendo and some tropical fish. But the good news is that it took me a few weeks to decide what “best” to spend it on.

18. When was the last time you bought something primarily to impress someone else? Did it work? Did you ever buy anything to impress someone and had it completely fail to work?

While it’s not that last thing I bought simply to impress someone else, the thing that comes to mind is my BMW Z3. It did work. And it didn’t work too. I regretted it for a long time but the minute it was paid for, well, I can’t say I regretted it anymore.

19. When was the last time you bought something that was completely unnecessary? When you look back on it, do you feel happy about that purchase? Do you feel happy about earlier frivolous purchases? If some make you feel happy and others don’t, what’s the difference between the two groups?

My Cessna airplane! This was my most ridiculous purchase last year. Looking back on it though, it makes me feel good. It was my first experience in a live auction. And every time I look at the plane, it puts a smile on my face. It was silly, but well worth it.

I can’t really think of a totally frivolous purchase I’ve made that I don’t feel good about now. I mean, I do feel buyer’s remorse from time to time, but I’m not sure I’d call those items frivolous… My wife may have a few examples I’m forgetting though!

20. When you sit down and send out your bills for the month, are you left feeling good or bad after doing this task? Why? Is there anything you can do to change that perspective?

I feel great when I pay all of my bills and have them entered into MS Money. I sit back and think, “Hey, no more bills for another month…” In fact, right now, I’m almost excited to check the mail each day hoping they’ve come in. (All of my utility bills come in between the 11th and 15th of each month.)

How did I find myself in this situation? How did I dig a hole this deep? And how on earth did I climb myself back out?

With tomorrow being a payday, the lull in my debt repayment plan is finally coming to a close. I’m pretty excited as it will give me the funds to be able to pay off the very last of the credit card debt. For good.

I was thinking last night about how and when this whole journey started…

I’ve always kept track of my finances dating back to 1997 when I opened my first checking account. Problem was, I only kept track of my checking account.

It wasn’t until after I’d bought my house in 2002 that I started to keep a detailed record of my credit card use. In the past, I’d always known what my balances were, but I never really kept track of how they got as high as they did.

In May of 2004 that changed. I put together a spreadsheet that listed all of my open credit cards with columns for the balance, the interest rate, the amount I paid for each specific month, and the amount I spent for each specific month. I still update it monthly and reference it all the time.

At the time, the running balance was $22921.42. It was time to start getting serious.

Or not.

Five months later, even though I was paying back at a clip of over $1250 per month, the balance had ballooned to $26145.56. I was headed in the wrong direction, but now I finally had visual proof of how wrong a direction it was.

I set up my first auto-payment in October of 2004 to start rapidly paying down an MBNA card that I no longer used. By February 2005, I’d wiped out a $3500 balance. At this point, I’d never even heard of Dave Ramsey, or snowballing, but I was essentially following his plan.

With one card out of the way and off the spreadsheet, I very foolishly opened a new account and used a balance transfer to partially take out the next target on my debt payment plan. In the long run, and even the short run, this line of thinking backfired. Instead of one bill for one card, I now had two bills for two cards and both had sizable balances.

I plodded along for the entire 2005 calendar year. In the end, I’d wiped out three different credit card balances but my total balance was still $18479.20.

Grand total for the year, I’d sent the credit card companies $26983.29 but my total balance had only fallen $6743.62. Finance charges didn’t make up the “missing” $20k. My own excessive spending did.

This is where I failed. While I had a solid plan to pay down debt, I didn’t have a plan to stop accruing it.

The next year didn’t get any better. I still hadn’t figured it out. I stepped up my repayment plan but still found myself deeper than when I’d started. By March of 2006, I was carrying $24184.37 in credit card debt all at rates higher than 17.99%.

My minimum payments were nearly $500 per month.

My monthly finance charges were exceeding $250 per month.

By this time, I was sending $3k every month towards Chase, MBNA, and Bank of America but was only treading water. I couldn’t understand it.

In May of 2006, I *finally* figured it out. Spending was my problem.

I decided that my last big expense on the credit cards would be an engagement ring. And with that done, it was time to start eliminating the balances. No tricks. No gimmicks. No balance transfers. Just huge weekly auto-payments.

And you know what? It worked!

By January of 2007, I’d wiped out all of my personal debt and only had a balance of $8962.39 on a business card. Things were definitely looking bright, but as with all things in life, a setback was on the horizon…

Unable to get a home equity loan (which turned out to be a blessing) because of our insurance situation, we took out a $12k loan at a high 15.5% rate to finance our roofing project. Six months later, we would finance over $20k of our siding project using credit cards.

Before I knew it, I was back over $20k in debt again. That’ll take the wind out of your sails.

But there was a big difference this time. Spending was, again, the culprit, but this time, they were more intelligent purchases. And this time, I had a plan, already implemented, to pay them off quickly.

It was also around this time that I decided that just eliminating credit card debt wasn’t good enough. It was time to really build some wealth at the same time.

I remember what sparked that vividly. I had been reading various PF blogs pretty regularly at that point, but never really “connected” with any of them. I dunno, none of their numbers seemed real or obtainable to me. Just interesting reads with some good financial advice here and there.

A co-worker had just purchased their first home. Financially, I wouldn’t say that I looked up to this person. Morally? Definitely not. I don’t even really admire their work habits. But they did mention how it “sucked” to have taken over $35k out of savings to make the down payment.

My jaw hit the floor. That’s impressive. Didn’t see that one coming. Total shock. In all honesty, yes, I was jealous.

I’m a guy who’s checking account rarely exceeds $2k and has virtually nothing in savings. I’m still that guy. But I’m not going to stay that guy.

See, I admittedly have a bit of an ego. I keep it pretty well sheltered, but it’s there. There is no way I can just cruise along in life the way I have been when people like my coworker have managed to save up that kind of money. No way.

Things were going to change. And they did. Immediately.

I took my repayment plan up a notch.

I took all but one of my credit cards out of my wallet.

I increased my 401k contributions, twice.

I finally looked into Dave Ramsey’s snowball plan and implemented it.

I started paying down my mortgage, first with an additional $25 per week, then increasing it to $125 per week plus a $25 biweekly payment from my wife.

Now I don’t have $35k in savings yet. I’m not even close.

But by the end of this week, I’ll have less than $7000 in non-mortgage debt and $0 in credit card debt.

Even with the additional mortgage payments and increased 401k contributions of late, my current pace still exceeds $2000 in debt repayment per month. Best of all, spending is not longer the problem it once was.

Doing the math, I’ll de debt free by the mid-summer.

And then the savings will commence.

During this lull in my finances, instead of looking ahead one month at a time, I’ve been extrapolating the data out farther and farther to try to set a plan for the future.

I used to think there would always be bills to pay. No end in sight. That’s just the way it was — and I think a lot of people think that way.

I have to admit, that sort of feeling really sinks in when you grow accustomed to carrying a $20k credit card balance from month to month. It almost became, dare I say it, comfortable?

There was no end in sight, but you know what? That was okay.

Keyword being *was*.

Though I find myself broke today, and a little uncomfortable as a result, I’m not carrying a 5 figure balance anymore. That feels good.

That’s better than comfortable.

It’s been a, for lack of a better term, crappy 3-4 years trying to get rid of my credit card debt, but now that I’m on the last leg, well, things feel great.

The line, “I’d rather live for a few years like most people won’t, to live the rest of my life like most people can’t,” really applies here.

I look at some of the things I’ve put up with over the last few years, and while I’m not struggling, compared to those around me and those with similar income, I’m practically camping in comparison.

Last week, I saw CleverDude’s photo of the inside of his home and laughed out loud at the comment where someone called it “ghetto”. I was thinking the same exact thing.

The funny thing is, he’s a guy who’s got his finances totally in order and is headed in the right direction — someone to look up to really.

So then I go home and see that I’ve got cheap shower curtains hanging in my doorways and think, “You know, this looks bad but I’m just a couple of steps behind CleverDude. I’ll get there.”

Side note: while his “doorways” are to prevent heating unused parts of his house, mine are for dust control. Adding insult to injury, my living room has piles of crumbled plaster all over the shredded and unfinished hard wood floor and exposed knob-and-tube wiring all over the place. You could say we’re in the midst of a construction project, but it’s looked this way for nearly six months.

See, told you it was ghetto. ;0)

I truly have been living the life most people won’t. Thankfully my wife has gone along with it.

But that’s the thing, I’m *that* close to being able to start living the life most people can’t.

Some may interpret that quote differently than me, thinking the “good life” is the one where you buy your own tropical island, but I tend to think things through on more realistic level.

As I said earlier, it’s almost the norm to carry huge amounts of debt these days. Finance everything. Enjoy now, pay later. The premise of the good old Lending Tree “I’m in debt up to my eyeballs” commercial.

Now that I’m on pace to be debt free in a matter of months (excluding the mortgage), I’ll already be living the life most people can’t. That’s exciting. I mean, I’ve almost grown accustomed to piles of broken plaster right inside my front door but I certainly wouldn’t mind a whole nice new room instead.

Pretty soon, I’ll be able to do it. And be able to afford it.

For real.

That’s the good life.

Today marks 11 years at my current job.

I think that by today’s standards, for a Generation X’er, that’s really rare.

Most of my friends have had, oh, say 5-6 jobs since we stumbled into the real world. Every two years it seems that they’d start sending out resumes talking up their accomplishments at their current workplace in search of a better job.

At times, it has worked for them. They’d somehow worm their way into a higher paying job with each step using the “fake it ’til you make it” method.

But more often than not, they’d be exposed as a fraud, or out of their league, within, well, two years or so. And then it would be time to look for another job.

Kind of a revolving door situation.

Me? Fresh out fo school I applied here — started the next day making $6 per hour. Around a year later, I was moved from hourly to salary. The next year, I was invited to join the 401k plan.

Fast forward to 2008… well, as far as I know, I’m making a lot more than any of my friends and I have a much more stable job.

Could I have started throwing resumes out there every so often?

Sure, but as far as I’m concerned, rewards come more consistantly to people who are honest and work hard rather than people who try to “trade up” every chance they get.

I’m comfortable where I am. I didn’t get this job by saying I could do something that I actually couldn’t. I’m good at what I do. I work hard at what I do.

I don’t have to walk into work each day hoping that I’m not asked to do something that I really truly don’t know how to do. That weight isn’t on my shoulders. And for that I’m thankful.

I’m also thankful that tomorrow is pay day. ;0)

It’s like the line, “it’s not what you make, it’s what you save” quote that’s thrown around so often has finally sunk in.

I used to think that to be “rich” required having a high paying job. But now, I’m realizing that that isn’t necessarily true.

Back in November I stopped working for my highest paying client. The choice was 100% mine and I knew that the lack sudden lack of income could be a problem.

But you know what?

Now nearly 4 months later, it hasn’t been a problem. And it’s not going to be a problem either.

I was always under the impression that my day-to-day finances were what kept things pointed in the right direction but, boy, was I mistaken…

My day-to-day finances are such a tiny percentage of my net worth, and that’s something I never really realized. Investments (and property) are what make up nearly all of the monthly gains (or losses) now..

Most months, the gains in these two categories far exceed my take home pay. By far.

I spend less than I make. That’s the key. And that’s something that I didn’t do in the past (obviously) as I dug myself into $30k worth of credit card debt.

I used to lunch at McDonalds or Burger King every single day during the week. Combined with the change lost in the seats of the car, that was costing me in excess of $40 per week. Now, I don’t eat lunch at all (yes, a problem of it’s own.)

I cancelled my cell phone service with Verizon saving me at least $30/month.

As I’ve watched my monthly finance charges drop from over $400 to under $20 on my credit card debt, I’ve seen the snowball at work — even though I didn’t actually use the snowball method for much of the way. That’s saved me, well, $380/month.

My standard of living hasn’t dropped one bit.

It hasn’t really improved either, now that I think about it, but in the future it will most certainly improve — because I’ll have the money in the bank to do it.

I’d say I was just breaking even when I still had all of those expenses. Now, with just those limited examples, I’ve shaved nearly $600 off of my expenses. That’s HUGE and I hardly even notice it.

Now that the credit card debt is almost eliminated, I’m on the verge of finding myself with that extra $600/month in my pocket! The possibilities?!

It just drives home the point that how much I make isn’t all that important anymore, it’s more about what I do with the amount that I make. Now that I’m doing that wisely, the rest kind of takes care of itself. Kinda like autopilot.

Building wealth is actually a lot easier than I ever expected.