Monday, February 13, 2012

A debt of gratitude...

After five full months of being extraordinarily frugal--turning off the cable, taking shorter showers, wearing a sweatshirt in the house rather than turning on the heater, learning how to make a week's worth of meals out of a package of ground turkey and recognizing how to enjoy all that I have rather than going out and buying anything more--I have paid off TWO of my three credit cards.
Hooray!
I had charged a few things for my new home on my Discover Card because I had become eligible for 3% interest on anything bought in the month of September. I had my closet organizer built that month for just that reason. I slowly chipped away at my Discover balance--receiving a few cash back bonuses along the way, which I applied directly to the balance--and paid it off today.
Again, HOORAY!
I will have to admit that the Home Depot card is the craziest credit card I've ever had. Actually kind of sneaky and scammy if you don't mind me saying so...They advertise "no interest for one year" which sounds very attractive, but the fine print is actually quite frightening. If you do NOT pay it off within that year, interest is retroactive at 26.9%!! And I bought $5,000 worth of appliances, carpeting, and lots of other stuff for the new place, so there's NO way I'm paying retroactive interest! Yikes! Yeah, the Home Depot account kept me up at night, gave me nightmares and made me nervous! (You know how afraid I am of getting penalized!)
I was overjoyed to be able to completely pay this one off today, and have it off my head for good. Hooray!
(And good riddance to any card that even HAS a 26.9% interest rate!)

That leaves just American Express which I should be able to pay off in the next couple of months. Hooray hooray!

I actually get TOTALLY thrilled being able to work hard and be super careful with my spending so that I can pay everything on time. (I never EVER have a late payment on anything!) I log into these accounts nearly ever day and LOVE to see those balances going down, down...
And OH how I love taking accounts to a zero balance! Two down, one to go. I am feeling SO much better about life already! I can see the light at the end of the long, dark debt tunnel...
and damn is it beautiful!

One more time, and go ahead and say it with me: HOORAY!!

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Congrats...
p.s. you did not inherit that trait...

Allison said...

Hooray is right!
What a great thing to celebrate!!

TSHarrison said...

Wow Julie I'm so incredibly proud of you.
May God bless your faithfulness and entrust you with so much more.

Zuzana said...

Congratulations!;) Sounds like this is your year Julie.;) I know how nice it is to get rid of credit cards.;)
Btw, how is your house renovation coming along.;)
xoxo