I'm beginning to understand what Dave Ramsey talks about when he says you need to get "gazelle intense" at attacking debt. I paid off Debt No. 4 this month, and now I can't wait to get rid of the rest of them.
Of course, the first 4 debts were pretty small. The ones that are left are going to take a while to polish off. Based on all the number crunching I've done, the next debt should get paid off late this year, unless I can figure out a way to increase my income somehow.
It feels good to be making progress. The amount of money I have to contribute to my debt snowball is slowly creeping up as the minimum payments on the remaining debts slowly inch downward.
But I'm getting impatient too. As my confidence grows at living on a budget, and living within my means, I am tired of living under the specter of debt that is now years old. It was May 2010 when I finally took the time to add up all my debts to get a clear picture of the financial mess I got myself into. Since then, I've paid the debt down by more than $7,100 in about 9 months.
I don't know if I've ever confessed this on here before or not, but I actually went to talk to someone at the local Consumer Credit Counseling Service a few years ago. Because I wasn't behind on any of my bills, they didn't offer any help. I knew I was in trouble, but didn't know what to do at the time. I had yet to discover Dave Ramsey back then. In searching through some paperwork recently, I found the snapshot of my debt back when I went to CCC in the fall of 2007. From fall 2007 to spring 2010, I managed to pay down my debt by a little less than $5,500. So, I've managed to make more progress in 9 months than I made in the previous 2 and three-quarters years.
What a difference a plan makes. That, and the willpower to stick with it.
