Still on track!

So the job change has cased a little bit of a hiccup in my financial plans, which I had planned for and am happy to say I am now done with. It’s not a big deal – it basically comes down to my new job having a slightly different payroll schedule, and of course the fact that there’s a certain lag between when I start and my first paycheck. In order to be prepared, I basically held off on Baby Step 2 until my first paycheck from my new job. At that time I figured everything would be okay, and I could use the accumulated amount towards Baby Step 2.

It worked – but I have to say that psychologically, I felt very much off-track during that time. I had almost forgotten how much I loved putting money on my car loan and seeing the balance drop. So when I finally put another principal payment on my car loan, which was an amount equal to what had accumulated while between jobs, well, it felt pretty good.

I’m happy to say that I feel like I’m on track again – not that I was really ever off track – but I feel good that I’m able to see progress again.

I like my new job, although, I have to admit I miss my old job. A lot. It’s strange how you miss the things you took for granted. At my old job my lead was able to teach me a LOT. I like being on the learning side of things. At my new job – I hesitate to say this, but it’s true – I’m smarter than my lead, and it bothers me. I continually have to explain things to him, and sometimes he doesn’t get it. I think he’s just inexperienced, and maybe a little over his head in his position. He also likes to argue, especially when he feels defensive (I sense just a little bit of male machismo in his defensiveness/argumentativeness). Now I know that all this sounds pompous, but I’m not sure how else to explain it.

I really miss my old job. I miss being able to ask my lead questions and learn from him.

After my first week at my new job I had made the decision to work this all out as a challenge – in other words, see if I can learn from the experience rather than run from it. I was in a very similar situation a long time ago, and I found another job as quickly as I could. This time I’m going to see if I can work through this, and learn from it.

At any rate, I’m on-track, or back on the Baby Step 2 express.

What do snowballs and behavior have to do with each other?

I just re-read my last post, and decided that I hadn’t explained why Baby Step 2 “…has everything to do with behavior.”  It makes mathematical sense to pay down the debt with the highest interest first, right?  I mean you’ll pay less in the long run.  Well, based on what I’ve learned from Dave Ramsey’s books and radio show, the snowball method helps to gain psychological momentum.  In other words, it feels great to have a few relatively easy wins at the start.  As those smaller debts get paid off, you gain a feeling of accomplishment that helps you to stay with it, and possibly even become more “gazelle intense.”

Each Friday (I believe), Dave opens up his radio show to let people call in to do the “I’M DEBT FREE!” yell.  It’s amazing – if you haven’t heard it, and need a little inspiration this is an easy way to find it.  The first few times I heard this, I was surprised to find myself tearing up.  In those 3 simple little words you can hear the hurdles overcome – the struggles, the victory, and ultimately the hope in those people’s lives.  It’s amazing.  I want so badly to call and do that scream.  Even if I can’t manage to get onto his program I might just do the scream at home – recorded, and post it here. 

Everyone has a story, and while you don’t get the details – every time I hear people call Dave’s show and yell, I get a glimpse of their story.  You get the important stuff.

So it’s obvious – we’re all human.  We need inspiration.  We need more than raw math to win.

Gosh it feels good!

I stayed up tonight with the intent to wait for my salary deposit, so I could make another principal payment on my car. Wow. It feels great!

So a couple of things have been on my mind lately. This idea that Dave Ramsey talks about, essentially drawing a line in the sand and making the commitment not to borrow money anymore – it’s actually bigger than I had imagined. I mean, credit cards are one thing – but I have to admit, when I see some of the newer cars out there, and I know that I could drive onto a car lot and trade mine in for a brand new one – well, it just seems way too easy. I have been wondering whether I really have given up borrowing money. I imagine how nice it would be to be able to pay cash for a car – and I tell myself right now that I won’t borrow money anymore – but I also understand just how vulnerable I am to changing my mind. I’m probably exactly what a good sales person is looking for…

But right now, I am focused on the goal – to complete baby step 2 in as short a time as I possibly can. I think about that every day. I actually really like my car, and enjoy taking care of it – so it’s not like I’m tempted to drive onto a lot tomorrow and pick out a new one. But I can drool a little I suppose – and well, that’s probably what I’m worried about the most.

It’s the intensity – to see how much I’ve paid off already on my car just this year – the past 2.5 months, is kind of cool. Technically only 11 more payments (making principal payments twice per month) – I will have it paid for by August. This year! That means I could be driving a paid for, essentially brand new car by fall. That’s pretty cool.

The student loan will be the last debt I have to pay off, and if I can keep up the pace, it will be paid off by April 2009. Just over a year away. I know I keep reducing the amount of time – I think my original estimates put baby step 2 at about 2 years – but I keep finding ways to pay stuff off sooner. I’m digging through all of my personal stuff and finding things I no longer need or want – and selling them. Every little bit helps, as evidenced by the fact that I’ve managed to reduce baby step 2 time from 2 years down to just a little over a year!

So I’m going to bed tonight feeling pretty darned good.