Debt Update: My Best Month Yet

Every single month, as the payments start to trickle in, I hold my breath a little.

“Will I make my goal this month?” I think.

My goal is to put $2,000 per month — or the equivalent of my monthly salary last year — to debt, in order to be debt free by May of 2016.

This month, I received a few payments for projects that I had worked on for months, so it was good to finally see that pay off. That, plus some extra work thrown in there, made for a very good month.

This month, I put $3,482 to debt.

I can hardly believe it. I told my friend about it and she immediately worried about me. “Are you saving money for taxes?!,” she exclaimed.

Yes, I’m saving for taxes and still saving a nominal amount for my emergency fund and other targeted goals. What can I say, I’m making more money — which is still weird for me to admit.

For so long I totally embraced the starving artist/low-paid nonprofit worker mentality. It’s a comfortable place and you can always make self-deprecating jokes about it. However, being broke is anything but funny.

I never want to go back on food stamps again. I never want to make 10 dollars per hour again. If I had to, I would — I never, ever want to think I’m too good for work. But I also want to value my time and accept that I DO have more worth than my previous jobs financially dictated.

This is something I want to write about, as I’ve been feeling a lot of guilt lately. Odd, I know. I feel guilty for making money? Yes, I do. I feel like it removes me from the people I am so passionate about helping. The chasm between working class and middle-class is so large, an ocean can run through it.

Anyways, those are some things I am dealing with in the wake of finally making more money. But that extra money is allowing me to put more to debt.

So, after putting so much to debt, what’s left?

Undergraduate loan: $5,139.51
Graduate Loan: $18,296.67
Total: $23,436.18

While, I’m super proud of my progress here, one area that was a bit more murky was my $100 per month Spending Diet. I hit some obstacles this month that confused me. Namely, my parents were in town and it was my boyfriend’s birthday. I quickly realized it would be impossible to meet my $100 budget if I considered those things as part of “fun.”

Aside from that, I went a little over, once again with my food weakness. But I don’t regret spending money on my boyfriend’s birthday or while my parents were in town. That is what I think of as money well spent.

Also, I’m trying to train my mind to focus on the positive. I could beat myself up and feel relentless guilt about spending more than I wanted to this month. But instead, let’s focus on the fact I blew my goal out of the water! That’s what’s most important to me — that I stay on track with becoming debt free.

I know I’ll get there. I just need to focus on one day at a time. Day by day, step by step.

How are you doing on your BIG, audacious goals?

• Author
• Recent Posts

Melanie

Melanie Lockert is the founder of the blog and author of the book, Dear Debt. Through her blog, she chronicled her journey out of $81,000 in student loan debt. She is also the co-founder of the Lola Retreat, which helps bold women face their fears, own their dreams and figure out a plan to be in control of their finances. She is passionate about empowering women, helping others get out of debt, and focuses on the intersection of debt and mental health. Every September she organizes a Suicide Prevention Awareness Blog Tour, to help share resources for those struggling with debt and suicide. In addition to her love of personal finance, art and music, she is also a karaoke master and a cat mom to Miles and Thelonious.

Latest posts by Melanie (see all)

• Talking About Money and Mental Health - September 12, 2022
• Dear Debt, We’re Better Apart - June 27, 2022
• Announcing The Mental Health and Wealth Summit - May 4, 2021