A Late Update: State of My Debt

I am probably echoing many others out there, but I can’t believe we’re nearly a week away from Thanksgiving. This year has been the fastest to date and I feel dizzy with how much has happened.

I’ve been on the hustle, continuing to make sure that my self-employment is a viable and lucrative option. Because of this, my own blog has taken a backseat and for that I am remorseful. I want to try to build both things concurrently as I truly love the blogging community and writing in this space.

Somehow with securing new clients, writing until my wrists are sore, and trying to maintain that elusive work-life balance, I’ve neglected to update you all about my debt repayment journey!

As happy as I am with self-employment, it does affect my ability to consistently put over $1,000 to my student loans. This is not necessarily an income issue, but a cash flow issue (when payments get received). Also, I had some extra expenses this past month that I’ll go over.

In total, I was able to put $698 to my debt in the past month. My current debt totals are:

Undergrad $5,882.94

Grad           $29,377.73

Total         $35,260.67

This is so much better than the $81k total I have amassed — and much easier to handle than the $68k that was staring me in the face after I graduated from NYU in May 2011. I’ve paid off $33k in about 3.5 years — while making a low salary.

After all this time, it finally feels like I’m making progress. I will be happy once my debt total is below $30k.

So, what prevented me from putting $1,000 to debt?

Well my 30th birthday was part of the culprit. As some of you might remember, I initially wanted to go to Iceland Airwaves, a rad music festival in Iceland for my big 3-0. Well, with FinCon, and job changes, I just couldn’t justify it. Instead of traveling, I went a few hours away to the Oregon desert (I didn’t know it existed!) and spent a weekend away with my sweetie. My mom also decided to come up for a few days. In total that cost around $200.

Then I also had a scary situation arise, where my computer decided not to turn on. I have an oldish Macbook from 2010 and it had been slowing down, then one day it decided not to turn on. I immediately started to freak out. I now make my living on that thing! I was paranoid all my work would be lost and I’d have to drop mad cash for a new computer right then and there. I took it to the Genius bar (so clever aren’t they?) and they diagnosed the issue and I forked over $160. It was a hard drive issue — I later found out I could have fixed the hard drive myself, but I’m just so bad with that kind of stuff, I just let it go. I was seriously thinking the worst, so $160 to fix my computer wasn’t bad. Bonus: I didn’t lose anything!

Then after reading this and this post, I decided I needed to be an adult and get renters insurance. After having my computer snafu, I was determined to protect myself. Not only that, but my partner is a musician with tons of instruments and equipment, so it seemed too risky to not have renters insurance. Without his stuff and my laptop, we’d both be out of making a living, so I forked over another $167 for a year of renters insurance. I instantly felt better.

So that was $527 that was unexpected. Because I live on a bare bones budget and throw any excess towards my student loans, unexpected expenses like this just means I have to lower my payment a bit. I have decided to start a ‘Computer’ targeted savings account with Capital One 360 though as I imagine I might need a new one in the next few years.

Aside from that, I’m getting into the groove of self-employment. My inner night owl is in full flight and I enjoy the flexibility it gives me. I’m excited about trying new things in 2015 and really trying to make Dear Debt even better. I want more dear debt letters, to create an e-book, and ramp up my side hustle coaching. I’m also interested in doing more Twitter chats and hosting events with brands and bloggers.

Yeah, I have a lot of dreams! So I better keep working on my own goals, while still creating kickass content for others.

In case you missed it, here is a sprinkling of my writing around the web.

Conferences: How to Make Them (Literally) Worth Your Time via FeeX

5 Alternatives for People Who Can’t Go Home for The Holidays via The College Investor

The Art of the Follow-Up: How to Get a “Yes” Without Being Pushy via Careful Cents

When Being Frugal Backfires via Retire By 40

5 Things to Consider Before Taking the Leap into Self-Employment via NarrowBridge Finance

How to Have a Cute Wardrobe in Any Weather via Money Saving Pro

What I Learned From Getting My First Credit Card at 28 via GoGirl Finance

What’s new with you? Tell me: what are you enjoying spending money on or feeling guilty about spending money on? Or tell me new and exciting ways you are making that money!

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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)

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