Debt Sucks

A whole three and a half years after I bought it, the scooter is finally paid for. I suppose one could also phrase that as “a year and a half early,” but we wouldn’t want to be too full of ourselves, now would we? Original balance of about $5,300, she’s been my primary vehicle off and on since then, and my only vehicle for almost two years now since I junked my last truck.

How did I do it?

Hard work. Determination. Grit.

That's some fine grit right there! Literally!

Now, all that’s left is for it to actually be mine. You see, for those who weren’t around for it, the scoot’s actually in mum’s name and credit, because my name and credit were (and still are) quite terrible. So, rather than paying the finance company, I’ve been depositing personal checks into her account every month. Here’s to waiting til I turn 25 in January and thereupon cease to be known as a “young driver.” Such a designation drives the insurance cost up from about $100/year to about $600/year. The lady at the insurance office actually told me NOT to go on the insurance because of that insanity, and that she would call me after my birthday. Awesome insurance lady of mine.

Speaking of scooters, you may or may not have noticed that I’m trying to do this. Feel free to do those things you do with it, while I do that thing I do with it.

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Time sinks suck.

What about you? Where are your biggest time sinks at?

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Yep. As of this morning, it’s been three months since I quit smoking. And you guys thought I was going to relapse. Well, there’s still plenty of opportunity to do that, but despite having never come up with a habit to replace the habit, I still managed to make it through FinCon, among other things, without going back.

I definitely miss it. The times that I think about it are slowly stretching further apart. There are things that I certainly don’t miss, though, such as that crazy pain I used to get in my shoulder when I smoked too much. I still get that pain every once in a while, such as last night, but for unknown reasons now.

Still not taking breaks at work, so I guess that’s the new habit. And now that freezing temperatures are upon us, I’m totally fine with that. That’s another thing I don’t miss. Standing out in sub-zero wind chills in the dead of winter just to burn one.

Fuck that.

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From October 6 to November 1, my net worth increased an average of $62.38 per day, or $1,933.72 overall, to -$30,832.38. This is a 6.27% increase, and results in a projected zero net worth on 3/27/2014.

Did I say super magical edition? Ya damn skippy I did. Here’s five, count’em FIVE, reasons why:

• Second best net worth improvement – It’s even better when you consider that the best was from a huge bonus, and this one… wasn’t. Hard work and determination, right? Sure. We’ll go with that.
• Overall net worth change has exceeded 50%. Yeeeeaaahhhh that’s right, I said it, I’m past halfway to zero! *does a little dance*
• I’m finally on track to hit my 5 year payoff goal! Since it’s inception, I’ve been lagging behind this goal and trying to play catch-up. And catch up I have, finally! Mr. Spreadsheet is giving me a goal date of 5/24/14, which is definitely the correct month and year. Now, of course, is my chance to sprint on ahead.
• Best blogging month… ever. This totally explains the first bullet point… and probably all of the others, too. Unfortunately, I never did get around to writing a FinCon wrapup, but had I done so, I would have said this: The best thing that happened for me at the conference was on the last day, with my bags all packed, killing time in the hotel lobby by staring at the ceiling until I had to catch the first of many trains home (all the while trying not to fall asleep or die of starvation). That’s when Crystal from Budgeting in the Fun Stuff swung by to chat me up, and offered her services. Hoo boy… here’s a fun fact: October 12th – that’s right, not even a full 2 weeks after the conference – I turned a profit on attending the conference. Yes, really, that quickly, and all thanks to her (and I’ve thanked her a ton already, trust me!). So, how good was it? Broke a grand at the last second. Double that and make it consistent and you could call me a pro blogger. I’m not holding my breath, because that wouldn’t do a damn bit of good, so what I am doing is diversifying, and trying to get several more blogs off the ground (and still hunting for good buys).
• I can’t count. Fooled ya, huh? There really is a fifth bullet point laying around here somewhere. Could’a sworn there was. Maybe it’ll show up in a couple of days?

Ooo-hoo, that’s what we call a cliffhanger, folks. Gotta spread the awesome around evenly. In the meantime, it’s worth noting that my magic number has fallen to $1,134.04 (down from $1,151.65) this month. I don’t have any particular goal in mind for that, other than zero, so we’ll just keep watching it fall instead. Sidebars NOT updated, don’t wanna go spoilin’ anything.

Now, someone, hire me a grammarian! After the Deadline is just burning up at this post. Balls it.

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