One thing is for sure- I hate being in debt. I hate monthly payments and not being able to use our money where it really needs to go or where we want it. We paid off my student loans at the very beginning of the year, which was a beautiful thing, but then we kind of slacked off and didn't pay off our car as fast as we wanted to. We played a lot and kind of did what we wanted for a few months. Then, one day when I was driving home from work, I was thinking about how much we make as a couple and I was suddenly infuriated that we still didn't have our car paid off nor that much money in savings. We should have everything paid off and a least a few thousand in savings....but no. I was upset. So, we started putting my entire check on our car and today.....WE PAID IT OFF!!!!! YAY!!!!!! Now we are completely debt free and it feels SOOOOO good. It's almost like we're 15 again and we actually have control over any money that we get. We can spend it or save it....whatever we want, but it's ours and not someone else's!!! YAY! Of course now we will be saving every penny for our bouncing July baby, but it's nice to not worry about other things as well.
I feel like I've learned a very valuable lesson though, obviously. (If I hadn't then I would be in big trouble). It takes a lot of time and discipline to get out of debt and more than just living in your means to do so. We've had to re-budget so many times and try not to budget down to the very quarter, nickel, or dime. We've tried to leave room for unexpected things like hitting your car into a pole (thanks Brian), and it has helped so much. We're so excited and relieved!
