Yes, I Paid Off The Credit Card Last Night
I kind of just snuck in mentioning in my carnival roundup post that I paid off the Citicard last night, but JvW very astutely noticed my reference and called me out on it so I think I ought to come out and say it definitively. 
I was going to wait until Tuesday’s Tell All post but hopefully by then I’ll have even more payoff news.
Last night in the midst of entering receipts in my budget sheet, I started to get really antsy and irritated. I used to have a system. I’d get money that was designated for extra, or snowflake, debt repayments, I would send it off to the credit card immediately, and the debt total would go down. I’m a fan of instant gratification and it worked well for me. Because I track my earning and spending very closely, I knew what money coming in was for this debt snowflaking and I could use it right away.
But since the car repair saga, I’ve felt like all of our debt reduction was kind of in limbo. First, every available penny went towards the car repair, wiping out a lot of potential future snowflakes short term. This was a decidedly good thing, for it prevented the vast majority of the repair bill from ever becoming debt. But as far as my love of instant gratification, it kind of put a damper on it. Then, the line of credit we got through the dealership to finance the last $800 of the bill is the most archaic thing ever, and if you pay through any electronic means, you get hit with a $10 fee. Seriously, that is just lame. So I need to wait until they send me a paper bill (I have gotten the card etc in the mail already just not the first statement) to pay it off. Waiting. And waiting. And… waiting.
So, I have been collecting my few snowflakes and moving them to my emergency savings fund, and that has been okay. The debt total stays still though. And yesterday, I got my tutoring payment, plus some other money I had been expecting, and I now have enough money to pay off the car repair plus the remaining $155.17 on the credit card. So I wait for the car repair bill. And then I realize…
I can just pay off the credit card now. Yes, something could happen inbetween now and me actually receiving the car repair bill statement and I could not have the $800 any longer to pay it off. The car repair was higher on my priority list and so I wanted to pay it first. But, in reality, I am taking a small calculated risk and since the credit card payoff amount was not much all things considered, I decided to just go for it. And it did indeed make my instant gratification self feel a lot better.
So Citicard - balance $0.00.
After the car repair is balance $0.00 the next target is restoring the emergency fund, but I also need to seriously think about how to approach the student loans that gives me more of a safety net but at the same time gives my debt-destroying inclinations some satisfaction. On to more planning and goal setting and putting my relationship with Citicard behind me, just as I have with Capital One.
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February 7th, 2008 at 5:23 pm
Whoever thought ZERO could be such a beautiful number!?
Nicely done!
February 7th, 2008 at 5:41 pm
Congratulations!
February 7th, 2008 at 5:51 pm
CONGRATS!!!!
February 7th, 2008 at 5:54 pm
Awesome for you!!! It will take us a few years to get there. But I am hopeful.
February 7th, 2008 at 5:56 pm
Awesome!!! YAY!!!!
February 7th, 2008 at 6:16 pm
Congratulations!
Seriously!
You’ve just cut one of the ties that bound you to your past.
Feels awesome, doesn’t it?
Hello future!
February 7th, 2008 at 6:25 pm
Great job. I have 4 months of payments left on my credit cards. I can’t wait to be free of credit card debt.
February 7th, 2008 at 6:52 pm
That is awesome PT. Congratulations!
February 7th, 2008 at 7:02 pm
YAY!!!!!!!
February 7th, 2008 at 7:49 pm
I am wondering, what is a “debt crossover point?”
February 7th, 2008 at 8:18 pm
YAY!!! Congratulations
February 7th, 2008 at 8:39 pm
Congratulations, what fantastic news!
Not to mention inspiring that I’ll be able to get my own paid off one day.
February 7th, 2008 at 8:53 pm
Ha! Sorry, I didn’t mean to call you out like that, I was just so excited for you! Congratulations again!
February 7th, 2008 at 8:57 pm
How exciting! I know you must be pumped about your accomplishment.
It really is n accomplishment you know. All kinds of bankers and high brow Wall Street types didn’t think you’d do it for another 10 years!
Proved them wrong, huh?
February 7th, 2008 at 9:28 pm
Congratulations, that is a great milestone.
February 7th, 2008 at 9:35 pm
Hey, that’s the way to do it! Get down with your bad self!
February 7th, 2008 at 10:16 pm
That’s fantastic! Congratulations and don’t worry, the snowflakes will keep falling.
February 7th, 2008 at 10:49 pm
Wooohooo! Congratulations!!!
February 7th, 2008 at 11:49 pm
Congratulations!
February 8th, 2008 at 7:17 am
That’s great news.
For the student loan / emergency fund thing, have you thought about doing something like every other snowflake to each, or half the snowflakes to debt, and half to the EF?
February 8th, 2008 at 9:00 am
Congrats!
It’s a great feeling
February 8th, 2008 at 9:24 am
Wow! That’s a major coup!! Congratulations.
February 8th, 2008 at 11:44 am
Have you considered paying off your spouse’s student loan with a 12 or 18 month zero percent credit card offer? That way you can avoid paying the 7+ percent interest. If you still have debt once the zero percent interest period is over, roll that debt onto another zero percent interest charge card. You really make quick progress once all your payment goes towards the debt.
Make the cc companies work for you!
February 8th, 2008 at 6:27 pm
Wow I go away for a little while and you go and pay off your CC debt. Way to go!!
February 8th, 2008 at 8:56 pm
Congratulations and continued success! You will be a millionaire with your millionaire mindset!
February 11th, 2008 at 1:29 pm
That’s awesome!! Congrats!!