The proceeds of our first big-spending weekend after paying off $109,000 of credit card debt
My wife and I sat down last Friday to go over our budget and spending plan for the weekend, just like we always do. Except this time the numbers looked very different.
March is the first month in over four and a half years that we don’t have to make a payment to our debt management program. More accurately, this is the first time in seventeen years of marriage that a significant percentage of our monthly income isn’t going towards credit card payments.
That feels freakishly awesome.
I made my usual income and bill statement for the month and looked at the amount left over after paying all the bills. I knew the amount was correct, but I had to double check my math because I just couldn’t believe it. It was a moment I had been anticipating for years. How would we react to having so much extra money available?
Vonnie and I agreed upon an amount of discretionary spending for the weekend, and off I went to take cash out of the ATM and stop at Best Buy to purchase tax preparation software.
Side note: I guess that tells you where I landed with my question last week regarding whether or not I should do my own taxes this year.
As I hopped into the van, I saw my phone light up due to an incoming text message. It was from Vonnie reminding me that it was the last day of a progressive wine sale at a nearby liquor store. It being the 28th of February meant that all wine was 28% off. I walked in the liquor store with a short list and a heavy wallet.
I walked out empty handed.
It was a good sale. Who am I kidding, it was a GREAT sale. But we already had quite a few bottles of wine at home, and the one that Vonnie really wanted was out of stock. Plus, something my mother said kept echoing in my head: “A sale isn’t a good deal if you buy something you weren’t going to buy anyway.”
On the way home I filled up the van with gas. It felt good to just fill it all the way up instead of putting in the $50 we had budgeted per week for as long as I can remember. I laughed as I thought of no longer having to play the game of “How far can you really go once the low fuel light comes on.”
I handed the kids their allowance immediately after walking in the door and taking off my shoes. What a great feeling it was to give it to them on time instead of saying, “We’ll give you two weeks of allowance when mom gets paid next Friday.”
Saturday morning we headed to the Twin Cities to go to the Minnesota Wine and Food Experience. The tickets were expensive ($75 a ticket), but they had been paid for weeks ago. We had cut our discretionary spending for several weekends in January to save the money to buy them. We had a great four hours of sampling wine and food make locally, as well as around the country. Vonnie and I decided to spurge a little bit and buy wine glass holder necklaces for $7 each so our hands would be free to pick up and read pamphlets and then easily put them in our bag.
Towards the end of the afternoon, I came across a vendor that was selling BBQ sauces and rubs. As I visited with the people in the booth, I discovered they were a local competition BBQ team, and what they were selling was their own creations.
Best. Part. Of. The. Day.
I could have spent hours asking them questions about their experiences, cooking methods, and smoker construction. But there was a steady line of people, and a crowd was gathering behind me. I tried their products, and then looked at the price. With my eyes ablaze with excitement I asked Vonnie if I could buy some. She flashed a smile, nodded her head, and I giddily handed the gentleman twelve bucks in exchange for two bottles of sauce.
Driving home on Sunday, I thought about our first weekend post DMP life. A full tank of gas, allowances paid on time, wine glass holders and two bottles of sauce. In the whole grand scheme of things, they aren’t big ticket items.
It’s what these items represent that mean everything to me.
The full tank of gas represents that we are no longer scraping by, allocating just enough to get us to the next Friday with the needle resting on the peg well below the big red E.
Paying allowance on time represents being able to meet all of our financial commitments. We don’t have to pay allowance, but we made that commitment. There have been times over the last 4 years when we haven’t been able to give to them. It’s a shitty feeling to look into the eyes of your son and daughter and tell them you can’t afford to give them their allowance that week. That’s a whole new level of suck, and I intend to never have that feeling again.
The wine glass holders and the BBQ sauce represent being able buy those little things that make life just a little extra fun. They were completely unnecessary, but we bought them anyway. With cash. Within our spending plan.
Not buying any wine even though it was on sale represents that we will continue to be wise with our money. Even though we could have blown quite a bit of money on wine and totally been fine financially, we didn’t. We preferred to tuck those funds back into our wallet or purse and use for something else.
Our first weekend post debt management plan wasn’t all that different. But it sure felt different. It was full of opportunity, and choices, and peace of mind.
And I love those feelings.
Ridding one’s self of debt is a liberating feeling. No doubt. To me, the key word in the entire post is right near the end. Choice. When a household is saddled with debt, their choices are non-existent or severely limited. Conversely, low – or no debt – equates to choices.
Right on, SavvyJames – for years we have had NO choice – pay a huge sum of money to credit card companies. Now we get to decide where our money goes and what we spend it on. Freedom! Great to meet you Savvyjames, thanks for reading!
Great post Travis! I remember having that first few weeks after becoming debt free and it was one of the best feelings ever. 🙂 Having those choices of what you want to do with your money is quite freeing.
You know what the best option is of all John? Being able to choose to do NOTHING with our money. We don’t have to spend it. We can Save or Invest it, or keep it for something we really want. I guess technically doing something with the money though, huh? 🙂
What an awesome feeling that must be Travis! Just to have that burden out of your life. Glad you has such an enjoyable weekend. That festival sounds like my kind of place!
It was a great festival, Tonya – I mean what isn’t awesome about hanging a wine glass around your neck, and then having it filled and refilled until you can’t take anymore???
Travis — this is such a wonderful and hopeful post! I’m sitting here with a big smile on my face after reading it 🙂
The world is such a different place when you can make financial & investing decisions based on merit and value instead of how much actual cash you have to get you to the next week.
Very happy for you 🙂
The world certainly does look differently now, Brad….feels different too. Less to worry about, and more energy to spend on things I enjoy doing instead of figuring out how to piece together our finances. I’m glad the post put a smile on your face, my friend…and thanks for sharing your thoughts!
Haha, I LOVE the wine holder necklaces. I’m glad you’re enjoying the benefits of all your hard work!
They’re SUPER awesome, Stefanie….and reusable too. I like to think of them as an investment for future wine tastings. 🙂
That’s awesome! What are you going to do with all of the money you freed up?
Great question Holly…we’re still working through all the numbers, but we have to play catchup with our retirement funds, put money away for the kids’ college years, and we will indeed increase our monthly budget a little just to make things a bit more comfortable for us. Thanks for reading!
Great story Travis, really gets the message across of what it feels like to be out from under Big Debt. Glad you and Vonnie are enjoying yourselves a bit more now.
Thanks, Kurt, it feels so liberating…I can’t even tell you how much easier it is to even breathe these days! Thanks for your support!
Congratulations, Travis and Vonnie! Enjoy all those small victories. You definitely deserve it!
Thanks ,Kate…..we’re doing more than enjoying them, we’re celebrating!!!
Its a great feeling to finally have paid those debts off! When you reach a big goal like that, its good to take some space and have a bit of fun with your freedom. Be reasonable, but you have earned a bit of fun. Way to go on reaching your goals!
Great perspective, Leonard…we don’t want to go crazy and end up back on the road to being in debt again. We’ve learned that lesson – but we do have the ability to increase our budget a little bit, and also start stashing money away for other things. Feels great to be able to have that as a choice!
Congrats Travis! Sounds like a great weekend. I think the biggest challenge in having more money is keeping the frugal habits you cultivated during lean times. I’ve become increasingly better with money and more critical of what I’m willing to spend it on, but there have definitely been times when I want to go nuts and buy everything I see. I recognize this as a fleeting feeling and walk away. It works every time!
I can see it there will be constant temptation to overspend…but if we can continue our twice a week budget conversations and checkpoints, and share our financial goals and work towards them together I know Vonnie and I can stay on track. Thanks for the well wishes, Kendal!
Really cool to read about your weekend, Travis. I was thinking a couple weeks ago what it would be like to not have student loan payments each month and how much more money we’d have to save, invest, and – within reason – spend. I can’t wait for that day!
It’ll be a great day, DC….how long do you have to go?
I loved this! I’m so glad you guys were able to enjoy a weekend out, having fun and not having to worry about money. It must be a great feeling. I especially like your mom’s wise words, and I have to agree. Just because something is on sale doesn’t mean you should buy it. Great job at avoiding temptation.
My mother is very wise…especially when it comes to finances. It took me a LONG time to figure that out, but it finally sunk in. Thanks for your thoughts, E.M.!
so glad you were able to have fun and enjoy your hard work guys! I totally get you on the gas thing. there’s something about filling the tank!
It’s the simple things in life, right Catherine? That feeling of getting into the car and seeing the needle go all the way past the ‘F’ is Fing awesome! lol…see what I did there??
Congrats! Sounds like your hard work has paid off and you have learned some valuable lessons.
Oh we’ve learned a LOT of hard lessons over the last few years, Raquel. I can remember the day we signed up for our debt management plan on July 1st, 2009. I hope I NEVER forget that feeling, or how we got to that point. That feeling alone will keep us on track. 🙂 Thanks for reading!
I think you’ll find that most of the time you don’t really even want to spend money, it’s just the ability to be able to if you choose. Just like Savvy James said, the less debt you have the more choices you have, and that is a feeling that is worth millions. I can remember that first month when we didn’t have a credit card payment. There was so much we could have done, but it was more fun to save, and while we do have slip ups from time to time, I know there is no way we’ll ever go back to that lifestyle, and I’m sure you won’t either!
That’s right, Kim, we’re NEVER going back! Having the choice is great, and I think that you’re right in that most of the time we won’t want to spend the money….but it’s nice to know that sometimes we actually CAN spend it and it’s perfectly OK! Thanks for reading!
I’ve heard that there is power in being able to buy something – but choosing not to. You did that with the wine. There was a time when I would have made the purchase compulsively – just because it was on sale. So good that you didn’t! And I love the fact that you asked Vonnie if you could buy the BBQ sauces – even though they only cost $12 in total. The mutual respect that goes into that kind of consultation is going to get you far. You have many week-ends without credit card debt ahead of you. I hope they’re all as great as this first one was!
That mutual respect is one of the positive fruits of our 4 and a half year struggle. It’s OUR money, therefore we should always decide what to do with it together. Maybe we’ll incorporate one of those allowances for each of us that we can use for whatever we want no questions asked – I’ve heard of people doing that. But that would still be a decision together to make that allocation. Together we WILL keep our finances on track!!! I expect to have many great weekends ahead of us. 🙂
Congratulations on digging yourself out of the debt hole! I can only imagine how hard it must have been to pay off $109,000!
So what’s next? It certainly sounds like you’re not going to get into the same position again.
Investments? Developing passive income? IRAs?
A little of everything, Mr. Ikonz – a little bump in our monthly budget, catchup with our retirement accounts, and pumping money into college savings plans for our kids. Keep following along to find out exactly what we do! 🙂
Sounds like you’ve got it under control!
Let’s hope it stays that way, right???
Awesome Travis! Looking forward to that same feeling later this year.
I’m looking forward to reading about your thoughts and reactions to your newly found freedom as well, Brian – keep going!
I remember once upon a time my husband tried to explain to me that it isn’t a ‘saving’ if you are ‘spending’.
Congrats – it must be such a great feeling. If you don’t mind me asking, with having such a strict budget for the last 4 years, are you facing any deferred expenses ie household items, maintenance, replacements, upgrades etc. I often find at the end of a lengthy budget period there is a waiting list to be dealt with next.
Love that piece of advice, Moni….words to live buy. That’s a great question, the one thing that really has been limping along has been our family van – which we just replaced. 🙂 Other than that, we’re lucky in that we built our home 10 years ago (just a few years before entering our DMP) so we didn’t have any home maintenance since everything was close to new. However, we are now entering that time frame where appliances may start to show signs of wear, so those maintenance/repair/upgrade costs may start to show up.
Great job!!! I was quite strict when I came out of my DMP with the NEVER AGAIN mentality. Since that time, I have worked toward a balance of saving, making thoughtful purchases and opting for experiences over things. I will say, having to use my own cash instead of a credit card makes me really contemplate my purchases. Within the last year my husband and I moved and now make twice as much income, but we still live on our old budget – we do not want lifestyle creep to eat away our hard work. If it wasn’t for my time in a DMP, we may not be saving our excess or living with a budget.
We’re in same boat, scarr – had it not been for our experience with the DMP, not only would we still be drowning in debt (or more likely we would have ended up in Bankruptcy), but we wouldn’t have learned the skills to handle our finances correctly. Great thoughts, thanks for sharing!
So happy for you and your family. The best thing that comes with paying off debt is peace of mind, which is more valuable than anything money can buy. Thank you for sharing your story! It was very inspiring.
Peace of mind is HUGE, Ms. Debt Emergency! I love the fact that whether we choose to buy extra things or not, we’ll be fine financially. Thanks for your kind words!
I think you had a great weekend, and made some good choices. Congrats on being debt free!
I’m sure you have suggestions thick and fast on how to spend your newly freed-up money, but I have one to submit for thought. Have you considered upping your grocery budget? And using the increase to buy better quality of what you already buy?
For example, if you already buy chicken, peppers, potatoes, and margarine; you would buy fresher, higher quality chicken ( maybe from a local farm?!), and fresher organic (pesticide free!) peppers and potatoes, and real good-for-you butter instead of fake margarine spread.
Quality food is one of the best investments we can do for ourselves long-term and I encourage you to think about using some of that extra money now to improve even more the quality of the food you’re purchasing. 🙂
Great suggestion, Hannah – upping our weekly grocery budget is actually something we are doing. While I’m not sure if I’m really into the need to buy things from a local farm, or organic items what I am into is buying better foods to make more interesting meals as a deterrent to going out to eat. Although I have to admit, butter is way better than margarine…we made that switch long ago. 🙂 Thanks for your thoughts!
We recently made debt free status as of Dec. 2013 and it feels great! We still do a budget and live frugally because of our business and investing goals. Kudos to you, looking forward to hearing more about your post debt pay off life.
Congrats on reaching debt freedom, Aja! Even more importantly, congratulations on your commitment to continue living frugally to achieve your long term goals. Thanks for stopping by and hope to hear from you often!
Great story! I just read your debt payoff story over on mymoneycounselor.com and wow! Kudos to you guys 🙂
Thanks, Shawna appreciate you stopping by, and for your support!