The Payday Nudge

Yesterday was Payday, so that means that after work I did my running around. It also means that I paid my bills and yes even one to myself.

I am referring to my IOU of $1500.00 to the Long Term Savings account for the pausing my savings plan in May to give myself a nudge forward in other areas.

I was not able to pay it all off, or rather I chose not to, but I did take a bite out of it. 

I was able to pay a third of it off this month. (Yay!) I intend to take another bite out of that IOU next month and finish it off in October. 

I will keep my Personal Overdraft fully funded as well as maintain my Mid-Term Savings funded up to its minimum acceptable levels ($1k) as I pay this debt off.

I will admit that I did have to dip into my Mid-Term Savings a bit to do that this month. I was able to keep myself on track, and that is important for me to do.

I should be able to fund that back up past $1K next payday (the 7th) and then again be able to take that bite out of the IOU on the 22nd 

This brings up a point which may be helpful when staring down a seemingly impossible task such as paying off long term debt. 

All you have, all you really have is the cash that you have in hand, and your next paycheque. After that, there are no guarantees; you are not owed any further money.

There are a thousand reasons why you could or would not be gainfully employed anymore, most of which are no fault of your own. (Happy thought I know).

What that means is use what cash you have in hand wisely. Look for a way to somehow nudge yourself towards a better and more balanced fiscal position during this pay period. (As in, don’t wait.)

What keeps me going is not simply daydreaming about my long term goals and wishing they were already achieved. (I do, do that now and again, sure.)

What keeps me going is seeing the small steps that I am making towards these goals each and every payday.

I have my savings plan and yes my RRSP plan, sure, but those are automatic and expected. I treat them like bills that I can’t avoid (like rent). 

The steps that I am talking about are the things that I do with my surplus money, that one extra thing that I can do with this payday to nude myself forward to a better fiscal position.

This is why I really have no extra cash in my budget and won’t for at least 16 months to come. Every last cent that I can spare goes to getting myself to that place of total debt freedom.

That place is achievable, but you have to work towards it, by taking one step each payday, and do so consistently. Trust me, you can do it, you just have to start (as in, now . . . now’s good).

As always: keep your head up, your attitude positive and keep moving forward!