Friday 28 April 2017

To Crack A Twenty, or Not?

Okay, as most of you know, I have a few wallets that I use for my day to day expenses. They are dollar store wallets with labels on them, indicating what fund they hold.

I have one wallet for my Utilities, which is if I have to pay for an RV Dump, or buy Propane. I have others for: contingency, entertainment, treats, and yes Groceries.

This is how I am able to stay on budget because each payday I just refill each wallet up to whatever budget I have set for each individual wallet.

For reasons of simplicity I just use multiples of $20.00. This is because it is much easier to just get a fistful of twenties from the bank and count them out for each wallet. 

What this means is that what I do with regards to those wallets affects the next payday. If I spend $60.00 out of the groceries wallet during a payperiod, then I have to put $60.00 back.

Simple, right? Well, here is where it gets complicated. Since I refill those wallets in denominations of $20.00, anything less than twenty is not counted. 

So, if I actually have $70.00 in that wallet I would still put $40.00 back in it, to top it up to my grocery budget of $100.00.

This means that each time I am about to crack one of those twenty dollar bills I have a moment of pause. I keep thinking how I can get buy and not actually crack that twenty and still make it to payday.

It may seem silly, but it is a little game I play with myself to see how far I can push things. Do I really need to buy more mayonnaise or can I stretch what I have until payday?

Sometimes I will raid the smaller bills from one wallet to fund another. Usually it is the extra from the Utilities wallet to top up groceries (or sometimes Treats).

I can do this because I crack a twenty each time I refill a bottle of propane, yet it only costs me about $12.00. So that extra $8.00 is up for grabs.

So, here I am facing the weekend (when I usually buy my top up groceries) and facing that challenge . . . to economize some more and make it until a week Sunday, buy what minimum I need right from the bank account, or just crack a twenty?

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

Thursday 27 April 2017

Wanda Payment Update

Every second Thursday has become one of my favourite days. That’s because it is a Wanda Payment Thursday! 

I know that you must be thinking that I am nuts (for a myriad of reasons to be sure) but specifically for looking forward to making loan payments.

Why? You ask? Well, this is because I get to see just how much extra of a bite this payment will take out of the principle. 

As I have said before, back when I was only making my regular payments the extra amount taken off of the principle each payday was ten cents. 

Now, I get to see just how much more that amount is, currently it is fluctuating around the three dollar mark!

In fact, today that amount was up to $3.50! ($3.52 to be exact). I always imagine some banker throwing a hissy fit every time this happens . . . it makes me happy.

This goes to show that there are three things that people should learn from this when it comes to loans. 

1. Ensure that your bank will let you make as many extra payments on that loan as you want.
2. Ensure that any and all extra payments go directly to the principle.
3. Regularly make extra payments, even if it is just $50.00 a payday.

If any of you have learned anything from this blog and watching my Wanda Paydown Struggle, those three things should be it.

I will keep trudging along forward and keep a positive attitude about the future, despite the doom and gloom there seems to be with regards to global politics. 

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

Wednesday 26 April 2017

Happiness and Contentment, Without Complacency

I had an odd moment yesterday, something that hadn’t happened in quite a while; I was happy for no reason at all (whilst at work no less).

I will admit that over the past few years at least I have been battling ill and negative feelings about my life, direction thereof, what is in it and what is not.

I have had ups and downs like most, soaring highs and crashing lows. I won’t go into the details but suffice it to say that my life has not been all sunshine and rainbows.

I am working hard to gain, and now maintain a positive outlook along with a genuine happiness with regards to where my life is, at this moment.

This acceptance of my current lifestyle and state of my life seems to indeed be the key to happiness, at least for me. 

Yet at the same time, I am not content to just laze around and live in this trailer for the rest of my life. I have plans, goals, dreams and all manner of things that I want to accomplish.

As I see it my life is not where I want to be but it is not hell or all that undesirable (winter notwithstanding). 

Even that I can deal with, even winter is not all that unbearable, and the bitter cold is only around for four months, if that. The other cold I can do, not forever, but for now, as it is a necessary evil to endure. 

Endure it I will, for it is through the highs and lows of this lifestyle that I will move my goals and dreams forward much quicker than any other way. 

Yet that doesn’t mean that I can’t enjoy the process of steadily improving my life. I will continue to pause and take in or make rather happy moments along the way. 

A partner in the soft and supple kind would be greatly appreciated, but I am not expecting her to arrive anytime soon. 

Neither is my happiness depended on the lady’s arrival. I am happy just as things are, yet I am not content with the way things are, they can always be improved. 

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

Tuesday 25 April 2017

Stereo Woes

One of the other things that I did over the weekend was to look at a few items around Wanda that needed attention. One of those things was indeed Wanda’s Stereo. 

The stereo in Wanda is connected to a set of speakers inside as well as another set outside. As you can guess it is not only a radio but a CD/MP3 player as well as the DVD player for the TV.

Mostly I use it to listen to the radio. Well a few weeks ago the left channel started to drop in and out until it finally just went silent, on both sets of speakers.

The way the stereo is mounted in the cabinet, I can’t take it out with the slideout in, as it blocks it. I can still  get to it to use it, I just can’t take it out.

Well, since I was at my Western Home over the weekend, I could finally pull it out and check the wiring. 

My first suspect (and hope) was that a wire had worked loose in the back. That way, all I had to do to fix it was reconnect the wire and improve the connection. 

No such luck, no matter what I did that left channel still wouldn’t work. Then I did what I didn’t want to do . . . I pulled out the old radio, Wanda’s original stereo.

Since I bought the exact same model, all I had to do was pull the stereo out and connect the antenna, video output and wiring harness.

This fixed it, it is in fact something within that new stereo that has broken, the one I bought back in November.

Now I have Wanda’s old stereo back installed and so sure I have both channels working but the only way I can turn it on and off is with the remote control. (The power button on the stereo is broken off.)

I already called the place that I bought the stereo from but got nowhere, so I sent an email . . . that was yesterday morning.

I will wait until tomorrow morning until I try to call again. I fear I will be told to bugger off and contact the manufacturer on my own.

I am hoping that there is a one year warranty and not some useless ninety day warranty.

We shall see, but the one thing I am not doing is buying another stereo anytime soon, and certainly not this model if I can help it. 

At least I still have tunes, and I am still on track to be Totally Debt Free come October. That is more important than some stereo, after all.

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

Monday 24 April 2017

I Ditched The Bushman Look

Saturday was payday and so that is the day when my budget cycle starts anew. It is the day when I do most of my spending but also when I set aside cash for scheduled payments. 

It is also the day when I know if I can squeak a bit of cash out of my budget for something personal. Most times the answer is no, but this time I decided to opt for a haircut. 
  


I will admit, not that I could hide it, but I also had my beard died. This is a momentous moment for me as it is the first time I have died any gray hair.

I thought about buying a box of the comb in beard colorant but I again decided just to do it in one shot. To my mind, sooner or later people will notice, so why not do it all at once?

The shorter hair and more controlled beard does suit my style, but over the winter I just let it grow, partly as a cost saving measure and also to see if I would like it . . . I didn’t.

The weekend also saw me returning to my Western Home, this time unharassed. I had heard through the grapevine that they were more forgiving with people staying a couple of days and decided to check it out.

I went there after my payday running around and stayed until this morning. It was nice to be able to put the slideout out and enjoy the space and configuration that Wanda is designed to be lived in.

I enjoyed sitting in the sun (when it was not hidden by clouds) and listening to music. This always does lift my mood, of that I can assure you. 

I don’t know if I have “Seasonal Affected Disorder,” I just know that I hate winter and I hate being cold, so I will revel in the sunshine whenever I get the chance.

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

Friday 21 April 2017

Determination, Drive, Destination

I have a goal, I have a plan and I have the wherewithal to see it through to the end . . . yet not end . . . as one journey’s end is another journey’s beginning. 

In truth each of these goals are but a mile marker on the path that is our life, just be sure to remember that you make your path and you choose your destination, so set good goals.

For me, the next mile marker is to be Totally Debt Free. After that comes building up my savings as I start towards buying some land . . . somewhere.

They key part will be, and what keeps me going, is that I will finally have control over my paycheque and actually have say on what goes where and to whom.

I am more fixated than ever now to finish this journey. The warmer weather does help to improve my enjoyment of this lifestyle as everything is nicer when the weather is warmer. 

I can do winter, I can endure it, I know what to do . . . but I hate the cold, almost as much as wasting money.

I will keep going and I will finally turn the page on debt and work on building up my finances and fiscal position instead of building up that of the banks and corporations.

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

Thursday 20 April 2017

Pay Banks, Then Me

Okay, so as I have said before, during this whole journey to Total Debt Freedom my cash has been divided into three categories:

1) What I need to exist (Living Expenses)
2) What I may need to exist (Savings/OOPS Fund)
3) Debt Servicing/Debt Elimination.

As you can imagine this last category has always been the largest one, with the middle being the smallest . . . so far.

This is why, for most of my life and even still, my paycheque is not mine, it belongs to everyone else. 

On payday I feel like the scrawny kid standing with my lunch money before the bullies handing over most of it just to keep them from pummelling me. 

All the while they, and the school authorities, tell me this is “fair” and it is the “free market system” and all that. 

With the help of my Yearly Budgeter, I am able to see what can happen more than a few paydays in advance, up to the end of the year, as a matter of fact.

Of course with each payday budget based on the results of the one before, all going on down the line, the further you go into the future, the less reliable the predictions become.

With that in mind I have predicted that by the end of October I should be able to pay off the Wanda Loan and also have paid for my Truck and Trailer insurance up front.

What then? What do I do after that? I know that I need to put at least two months of savings directly into my RRSP.

This is in order to complete the “payback” from the “loan” I took out of my RRSP to finish my BA a few years back. 

I know that it just has to get done, and that this is the reason for my tax refund troubles. (Don’t get me started on the atrociousness of the RRSP system.)

The question is when to do that and when to start the savings plan for the property (or whatever) in earnest. 

In my original plan I would pay the RRSP off by the end of the year and then start the Property Savings Plan right away in January of 2018.

There is the matter of my Mid-Term Savings which will be decimated by that point, and not to mention the mattress that I have needed for the past year at least.

(As it is now I am pretty much sleeping on plywood.)

The original plan was to just push the mattress off by six months yet and just build up the Mid-Term Savings up by trickle saving . . . over time.

After some reflection, and a timely and wise comment from a reader of this blog, I have decided to use the last two months of this year to build up that Mid-Term Savings and buy the Bloody Mattress! 

I will use the RRSP Grace Period of January and February of 2018 to put the two months worth of savings into my RRSP and have it count for this tax year.

After that I will begin my Property Savings Plan but continue to trickle save my Mid-Term Savings account.

My intent to use this for my large expenses such as Truck and Trailer Insurance . . . as well as for . . . heaven forbid . . . discretionary spending . . . *gasp* . . . (within reason of course).

This will put me in a better and more relaxed frame of mind as I move forward after I have achieved Total Debt Freedom. 

It is a nice plan and any number of a thousand things could derail it, but it is what I am working towards. The nice carrot, as it were, to keep me trudging forwards and be a good boy.

For now though, I still need to continue my miserly ways and work the plan in hand . . . the one leading to Total Debt Freedom. There is nothing but that . . . for now.

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

Wednesday 19 April 2017

How Cheap??

So, I was having a talk with a co-worker yesterday about my journey to Total Debt Freedom and he asked me how cheaply I could live, once I reach my goal.

I wondered for a moment how I could answer that, then I realized that I had already done my payday budgets up to the end of the year.

So, I pulled out my handy yearly budgeter and scrolled to the payday budget the payday after my target of paying off the Wanda Loan.

That was when I got the answer that shocked even myself, my total expenses will, at that point, make up 9% of my take home pay. Savings will make up the other 91%.

Pause and think on that for a moment (as I giggle like a schoolgirl). When I started this journey my savings was non-existent as every penny went to either debts or living.

I was on that treadmill just running to stand still yet not able to stop for fear of falling on my face, and my world would come crashing in around me.

This, my friends is why I am striving so much and going through everything that I am, just so I can get to that 9%.

Once I am on the other side of Total Debt Freedom, I will actually have discretion over my pay and be able to do what I want with it.

Now, that will be to save it, but I could spend on an extravagance if I choose. That is the difference, I will be able to choose what to do with my paycheque . . . all of it.

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

Tuesday 18 April 2017

To De-Winterize or Not?

This time of year one’s thoughts turn to all of the wonderful things you can do now that you are not living in a deep freeze (at least I do).

One of those things is to actually have running water in your taps and . . . shocker of all shockers . . . actually have a hot shower in . . . my own shower.

In order to do this, one needs to de-winterize. What that means is I need to get all of that special water-pipe-safe antifreeze out of the waterlines and get the freshwater system up and running.

It is always a start when my toilet actually springs to life and . . . you know flushes on its own the first time. (Other than the manual way of pouring water down the toilet.)

While it is warm enough to de-winterize there are a few things to consider. 

The first is where you plan to get fresh water from in the future. For me there is one place and that place doesn’t turn their water on until the first of June.

I have learned the hard way that just because I have de-winterized does not mean anything unless you can get fresh water to fill said fresh water tank with.

There is a place in my neighbourhood that does have an RV Dump station but their fresh water lines have been broken for a few years now with no sign of them fixing them anytime soon. 

The other thing to consider is if you wish to gamble on the weather. As we all know the weather at this time of year can be unpredictable and readily take a turn for the cold.

This is not a problem if you have winterized but if you have fresh water running through your pipes, it is because now you have to worry about pipes freezing and cracking said pipes. 

So, for me, mainly for the first reason I will wait to de-winterize until the May Long Weekend where I will also do my spring cleaning and other minor bits of maintenance.

While I don’t know if it makes sense for any of you to de-winterize yet, I can assure you that somewhere in the province of Alberta, it will snow on the May Long Weekend (it always does).

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

Monday 17 April 2017

Make Peace With Your Life

This is easier said than done, especially when you look back on your life and see roads not taken and choices not made and wonder “what if...”

This, of course is not healthy, I assure you, though I am sure I am not alone in indulging in this from time to time.

Perhaps a mild bit of objective reflection in order to learn from your life is one exception to this “not healthy” ban, though this should be done sparingly.

The past is the past and you can’t go back and change it, nor should you, even if you could. 

For it is your choices (both good and bad), your experiences which have shaped you into the person that you are. 

We are all a result of what we have experienced and endured, hopefully we all can find a way to be a better person as a result. 

As of late I have been reflecting on that I have in my life and what I don’t. What I may have and what I most likely will never have. 

I just have to let my previous expectations go and just live here and now, enjoy my life as best as I can, whilst still spending as little as possible.

I may have a partner on this journey of mine and I may not, I just have to make peace with that. I will achieve my goals and I will work on my dreams, that much I know. 

Having someone running beside me to help me (with or without a smaller person or two) would be nice, not necessary but nice.

I will continue to work on letting the past go and embracing this life and lifestyle that I have chosen. 

After all, only six months to go before being totally debt free, and that isn’t bad.

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

Thursday 13 April 2017

The Prospects of Freedom

As the reality of being Totally Debt Free starts to sink in, I ponder what exactly I want to do beyond that. 

I can actually see how one payday budget rolls into the next and the next and so on until that fateful day this Fall when I will finally pay off the last of the Wanda Loan.

This means that it is not some abstract concept or other long term goal, but a tangible and not that far away goal, one that can be achieved.

This also means that I am just wondering what I will do, once the other side of Total Debt Freedom. I will still work, of course and put as much cash as I can into savings.

The real question becomes just what do I really want to do with that fistful of cash, or my life for that matter, once I am free, fiscally and otherwise.

I know that I can’t retire or what have you but it just means that options are, or will, be open to me, ones that weren’t there when I was buried in debt.

Something will come to me, some next grand adventure will find me, but for now, I will keep myself focussed on actually achieving that glorious goal of being debt free.

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

Wednesday 12 April 2017

Exuberance and Prudence

I have been working on this problem of how and by what date to pay off this the last of my debts . . . the Wanda Loan.

This has been a hobby of mine but I suppose focussing on improving your finances is a better hobby than some. 

The date I have tossed around as “Total Debt Freedom Day” has moved around so much that I have come to understand that there is no way to accurately predict when that will be.

The range has been from as early as August 7 to December 22 of this year. The typical date that it has been has been September 22.

I have been trying to squeeze as much as I can out of my budgets in order to move that date ever further up. So much so that my budgets have become unrealistic.

They have been unrealistic in the fact that they relied on me making more than I do. Whilst my paycheque will vary, it won’t vary that much, and not that frequently.

So thus I tried the deficit financing option in order to make up the shortfall. I am not a government, however, so I can’t live in a deficit for long. 

So, this forced me to rethink and rework my budget plan and lower the Large Wanda Payments a bit, in order to free up room in my budget.

The result of this was to push that date back one payday to October 7. The trouble with this date is that I would have to drain all of my funds in order to do this.

This would mean that the following paycheque would be spent trying to refill my cash reserves. Not a smart plan for only one payday, yet in reality, not really.

With the Truck Loan it made sense as those payments were $541.00 and were monthly, so draining finances for that one payday made sense. 

The Wanda Payments are $122.00 bi-Weekly, not all that large in comparison so pushing things a payday or two is less urgent. 

What all this means is that the new date is sitting at (currently) October 22, 2017. Still not a bad thing as this is certainly done before the end of this year (my stated pledge).

The October 22 date will mean that I will be able to pay off my extortion from the Taxman in November and December (RRSP repayment).

This, of course, means that if I stick to my “no vacation until debt free” plan I won’t take a vacation until November . . . and then take another one over Christmas.

So, I will just go somewhere nearby, sometime in August and park my butt for a week. I can still do this and be debt free by Oct 22.

This brings us to the point of this blog entry. While on such large quests as this, you need to find that balance between completing it as quickly as possible and the realities of the situation. 

This is the balance you must strike between Exuberance and Prudence.

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

Tuesday 11 April 2017

The Bank People Know Me

Back in January when I started making extra payments on the Wanda Loan it took on average of 4 -5 business days for it to process.

That means that the cash would sit in my account for 4-5 days until it actually hit the loan. 

Well there is an advantage, it seems, to being predictable and making regular payments on the Wanda Loan.

This last payment I put the notice in after I got paid (as in Friday Evening). Well, I noticed that come late Monday Afternoon that the payment had already been processed.

So, Woo Hoo and good job, to the bank staff! I am now within a payday of breaking that significant (to me) barrier of $20k on the Wanda Loan.

My budgets are still quite tight and I am draining more out of my savings than I had hoped, and will over the next few paydays, which is concerning.

I am also making a few significant steps forward. The last payday was to pay for my May Long Weekend (de-winterizing/spring cleaning).

The payday on May 7th is to pay for Wanda’s Insurance. This next payday is just because my budgets are hopeful and my upcoming paycheque looks dismal.

I have thought about either: 

1) Cutting back on the extra payments on the Wanda Loan
2) Draining down my Personal Overdraft rather than savings.
3) Drain my Long-Term Savings

I have decided to keep trickling funds from my Mid-Term Savings for the time being and just run deficit budgets when needed.

Things will turn around and I shouldn’t run out of savings anytime soon, though. I will carry on and meet all of my objectives.

I will be totally debt free with no contractually obligated payments before this year is out.

I will have my paycheque back (payroll taxes notwithstanding) let’s face it we’re never getting rid of those). 

Monday 10 April 2017

“Normalcy” in Community

I received an email over the weekend from an individual who was elated to find someone else who chose to live life in a similarly minimalistic manner. 

Now, this individual was renting a room and was enjoying the increased cash-flow, savings and yes, just plain freedom that comes with not living in a traditional manner.

This got me thinking once again on the concept of “Normal” and “Mainstream.” For what is “Normal” and “Mainstream” in one country is not in another.

The answer lies in community, and of whatever it is that the masses does, that, for lack of a better term is “Normal” and “Mainstream” at least in that area.

I for one am just happy to shine a light on this minimalistic lifestyle, and show people that there is an option from being eternally mired in debt.

For me, whilst I do like the freedom of choice that will come once I am Totally Debt Free (this year) this journey has always been to not only become debt free but to have a home and land to put it on, paid off, of course.

That is still a few years away, but at least time brings me ever closer to that place and that day when I can surly plant my flag and start to gather a group of likeminded people for a community off the grid and free from debt.

For now, I will enjoy the community of those people online and just let people know, that you are not alone, there are others out there, living a minimalistic lifestyle, just like you.

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

Friday 7 April 2017

Life on Tight Budgets

The one thing that this new year-long budgeter spreadsheet has done is reminded me how each payperiod is connected to the other. 

What happens in one payperiod can and will have ripple effects down through the others. One moment of impulse can put a whole savings plan at risk.

I also can see that one way or another things will come together and that I will be debt free this year, mayhap a payday after I had planned, but debt free this year nonetheless. 

I really don’t do much or have much of a life, but that is kinda the point of this phase, to do and spend as little as possible. 

It is a very short period of time that I have to do this in order to break the chains of debt that is weighing me down.

I need to do this, for me, for my sanity and yes, for my future. 

Time moves forward and you can either use that simple concept to move you towards your goals and freedom, or just ride the currents, enjoy life and go over the waterfall.

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

Thursday 6 April 2017

Spring Cleaning Weekend

It is that time of year again, time to pull all of the things I have stuffed in various nooks and crannies and ask myself why I still have them.

Usually I go to a campground for a weekend, but that is not possible this time, because I am just being cheap.

So, I will do it during the day over the weekend and yes, give Wanda and Trea a good cleaning inside and out.

Who knows I may even put my bike together again and go for a ride (or finally sell it).

The point is that this is yet another sign of the warm weather and an annual tradition for me. I actually woke up to a house that was 12C and I didn’t run the furnace at all.

So, things are indeed looking up and I am steadily plodding forward towards that glorious day that shall come this very year: Total Debt Freedom Day.

Not to mention I will also be BBQing this weekend as well. 

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

Wednesday 5 April 2017

Do I Count?

Apparently it is census time here in my fair city and it is times like these that I wonder how and if I should bother to try to be counted. 

I pay my taxes, at least those that I am asked to pay. I pay payroll taxes, sales tax and yes gasoline taxes, to name a few. 

The one thing I don’t pay, either directly or indirectly (through rent) is property tax. So I suppose in the eyes of the city I don’t exist nor do I count (at all).

Due to how I am living I don’t think the city enumerators will find me and even if they do, I don’t know if my answers will help them at all. 

After all I am single, live alone, have no kids and don’t pay any property taxes. So why would they bother to count me?

Still, I am a person, just a person whose life is in a bit of limbo as I correct a fiscal situation that should have been corrected years ago.

Who knows, I may call up the census people and give them the address of where I usually park as my “residence” and try to get counted, just for fun.

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

Tuesday 4 April 2017

The Struggle Against Spending

We all have it, that impulse to buy “just that little thing” and I am no different. We all have things that we want to accomplish, just like I do.

We know that if you buy “that little thing” then you will pull your plans off course. For me it is even worse as I am in the phase where I have incredibly tight budgets.

I can and do make them work, and I do treat myself now and again. I just don’t buy anything that I don’t absolutely have to.

To placate myself I have a list of things that I would like to buy, but most certainly are not in the budget. 

I may get around to buying a few things off of that list after I am totally debt free. A new mattress will likely be the first. I am pretty much sleeping on a sheet of plywood.

I stay motivated by looking at my goals and reminding myself why I am doing this, why I am going through all of this.

I stay on track by staying motivated and reminding myself that the goals that I have set out for myself are more important than that shiny new thing I want now.

So I make do with what I have and keep trudging forward, constantly looking to the future the better future I am building for myself as I muddle through today.

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

Monday 3 April 2017

Staying Focussed

With large changes that happen over time, such as my journey to Total Debt Freedom, sticking with it is one of the larger challenges. 

When things get tough or you just get a bit down, it is far too easy to just give up and end your quest. For me, staying motivated involves a few different strategies. 

One method is what you are reading right now. I started this blog to publicly state the lofty and seemingly unobtainable goal of Debt Freedom. 

For me by standing up and telling the world (or at least the five people who read this blog) what I was doing it is a way to force me to keep going (public humiliation and all that).

Another way that I stay focussed is to take time now and again to remind myself of how far that I have come, of what I have achieved. (In order to gain confidence not arrogance.)

The other way is to look up at various motivation sayings and try to remind myself that I can do this, because of all of the things that I have done.

Yet another way to stay motivated is to look up at my goals all of which are posted above my fridge with a deadline date. 

I see my step by step plan to move myself towards my goal of not just Total Debt Freedom, but moving and living beyond Total Debt Freedom.

I know that with each low point that I get, that this too will pass, and that I must keep going for the sake of myself and all of the people I hope to help after getting my land. 

That is a story for another blog in the future, for now I will just keep trudging forward down these last number or months towards my next milestone: Total Debt Freedom.

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