Got The Historic Paycheque!

Boss has always been good at making sure that I have my paycheque before payday. I have never had to worry about that, not once. 

Sometimes cheques are distributed at the end of business on payday itself, but I am always paid on time. 

Then there are times where I will find my paycheque waiting for me on my desk when I come in to work; today was one of those times.

Sure, payday is not until Sunday, and so that is the day of the cheque. So I can’t cash it until Sunday, and even if I could, I don’t want to. Payday is payday and not a day before. 

Since my bank is now closed on Sundays, the wondrous day of TOTAL DEBT FREEDOM DAY is now Monday. 

I did get a look at my paycheque, though, and the happy news is that I will have enough to pay off the Wanda Loan, even if the interest due is higher than I had expected.

That is a load off of my mind, knowing that I am one step closer to making this a reality. One more variable has been looked after, one more detail nailed down.

I will work today, my half day, and then enjoy a quiet weekend in preparation for the big day on Monday . . . TOTAL DEBT FREEDOM DAY!

I will blog on Monday, but it will be later in the day, after the loan has been paid off. After that, off I go to Banff for the week! 

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

The Same-Same Frustration

I am merely days away from paying off the Wanda Loan, the last and largest loan that I have ever had. 

Yet, as I draw close to close this chapter in my life, I am left with the frustrating sensation that very little is actually going to change. 

There shall be no large banquet held in my honour, the mayor will not present me with the key to the city, and there is no house or parcel of land waiting for me . . . 

No prize for me to claim, other than my freedom.

I shall go to Banff, relax, unwind and then come back and carry on. I will still live in my trailer, still park and live on quiet industrial streets or in parking lots.

I will carry on, but this time it will not be to pay the banks their pound of flesh, it will be for me to build my future. 

That will sustain me; it has to, for I have more of the same coming after finally turning the page on debt. 

First things first, first I pay off the Wanda Loan, then I pay off the credit card that I have been living on (of sorts) these past few weeks, then . . . then and only then I shall start the rebuilding phase.

Whist doing more of the same.

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

Hump Day To End All Humpdays!

This is the middle of the week before I pay off the Wanda Loan and go on vacation. This week has been going slowly, yet not. 

I am trying to keep things moving forward by keeping track of the half-day increments that each day ticks forward in. 

(For example today starts with 2.5 days to go, but will end with 2 days to go.) Take a moment to grumble and snort in my direction at 1:30 Mountain Time each day this week. 

I am also focussing on work to keep me occupied (and, you know, stay employed and thereby keep the cash flowing in.) 

Which would be good, considering I am about to enter The Trough.

What is “The Trough?” It is the span of time from when I pay off The Wanda Loan (October 23rd) until the payday of November 22nd.

During those four weeks I will have little money, as the two budgets this upcoming payday’s and the one on November 7th are both tight, but necessarily so. 

Such is life, and nothing I haven’t seen before. The thing to remember and what keeps me going is that The Rebuilding Phase officially begins on November 22nd.

That is when cash starts flowing into my account to stay. That is when I officially start to rebuild my cash reserves and therefore my life.

I am still focussed on this Monday though, as paying off the Wanda Loan is paramount to all of that happening. 

So I will be a good boy and stay frugal, and get through this . . . yet I will pause to celebrate and reflect . . . once in Banff, of course.

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

Countdown To When I Stop Annoying My Co-Workers!

It has begun, since this is the last week before my vacation (and . . . you know . . . TOTAL DEBT FREEDOM DAY!) I have been counting the days . . . half days actually.

Yep, I have been counting down in half-days, the time that I have left until the weekend.

Why half-days? Well, you see I work four full days and one half day (8:30 – 1:30) on Friday. 

Soooo that means that I don’t have 4 full days to work (today included) until the weekend but only three and a half-days. See?

   

That is under the front lip of my desk at work and for the past few months now I have been writing on there (with a dry-erase maker) the number of Months : Weeks to go to TOTAL DEBT FREEDOM DAY .

Yesterday morning it switched to the number of days before the weekend. Shortly after 1:30 in the afternoon it switched to the number of half-days before the weekend.

While my co-workers know that this upcoming Monday is TOTAL DEBT FREEDOM DAY, I have been keeping things quiet from Boss, as I don’t want to rock the boat.

Time will march on and the weekend will come and Monday after that . . . after all . . . you know . . . Monday is . . . TOTAL DEBT FREEDOM DAY after all.

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

In 0 And 1, I’ll Be Done!

IT IS EXACTLY ONE WEEK TO TOTAL DEBT FREEDOM DAY! (Not that I’m bragging or anything . . . that would be uncanadian).

I am still keeping a weather eye on my bank balance as I go through the last week towards paying off my last loan.

Next Monday is a momentous day for me, and I am looking forward to making the day and paying the Wanda Loan off on that day.

I have heard back from the bank and they tell me that the only extra charge will be the interest that has accrued since the last payment.

This means that there are no-last minute, or surprising, fees or penalties in paying out the Wanda Loan.

I can live with paying the accrued interest; that is fair, and manageable.

For me, this week is all about the ticking down until that great day, the day four years, seven years really, in the making.

For I have been carrying debt non-stop for the last seven years. Forgive me if I take a moment to celebrate this great day of finally being rid of them . . . a day of freedom.

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

One Week To My Vacation!

Things are happening quickly (yet also slowly at the same time) as it is now one week before I start my vacation.

Okay, for the weekend that my vacation starts, I will be in my Western Home. I have to wait until that Monday, to do my banking and pay off the Wanda Loan.

That’s fine with me, as it lowers the cost of the vacation, yet I will still have seven nights in Banff. I am okay with that.

I am just taking this moment to note that I only have a week to go, before I can begin to relax. 

For it is important to pause and celebrate the achievement of goals; the large ones are easy to see the need to celebrate.

Celebrating the accomplishment of all goals, especially the small ones, will help set up a pattern of success and drive you to steadily improve your life.

I am eager to start my vacation and yes, finally turn a page on debt.

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

I Have My Freedom Number!

Today is a Wanda Payment Thursday . . . THE LAST WANDA PAYMENT THURSDAY! 

Yes, this is the last regular payment (unless the bank forgets to stop taking payments) that I will ever make! 

The next payment will be my last, and that one will be my made the 23rd (Payday). That will be the payment which will pay off the Wanda Loan.

That means that I will be paying off the outstanding balance. Over the course of the loan that outstanding balance has been affected in two ways.

The first is when I make those large payments on my paydays. 

Those are easy to calculate the effect they make on the outstanding balance. What I pay is how much the outstanding balance drops. 

For the regular payments, those have been harder to predict. 

This is because there has always been a constant shift between the amount that is taken by interest and the amount that reduces the outstanding balance. 

(64.80% of each payment went to interest when I started tracking the loan, to 20.17% of today’s payment). So, yeah, those large, extra payments really made a difference to the outstanding balance.   

I figured out a bit of a formula and used that to predict what the drop would be each time. Well, this time my prediction was spot on. 

(Not bad, if I do say so myself.)

I won’t say the number because the exact number is irrelevant. To some it would be less than they spend on office supplies in a month, to others it may be more than their annual salary. 

The fact is that I know what I need to pay off the loan, and my budget says that I will have that much in my account come payday, (and very little extra).

So this means that what the outstanding balance is today is the amount that I will pay to pay off the Wanda Loan.

Now, it is possible that there may be some sort of fee or other penalty in paying the loan off early.

It is my understanding that there are no such penalties with regards to the Wanda Loan, but I have an email in to the banker I have been dealing with, just to check.

(I hate surprises with regards to finances.)

This is another step towards Total Debt Freedom, and it is good to see that things are falling into place. 

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