in a tough economy, any financial milestone can get you giddy.  whether it's paying off your credit cards (or getting them down to the 4-digit numbers), paying your rent on time, feeling financially sound enough to make a big purchase, it's all worth celebrating...

i am now happy to say that i'm debt-free! 


"peanut" and i give each other high fives today... and reminisce the first few days of her existence from when i lived in hoboken, pre-parallel-parking bumper scratches, pre-deer-smash, pre-hubcaps-disappearing, pre-fender-bender-on-the-4th-day....

with my eyes set on my finances when i graduated, i was able to pay off my student loans in just a couple years, but when my car decided to poop out on me, i was faced with a tough decision.  i was out in scary new jersey, hundreds of miles from anything i was comfortable with, and had to get a "new" car all on my own.  there was nobody to ask advice where to get my car serviced, there was nobody to ask advice on the best dealership, there was nobody to sit with me when those scary car salesmen try to get more money out of a "little girl."  the ultimate decision was to get a brand new car, the safest bet when i was out here on my own.  who knows if i actually got a good deal on my car, but at least i'm DONE paying for it! and i paid it off over a year early.  there's certainly a special satisfaction for knowing i paid for the car all on my own....

i had a vision for being debt-free in my early adult life, and i did it.  boom.

now i can set my sights on bigger and better things.... or, you know, just save some money?

cheers.
jenn

usually weekends are reserved for sleeping in, drinking endless cups of coffee, relaxing.... this weekend I woke up to an alarm both mornings, got in a nice 3.5 mile walk before kickboxing, stayed out on the lower east side until the wee hours of the morning, and discovered new jersey's obsession with apple picking at alstede farms (it really IS a fun little outing!) 

pair it all with good friends and amazing weather and I couldn't have asked for a better weekend!  well, except for that hangover that lasted halfway through apple picking (damn those "all you can eat AND drink" sushi places)
now we've got 14 pounds of apples to eat before they go bad.  apple butter and apple pie are in our near future!!  does anyone have special tips or tricks for the BEST apple pie or butter??

how was your weekend?!

cheers.
jenn