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