Student Loan- Amount Due: $0.00

All I can tell you is that I woke up this morning planning to write that we would have to wait until Friday to pay the balance of my husband's student loan off.  We still owed $2,632.56 of the original $30,000 loan amount (it's been a long year of sacrafice getting to this point). I was a little bit disappointed because I wanted the symbolism of sitting at the Thanksgiving table and having this paid off debt to be thankful for.  Maybe that seems a little bit silly, but to me it mattered.  Anyway, when going over our account and uncleared debits, I was a little bit uneasy about paying off the debt without actually having enough to cover it in the bank.  It would probably be fine as we were scheduled to get a direct deposit on Friday morning, but you never know what could happen and I didn't want to risk bouncing anything.

When I checked our account after lunch, I was ecstatic to see that our direct deposit went through early because of the holiday.  I was so excited.  I actually waited until around 3:30 to send the payment. I wanted my hubby to be with me so we could push the send payment button together. He really couldn't believe it was finally over.  He has been paying Chase for 12 years on this account.  They charged him outrageous amounts of money in interest charges and damaged his credit rating.  We recently found out that his fico score improved 120 points over the past year because of our efforts with this debt.

This brings our total debt paid off to $81,657.82.  That's an astounding accomplishment.  I can't believe we actually did it.  We are not done yet, but we are getting closer.  I will announce our next financial goal tomorrow night.  I think it is fitting since it will be Thanksgiving and that's when we started this goal last year.  For tonight I will dream about our $0.00 balance that I am so thankful for.  What are your financial goals for your family? Where do you want to be 1 year from tomorrow?  I challenge you to come up with at least one goal to work on. You could choose to pay off your credit cards, a vehicle or a student loan.  You could choose to fund your children's college account.  It's up to you. You could start off with a smaller goal to build a small emergency fund should you need it. What will you choose? Don't limit your future? Live for today, but don't neglect to plan for tomorrow.