Wax and wane

I feel like my motivation is waning. Doesn't that seem wrong, that it should be tapering off right now when I've finally got my balances so low and am so close to my goals? It's irritating, but it's still true. I can feel the difference. I'm wanting to be lazy and go out to eat, and it's been awhile since I had one of those "$0" days. I am not out wasting money on useless crap or anything, but I'm definitely not feeling as fanatically devoted as I was. Or maybe I am when I think about it, but I'm just not thinking about it all the time.

I am not surprised that this is happening, really... I can be dedicated to something over the long term, in a rational way, or I can be insanely devoted to something for a short amount of time, but then get bored. This is why, early on, I told everyone I had to be so good. "You're doing great," some people said, "it's okay to reward yourself with a little splurge." Or "well you have to have some fun in the meantime, or you'll go crazy!" But really, I had to have NO fun and NO splurges and be REALLY good in order to get it down as fast as possible. That way I wouldn't run out of steam while the balances were still high enough to keep me in trouble.

Because I can see the light at the end of the tunnel, however, I know that I will be able to persevere! (I also started reading the Women in Red threads again on MSN, and even joined one called the "Women in Red Racers" where everyone is racing to pay down chunks of debt. I think it will be really motivating to get me through this last little bit! But more about that in a later post.)

So back to the update:

I am now down to one credit card (locked at 2.99% for life) and a debt I owe to my mom. That's it for consumer debt, which is my focus at the moment. We'll worry about school loans later (especially since I have to find out if there is a pre-payment penalty on them anyway).

Last cc: $1000
Mom: $4200

Total paid off since November 16, 2007: $22,085.52