A lot has changed for me in a year. Thanks to Facebook's addition of memories, I see where I was last year, and multiple years before that. I used to be pretty lame on social media and studied (or talked about studying) a lot.
Now, I work hard for a company and people I'm starting to love. I have friends and family who are still around from the good old days. I also have changed a few of my habits.
Last year, I bought myself a necklace with part of my tax refund money. It is the first "real jewelry" I've ever bought. It is real pearls and real white sapphires. It's a classic piece and I adore it. I'm glad that I did it in the long run, because I got it for about $200 and it was originally priced at about $1,000.
This year I resisted the urge to splurge, but today I was even more proud of myself.
I saw that mint.com updated my transactions and there was a deposit for $835.00 from the IRS. I spent the morning running some numbers of what I need to have in my account before payday on Friday. I decided to put $478.89 to my auto savings account and $300 to my student loan savings account. It feels so liberating to have money built up again for my car emergencies. Yes, I know that $800 is the minimum I should keep in that account with all the driving I do, but if an emergency came up I could not put extra towards loans that month.
I'm getting anxious to pay off more of my loans again. I may pay off this almost $4,000 loan in $1,000 chunks. It would be great to see the progress quickly.
What's changed the most is how I feel about my decisions. I'm excited and addicted to making right financial decisions. (Now I'm hoping I can start tricking myself in other aspects of my life.) The nights I spend a little too much out with friends or splurge on spring flowers I have a tinge of heart beak, since I know my debt will be around just a little bit longer. When I bought that necklace a year ago, I knew I shouldn't really do it, but I felt exhilarating. Now, when I was in the same situation this year I made a more productive and successful choice.
How have you grown in your decision making? What makes you excited to keep going?
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