Life After Debt

Geez, it's been an entire week since my last post. I never intend for so much time to pass in-between posts. My weeks are running together so much that sometimes when I say yesterday, I really mean last week. When will it slow down? Hmph.

Okay, life after debt.

So, last week I was chatting with some friends/co-workers. During our conversation one of them mentioned something about it being payday. Lifting my head and raising my eyebrows, I said "payday? when, today?" What do you know, it was payday and I didn't even realize it. What a blessing that I can go almost the entire day and not even realize that my wages have been paid. Honestly, since I paid off all of consumer, car and student loan debts, life after debt has been kind of ... uh ... boring. My finances are pretty much on auto pilot. I don't even balance my checkbook anymore. The same expenses go out every month at the same time, not much changes from month to month.

When I was in the trenches of paying off debt there was always something exciting on the horizon. It seemed like every couple of months brought about a new accomplishment - the Visa, the MasterCard, the store credit card, the car loan, the student loan, the 1 month e-fund, the 3 month e-fund, the 6 month e-fund, etc. Now that I've done all of that, it takes much longer to get to an accomplishment. The next item on my list is to pay off the mortgage. If my aggressive target is met, I'll do so in 3 years. If I get close, 5 years, and worst case 7 - 10 years. Trust me, I'm not whining or complaining at all. I'm very thankful for what I've learned and how I was able to apply it to my life. It's just that I spent so much time getting out of debt that now I'm kind of bored, I need some new goals, a new focus. Does that make any sense at all? Although I've never been in this situation I think it's probably similar to what some parents feel when they initially become empty nesters. You put all of your energy and time into something (i.e. the kids) and now that they're gone, you have to reinvent or rediscover who you are and what you want to do.

Some of the things I thought I wanted to do when I no longer had debt, I don't want to do anymore. Funny how much I wanted certain things when I couldn't afford them and now that I can I have no desire to obtain them. So that I don't mislead you, I do have some things that I'm working towards (i.e, basically switching careers) so I'm not totally without any focus. However, it's not the same. I'm goal oriented by nature so it's only a matter of time before I come up with something. Maybe I should train for a 1/2 marathon. Naa, it's too hot in G.A. right now! Okay, I'll find something. Any suggestions?