Small Successes

I love them.  I love the small steps.  I think I like them more than a bunch of big successes because you tend to get wrapped up in those, caught up in the moment of them.  The little ones are the under dogs, the silent heroes.  The little ones give you the motivation to keep going without distracting you from the big picture while still giving you that feeling.

We actually completed our third goal ahead of our second.  Not by much, but Hey..I'll take what I can get, when I can get it.

We paid off a student loan!  Should I say it louder?

WE PAID OFF A STUDENT LOAN!!!

I just want to say that I hate those fucking things.  They hang over your head from the minute you graduate, quite possibly until the day you die...if you have a graduate or PhD.  I don't.  My husband doesn't, but we have quite a bit in student loan debt, you would've thought one of us did.  I am glad to say that three of them are fairly low balances.  Well, now two.  We did just pay one off.  Can't forget that.

FINALLY!  One step that will actually make a bigger difference.  No more $100 a month going out for that one..we can apply it to another and get that one paid off early as well.  You wouldn't think $100 a month is a lot.  I'm here to tell you that there were many, many times that $100 could've kept us above water.

I can't even say how happy I am now that we have all of our spending under control and all of our bills up to date..and are even making progress at paying them off. 

Yes, I work harder.  I work a LOT more days...it makes me grumpy sometimes.

But...

I sleep better, I even woke up with a smile on my face the other day.  I honestly don't remember when, or if, that has ever happened before.

I laugh more.  I'm not under this horrible weight that is constantly crawling around on my back and using it's long, spindly fingers to grasp onto my brain and hold tight.  Always there, always biting and growling at me.  Keeping me awake when I should be sleeping, keeping me down when I should be enjoying my family.

The kids don't see it yet but they will.  They will when I'm able to just drop everything this summer and go buy them something just for the hell of it.  I will too.  I'll go get them something frivolous and fun...and reasonably priced, but still fun.  They've helped and sacrificed for this as well. The deserve to see it..and since I don't give my kids access to my bank account, they'll have to settle for something a little more materialistic.  I have a feeling they won't mind.

This small success showed my husband that even though we STILL don't have any money in the bank, it's not because we've blown it and need to find more.  It's because we've made progress and are seeing a difference.  He was having a hard time seeing the results, seeing that things really have changed.

Thank goodness for small successes.  This will have me floating on cloud 9 until we hit the next one.  Soon.