Glancing at the calendar, I notice that almost half of the month has disappeared in a pile of other people’s tax documents. The brain is just a little crispy right now…
Which is not to say that little has gotten done with our debt destruction progress. Actually, all of a sudden our future debt reports have gotten incredible simple. Not that they were all that complicated to begin with, but by the end of this month, the report would consist of a single line containing our mortgage balance.
That’s right. As of sometime next week, when our medical bill shows up and we write out one more check, we could call up Dave and shout WE’RE DEBT FREE! Well, except for the mortgage, which Dave seems OK with. Which always felt a bit disingenuous to me, when most people’s biggest debt is an oversized mortgage, but that’s a whole ‘nother post.
So, how did we kill off $27k+ in a single month? More awesome side job income? Nah. I didn’t tap those funds at all. Just letting those stockpile up for the time being for next year’s tax bill. Instead, we finally got rid of my father’s gift, which covered the loans taken out against it along with leaving a few thousand extra to work with. We plan to kill off the last of our medical and use the rest as an initial boost to a real emergency fund. OK, and we may blow just a bit of it celebrating.
Anyway, enough prattling on. Let’s take a peak at what is probably the final State of the Debt report:
| Jan 31′09 | Mar 13′08 | Change | |
| EVERYTHING We Owe | |||
| Home Mortgage | 38,265.60 | 38,215.28 | (50.32) |
| Low Energy Loan | 13,670.00 | 0.00 | (13,670.00) |
| Line of Credit | 12,941.28 | 0.00 | (12,941.28) |
| Medical Debt | 2,565.31 | 2,065.31 | (500.00) |
| TOTAL Liabilities | $67,391.87 | $40,229.71 | ($27,162.16) |
So what’s ahead?
The State of the Debt reports are probably done. Seems a bit boring to report something like ‘Yep, made another mortgage payment.’ I fully intend to accelerate paying that mortgage off as quickly as possible, but a monthly report on that progress? Eh. Maybe in passing I’ll mention milestones, but really, I’ll have to see if I can come up with something a little funner to point out…
Like I alluded to, a real emergency fund, in the neighborhood of six to twelve months of expenses. Haven’t sat down to ponder the exact level, but somewhere in there. Our miniature one has come in handy when stumbling blocks appeared along this path, but having something substantial in place should a more extreme emergency make an appearance definitely would be a good idea. Plus, having that to fall back on gives you freedom to take advantage of opportunities you’d otherwise be hesitant to consider otherwise.
More life simplification. In my free time (in other words, not in the last six weeks or so) I’ve been reading quite a bit on life hacking. Think along the lines of books such as:
- Margin by Swenson
- Your Money or Your Life By Dominguez & Robin
- The 80/20 Principle by Koch
- The Myth of Multitasking by Crenshaw
Like too many people anymore, I spend far too much time doing things that add far too little to my life, and far too little on the things that actually do.
I will be correcting that imbalance.

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Wow. I’m afraid to see the word ”tax”. Anyway, this is an interesting article. Thanks for sharing.
Tax season always messes with my brain and always adds much more added stress.
I really need to track my debts every month like you do. I think that it would help me to pay them off faster.
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Dang… I still have to do my taxes and I’m not looking forward to it one bit :/
i’m bummed about taxes, i think i’ll be getting stiffed this year, but no real surprise there. i’ll survive, congrats on being debt free.
That’s a huge accomplishment, especially given the current state of things. What about keeping the mortgage payment for tax purposes? Or is the write off not worth it?
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For us, it is definitely not worth it. We don’t have enough itemize-able expenses to take advantage as is, so the interest paid does nothing for our taxes.
But personally, I would argue that it is never worth it to keep a house payment you can otherwise pay off solely for any tax advantages. Sending $10,000 to the bank in order to save $2-3,000 from being sent to the gov’t doesn’t seem like a smart move to me.
I got fed cash back this year – woo hoo. I guess that shows how aweful 08 was – here’s to winning the lottery!
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wow great post…thanx for sharing and information….really helpful…i have enjoyed reading it….
Each one of us will have similar situations were we lose track of our finances.I really need to track my debts regularly(every other month) like you do. I reckon it will help me pay them up at least on time.
Congrats on going debt free. I just filed my taxes over the weekend.
i think there should be more tax on rich people and government should have some law to restrict the limitations of property so that other people with low finance budget can also fulfill their desires.
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Really great post.i enjoyed it.thanks to sharing this information.also Congrats on going debt free!!cool dear
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Thanks for the nice post. Really helpful.
Beneath that meandering prattle of yours, I knew there’s a mind that is razor-sharp. I envy your self-discipline and one-trackmindedness on paying off the debts and the saving for emergency funds. I wish I could have even just an iota of what you have… Anyway, congratulations!
Every year the same: Tax season always messes with my brain and always adds much more added stress. I always have to pay …
Interesting post, taxes are messing with my brain right now as well. Almost done with mine!
wow great post…thanks for sharing and information….really helpful…i have enjoyed reading it….
This good post with an interesting article. It has got good insights. Thanks for the post.
I don’t think you have them in the U.S., but here in the UK there are a number of tax havens where there is next to no tax – namely The Isle of Man and Jersey. There are also a lot of nice islands in Greece with a similar setup. Maybe a move there could get your liabilities down quicker.
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I recently did the same thing. I have reduced my debt and I am going strickly cash. I believe we must be cash heavy in todays market.
Wow great post. thanx for sharing and information….really helpful…i have enjoyed reading it
Thank you
I don’t care what the economists say about consumers saving instead of spending money. I prefer to save money for the rainy days
tax season is not good for brain of normal people . I could never understand my accountants and person who makes a tax file for me
If I had keep good records like you have in your post i might not have had to pay money back this year. hanks for the post.
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It is really hard to live a life with so much debts. It gives a lot of problems. But it debts are inevitable especially during emergencies that is why …. emergency fund is therefore recommended.
like you, debts and taxes are one of the words that I hate. good thing a dear relative helped us to pay our debts and we will just pay her monthly without any interest…about taxes,hmm…how I wish our government will give us refund…
Judging by the comments here, I guess this comes to mind:
Benjamin Franklin : “In this world there is nothing that is certain except death and taxes”
That’s cool, nice tips.
It is very interesting article.Thanks for sharing..
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debt- just don’t spend beyond your necessary means! easier said than done.hhehe
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