I have absolutely no idea what my reaction should be right now – I mean, I’m thrilled that I’ve DESTROYED my credit card debt – which was in the $40,000 range just a few short years ago. But I’m not out of debt debt just yet (rhyme not intended), as I have just graduated from my MBA program and have a ton of student loan debt coming my way.

Let’s be honest though, if you’re going to have any type of debt – student loan debt isn’t a bad one to have. First, I have the degree. Second, it’s a very low interest rate – which will allow me to throw as much extra money as possible towards the principal.

As soon as I have all details for the new student debt – yes, I’m still paying off my undergrad debt as well – I’ll add it to the tally and we’ll start chopping that down as well.

For now though, I’ve got a lot going on which will definitely change my situation (updates to come) and I need to start determining what my priorities/goals are regarding wealth creation (e.g. house, stocks, retirement accounts, etc.).

I’ve been a prisoner of my credit card debt for WAY to long to just sit back and not make up for lost time.

It’s been a while since I last posted an update, but that doesn’t mean that I’ve stopped plugging away at my debt – in fact, I’m now closer than ever to being debt free!

True, as soon as my credit debt is gone it’ll be time to start paying off new student loans – but that’s nothing compared to the prison I built for myself by opening too many cards and being too irresponsible with my credit. Which, by the way, I’m happy to report that my credit rating has been rising drastically. Almost back in the 800s.

Overall a very nice bump in my net worth numbers this past month based on some consistent debt payments and a healthy boost from my stocks, retirement accounts and savings.

Posting this very late, but wanted to get it up here in order to track month-to-month. No big news, overall just a solid bump in net worth and another month of paying down that debt.

Another month gone – another year actually – and my overall net worth continues to slowly rise. This new year should be the year that I completely pay off my credit card debt, but in the short-term I’m happy that my company’s little stretch of trouble is over. My pay has been brought back to what it was a few months ago and I’ve taken the opportunity to slightly increase my 401(k) contribution a few percentage points before I get used to having all of my paycheck back.

Beyond increasing my savings, I now can increase my debt pay down and try to kick this thing into gear and start this year right.

An increase to my overall net worth this month, though I have lost a bit of momentum due to some unexpected pay cuts at work (in addition to a now higher cost of health/dental benefits). But I still have my job and will make due until things are restored/improved.

One thing is for sure – this situation has just proven how great it is that I initiated a holiday gift fund that I pay into each month. If not for that, I would need to dip into savings or credit cards or suffer a sad and awkward Christmas of unequal/embarrassed gift giving.

October closed out fairly strong – had some modest gains in the asset rows, while continuing to chip away at my credit card debt. During last month’s post I mentioned that I was considering another increase to my 401(k) contribution. Well, thankfully, I took time to consider it. Recently, some cuts were announced at work. Not only cuts to people, but cuts to pay and benefits. Those cuts go into effect during November, so I’ll feel it soon enough. I’ve already sketched out some budget adjustments and have started scaling down my automatic payments – both to credit cards and to my savings – as a way to brace myself for the new number on my paycheck.

Obviously not the best news for someone trying to pay down their debt – especially when holiday season is fast approaching (e.g. gift giving). Luckily, I put away a little each month for holiday gifts, so I will hopefully be able to weather the storm…assuming it will pass quickly.

A big boost to my overall net worth, thanks to a nice month in the asset columns. Especially the upswing in my 401(k). In fact, lately I’ve been fighting off the urge to increase my contribution again. A part of me sees this as a great opportunity to increase my shares while the market recovers and grows. However, the other part of me is telling myself to slow down and focus on paying down that debt first. Then focus on building up my retirement.

I’ll go into this more in my next post – but there are definite arguments to both sides.

The start of school and some car repairs ate into my cash/payouts this month, but overall I’m still making good progress and my net worth continues to climb upward. A nice surprise this past month was to see some value return to my 401(k), even though my Roth IRA and Investment accounts didn’t do so well. Regardless, that’s not my focus right now – just trying to passively save/build those up while I attack the debt.

July proved to be a productive month – a rise in the temperature matched well with a drop in the overall debt. As you can see in the column to the right (–>), I’ve now passed the $10K mark in payoff for this past year alone and I’m hoping to keep chugging right on to zero before the end of year 4 (Oct. 10 – Oct 11), which matches well to when I’ll be wrapping up my MBA and moving on to the next phase of my life…marriage? kids? house? Who knows?

It’s definitely daunting, but I’m going to try and keep my head down and focus on reducing the debt, since losing that will make all of those other things more possible and more enjoyable.