The Year of Debt Repayment

Anyone I've spoken to in the past year has surely heard me mention "THE YEAR OF DEBT REPAYMENT", said in a slightly ominous voice, inevitably in conjunction with some complaint about how I can't go out/attend that sporting event/see that concert/go on vacation/upgrade my 2007 wardrobe, buy that nice fill-in-the-blank, etc. etc.  In 2012, Jeff and I decided to buckle down and pay off a huge loan we had taken out from the Bank of Brian and Gwen (as my mom named it).  My parents have a kick ass line of credit with a prime-ish interest rate, so instead of paying the inevitably higher interest rates offered to those who hold mortgages on two homes, multiple credit cards and student loans (read: Jeff and I!), my mom generously offered to pay off our high interest debts if we paid her back (with interest, obvi), in no set time frame. Shout out to my mom here - she's great!!!!  And to my hubs, probably a more private person with his money/business than I am.. whereas I unabashedly told anyone who would listen all year about how skint we were and am now blogging about it in detail.  Thanks Jeff!  In defense of my blathering, I do hope that I might inspire someone (anyone reading this! not anyone in particular :)) to buckle down and just get 'er paid off if you have a debt that's bugging you.. read on for details!

So. 2012. We buckled down.  Hard.

It has been a tough year.  There have been times where I've wanted to cry/have cried over the frustration of living on a shoe-stringier-than-usual budget.  We've had our disagreements over the best way to spend our paltry amount of "free" money.  We put a total hold on home renos & redesign (which we love to do! has been so irritating!!).  Jeff tried several low budget (unfortuantely unsuccessful) solutions to fixing his car's radio when the FM radio gave out, and eventually gave in to listening to TALK1010 on his way to and from work on his 35 min each way commute each day (trooper :)).  We've filled a grocery cart and then put back things we didn't REALLY need.  We have spent many a night pj'd (jp'd) out on the couch, just keeping it close to home to save bucks.  I have lived inside an excel spreadsheet called "budget" and worked 2 positions at my job with only minor bellyaching (rising in pitch at times, for sure, though) because the inflated paycheque meant we could e.g. do Christmas right instead of making homemade gifts (which has definitely happened in the past!).  Don't get me wrong, we've always been somewhat thrifty (we really stretched ourselves to get into this house), so there were some parts of this year that were old hat for us, but in general 2012 was just a bit pinchier and squinchier than usual, with occasional (frequent?) moments of "AUGGGH I CAN'T DO THIS FOR ANOTHER 11/8/6/4/3 MONTHS!!!!!!".

We found ways to "pretend rich", like the weekend we spent test driving Nissan 370Z's.  We do plan to buy one eventually... like in a couple of years.. but the guys at the dealerships didn't need to know that! :D  That car goes fast! Weeee!!! We relished gift cards (esp. Red Lobster - thanks Doreen!!!) that were given to us as wedding or birthday gifts, and made big shows of those nights out - lots of anticipation, dressing up nicely to go out, and always reflecting back on how great it was to have had such a great meal for free!  And we made plans for 2013, like a 2 week road trip to the east coast.  Planning it in 2012 was nearly torturous, wishing we could go right then, but I just kept thinking "it will get here eventually".  2013 seemed like it would never arrive.. but somehow, here I am, New Years Eve eve, and the last cheque to my parents is written and sitting in my dad's hands, dated for Jan 1, 2013.   And then we're free and clear!*

*disclaimer: we are not free and clear.  we still have 20 years left on a gigantic mortgage, plus lots of little debts tucked here and there, but the payments are totally manageable and the lenders are not close family members who you see frequently and tend to discuss your financial biznatch with on a regular basis over dinner ;)

I'm glad we did it.  It was a tough slog for sure, but like with most things that are challenging, they are usually worth it in the end!  My mom is convinced we're going to stop seeing her and calling now that we have "no use" for them.  She's silly.. they still have that cute dog I love to play with so I'll definitely still visit (HAHA kidding mom).  I hope now she will understand how much I value our relationship fully and completely for what it is, not for anything to do with money.  But my parents deserve such a huge shout out for supporting me through school (undergrad and post grad), helping me purchase my first home, helping pay for our wedding, giving me random "helps" along the way (e.g. my mom's gift of $ this summer to go buy nice dress pants for myself which I had been refusing to do for 5 years!  no doubt she was mortified when I told her I was going to be doing an acting manager job and wearing 5 year old dress pants for my occasional fancy meetings - my goodness!! ;)) and most of all this debt situation which has been countless thousands of dollars over 3.5 years.  They are simply the best and I hope their spirit of generosity is something I can incorporate into my own life.  This may be easier now that I'm at a point in my life where I don't have to shed tears if the dinner/grocery/gas/hydro bill is more than I budgeted for.... (frequent, frequent happening! .. the bills.. not the tears.. well.... :P).

And, as with many things in life, when it rains, it pours!  Jeff's investment property in Stratford (the house he lived in when he met me that he was never able to sell after I wooed him east to Guelph to live with me) which has caused him much grief and headache, and our budget much fluctuation and red periods over the past 4 years, finally sold, just this past month (closes March 1, 2013). Finally, the blood/tears/sweat equity that Jeff has truly earned by being a reluctant landlord in a town full of ruffian renters will be in our bank account and Jeff never has to go to Stratford again (his request - he said maybe we can go see a play there somtime but not until at least 2018 when the post-traumatic landlord disorder wears off). In addition, our mortgage renewal unexpectedly turned up in the mail this month (I mistakenly thought our 5 year term had reset when we moved in here 3 years ago.. turns out it was 5 years from the start of the term which was Jan 2008 - booya!) and we were able to grab a great rate from RBC (figured I'd plug them.. they have been super!) of 2.99% for a 5 year fixed.  Since I secured my original mortgage in late 2007 (happy economy = interest rate of 5.89% = aggh!), blended it in 2010 when we moved (recovering-ish economy - rate blended to about 4.8%) and didn't think I'd ever be able to take advantage of today's sweet interest rates, missing them entirely until it was time to renew in 2015, I am pretty stoked!  We are going to try to pay down an extra chunk of the m-gage each year to try make a dent in the principle (do you ever look at that interest/principle summary at year end?? omg.. terrifying how much goes to interest!), but it's nice to know that those nasty monthly payments will be even lower than we'd planned for the next year (and the next 5!).

So what now? I am going to bid farewell to Gail Vaz-Oxlade, host of 'Til Debt Do Us Part, and my personal guru for tough love, budgets and debt repayment.  I am going to tuck away my chequebook and pen and write no more cheques to the Bank of Brian and Gwen.  I am going to eagerly await a lifetime of travelling that starts with our east coast roadie in August.  I am going to try to LOOK AWAY from my budget (I still have one for 2013, but this budget has some magic built in that I call "wiggle room"!!!).

For the first time last night, when I got a dinner bill that was crazy expensive (I blame the stout-drinkin' boozer I married!), I leaned over and whispered to Jeff: "it's ridiculously expensive.  and I don't care." with a huge grin.  Cheers to loosening the purse strings, loosening the belt, unfurrowing my brow, taking a big deep sigh of relief and saying GOOD-FREAKING-BYE to 2012 and The Year of Debt Repayment.

Cheers to 2013, a happy new year indeed! :)