I forgot if I wrote about this already but I’m going to do so now regardless. At the beginning of this month, when I got my paycheck, I was able to pay off all my credit card bills in full. This is the first time I’ve been able to do that since last September, as it was then that I put that fall’s tuition on one of my cards, and thus began the months of credit card debt. When I got my car, I was offered an interest-free credit card from the bank as well as a balance transfer from another card, so I took the opportunity to move the tuition bill from a rather high-interest card to one that had no interest, thus extending the amount of time I’d have to pay off the balance. Up until that point I was really afraid about my financial situation because I knew I wasn’t going to have a job anymore after January, so I had no income in which to pay anything off.

In any case, without this becoming too detailed, what ended up happening was that I was finally able to clear up all of my credit card debt at the start of this month. Which, in turn, means that I have no educational debt whatsoever to worry about. The only outstanding debt I have right now is my car loan, which I’ll be paying for a total of five years, and of course this is an acceptable form of debt because I’m building my credit with it. This is really amazing when one thinks about it because it is extremely rare for anyone to leave college without significant financial obligations to any number of places that offered them money to pay for their education. (Including one’s parents, if that’s the case.) With the help of a couple scholarships I was able to pay for my entire education myself. My parents did chip in some money along the way when I first had to pay for housing but by the end I didn’t need their help at all. This really is a truly amazing thing, because so many people have student loans haunting them for years after graduation. But my choosing to go to a state school close to home helped matters significantly, as did holding down one or two or even three jobs at any given time, and in the end I had everything completely paid for six months after graduation. That’s almost unheard of for someone whose parents didn’t pay their whole way through school. I am truly lucky. Sometimes I look back and think about how much more fun I would have had in college if I hadn’t had a job all the time, but I also would have been unbearably poor and I wouldn’t have gained the professional work experience that I have. I’m quite far ahead of many of my peers for that reason alone.

I really have been thinking about money a lot recently since I’ve started selling things on eBay and saving for my trip to Australia. First of all, I’m so tired of being tied down to things, to material possessions, to the point where buying things I don’t need actually sickens me. (Yes, I have to make things overly dramatic or it makes no impression on me.) I want to get rid of things I don’t want or need anymore, and try living a more simple existence. Thoughts of selling my computer and getting a laptop have crossed my mind, but I doubt that will happen because there are just so many advantages to having a full desktop machine, and I do have the space for it. Nnngh. Technically I have 4 computers right now, although I only keep my main one on. That’s just excessive. I have 3 video game consoles now (also excessive.) I have way too many DVDs although I’ve sold about 10 or so on eBay in the past week. My CD collection is out of control. I mean, there is just way too much clutter in my life.

I used to think my mother was crazy for not wanting to own things (she never buys anything besides food) but now I’m beginning to understand the attractiveness of a simple life. In all honesty it took falling in love to convince me that I didn’t need things to be happy. When I realized that I could sell every possession I own and still be blissful, I began making changes right away. I no longer have this need for *stuff*. Sure, I still have the urge to buy things I want (such as expensive DVD sets and the like) but I can always ask for those things that I really want as gifts. I’ve gone from materialistic mega-shopper to someone who only buys consumable necessities (namely, food and toiletries.) The only exceptions I’ve made to my no-spend plan have been things that directly benefit me in some way, like the scratch repair kit I bought for the discs I was selling on eBay (a wise investment) and the packs of blank DVDs so I can backup and archive my computer before I reformat. Otherwise the majority of my spending has been shampoo and soup. Literally. So I feel that I’m doing very well for myself considering what a dramatic change has taken place.

Actually a lot of changes have happened in the last while since I made up my mind to start saving money. I’ve continued eating well and exercising regularly, and my body feels a lot better than it has in a long time. I’m nearly back down to the weight I was in high school, which is awesome. I feel a lot more confident about myself and what I’m capable of since I made up my mind I was going to go to Australia despite the price and whether someone came with me or not. Thus far I’ve done everything by myself even though I’ve wanted help and companionship so badly (getting proper documentation to get passport, etc) which proves to myself how serious I am about this endeavor. It would have been so easy for me to just cop out and say “Oh, I can’t afford the ticket…I’m too scared to go find the passport office…I refuse to travel alone…” etc because I’m excellent at making excuses to get out of things that scare me. I have no problem admitting I am scared shitless about this trip. There are so many things that are totally new and unknown to me, and I have most certainly shed tears over them on more than one occasion. However, the repercussions of not going are far more devastating. I do have the money for one thing, I do have the time (I’ll be between jobs then), and all the Aussies I’ll be visiting have holidays during that time. This is the perfect opportunity. I get to spend an entire month with the person I love most in this world and some of the best friends I’ve ever made in my life. Who knows when I’ll ever have a chance like this again? Perhaps never. So that’s why I would be a total fucking MORON not to do this. So I’ve decided to put my fears to the side and say fuck the cost, because any amount of debt I’ll slide into (temporarily) will be so worth it because the experience will be mind-blowing.

So I’m facing life with a confidence that I’ve never felt before…as I have very clear-cut goals and deliberate methods of achieving them, all under my own power and volition. I’m beginning to feel a bit more like an adult because I’ve made these decisions independent of other people’s influences. This is all me. And God bless my parents, whose only response to my announcement that I’m going to Australia was “Are you going to have enough money to move to Portland then?”

I really am truly happy right now.