I have seen the light, people. For years I saw a mild flicker, and got very close to standing right in front of the floodlight, but then I’d get back into my old habits and that light would fade away.
That light? Being debt-free.
You guys, I’ve been the WORST. Seriously. I’m not one of those people that goes out and buys super-expensive stuff and charges it all to her credit card. At least, not anymore. There was a time though, where I didn’t hesitate to whip out the plastic and think, “I’ll pay later.” It’s a horrible cycle and it’s the main reason I’ve been preaching to my kids the importance of being debt-free. I don’t want them to end up like me: 50 years old and STILL trying to get rid of pointless credit card debt. I think CG gets it. She is 100% on board with cash-flowing college so that she can graduate debt-free and not have her entire first paycheck be consumed by loan repayments. I credit her personal finance class with that desire. My son is taking personal finance this year in school and my hope is that he finishes that class with the same ideals and determination.
I won’t go through my whole financial history, but suffice to say that I have posted on this blog before about coming close to being debt-free, only to fall back into old patterns. I have made MANY MANY mistakes from the time I graduated college until just a few years ago.
But this time, my desire to become debt-free once and for all kicked into high gear (and let’s face it, the consumer debt is all mine – Denis uses his AmEx every month but pays it off every month, too). I committed a couple years ago to stop using my credit cards. I have four of them. At one point all four had balances ranging from small to not-so-small-at-all. And for the most part, Elton John concert tickets and annual Norton antivirus membership renewals notwithstanding, I have stuck to that commitment to stop using them. I use my debit card for 99.9% of my spending now. The result is that two of the four cards now have zero balances and I’m on track to have a third one paid off in October or November of this year. After that, I’ll have one card left, and my hope is to have it paid off in 2020.
I’ve been listening to Dave Ramsey’s podcasts for a while now and while I don’t think all of his advice fits everyone, I think a lot of it absolutely makes sense. I stopped using my credit cards (Baby Step 0). I’ve got my $1K small emergency fund (Baby Step 1) – it’s divided into a few accounts but totals over $1K (and this is outside of the savings that Denis and I have already in our joint account). I’m now working on Baby Step 2: pay off debt. I refuse to let Denis tackle it with me because it’s 100% mine and I am responsible for it – both incurring it, and paying it off. I’ve done a good job so far and the fact that I’ve stuck with the plan for 2 years is an achievement and shows me that I’m really serious this time. I’m not “gazelle intense” as Dave Ramsey requests (his philosophy is that a person goes down to ZERO superfluous expenses and a diet of “rice and beans” to pay off debt as soon as possible – I’m not a fan of that philosophy), but I am proud that come October/November I’ll be down to one credit card left, from the original four.
And that’s where the side hustle comes in: to pay off that last card that much more quickly. I’ve been debating how to earn extra money so that I can throw it directly at my debt and knock it out by spring/summer 2020 instead of fall/winter 2020. The sooner I get out of debt, the sooner I can buy myself a new-to-me car and get that paid off (my goal is to get a car that is cheap enough that I can pay it off on a year’s time once my money is no longer going to credit card payments).
I used to do transcription on the side for a number of years and it was mind-numbing, awful work. There’s nothing worse than working on computers all day and then coming home and working on computers all evening. This time around I’m trying to find a side hustle that doesn’t involve computers at all. And I’m firm in the conviction that I don’t want to do one of those MLM things where I sell something – not my scene at all. Some side gigs I’ve considered or applied for:
- I applied to a retirement community that is looking for an evening receptionist. When my grandmother was alive and living in my area, she lived in a lovely community and I was always a bit jealous of the receptionist. I love older people and think they are fun to be around, and at the time I thought, “That would be a nice side gig.” Turns out, another retirement community in the area is hiring for a very similar position, and only needs part-time evening and weekend help. I immediately sent in my resume with a short note about my love for the aging and my wish to serve them in my own small way.
- A local bakery was hiring evening help a couple nights a week to BAKE BREAD. The listing said they did not want someone who already had a full-time day job because they won’t get enough sleep, but I applied anyway and assured them that the hours they listed fit perfectly with my lifestyle. ESPECIALLY since the gig didn’t start until 7 p.m. which meant I would have a couple hours at home to hang with the family and eat dinner.
- I also applied for a Census 2020 job. That one won’t happen until next year, but it pays well and is a nice short-term gig if I can get it. We’ll see.
- I even asked my daughter if she’d be okay if I got a job at the place she works, but she balked and said no way. I told her no one would have to know that we are related (the place is huge and has literally hundreds of employees who only go by their first names), and she still protested and said no way. Oh well.
- I have a friend that teaches for VIPKid and I am debating whether I want to try that or not. For those who aren’t familiar with VIPKid, it’s an online teaching job where you teach Chinese children how to read and speak English as their second language. There are a couple different organizations that provide this service, but VIPKid is the only one where I actually know people who do it successfully.
- I may apply to a local pizza place to become a delivery driver. I looked at InstaCart or UberEats as a possibility and both look as though they may not be reliable for steady side income.
- Lastly, I even debated seeing if I could get a part-time evening job at the hospital where I used to work, doing patient transport 15-20 hours a week. I haven’t applied though, because I’m not sure the hours would work out (I doubt they’d let me work 5:00 – 10 p.m. a couple nights a week and one weekend day for 6-8 hours).
We’ll see if any of those pan out. I have a couple friends that are keeping an eye out for non-computer related side jobs that fit my schedule. I only need the side hustle last until next summer. Hopefully by then my promotion at work will come through and at that point I won’t need the side hustle anymore because of the projected salary increase that will come with that promotion.
But that’s a year away, and I don’t want to wait that long to really attack my debt and knock it out.
Featured Image Credit: InvestmentZen
