Climbing Out of Debt

Another month down and I'm pleased that the numbers show that I'm making some progress chipping away at my debt. The credit card pay down combined with a decent increase my emergency fund due to the renewed focus have my net worth being a thousand dollars better than last month. Still a negative number - but I'm starting to see light at the end of the tunnel and hopefully am picking up some momentum. At least that's what it feels like - which is good.

My tax refund should be in my account by the end of this month. If all goes to plan, this should materialize as a reached (initial) goal of $1000 in my emergency fund by June and the milestone of getting my credit card debt below $20K. Not bad for the 2nd month of the year.

I know there's still a long road ahead, but I am really starting to feel good about my finances and my debt plan. Some scary things still loom on the horizon - job insecurity, economic uncertainty, etc. - but I'm trying to plan for the unexpected now so that it doesn't set me back if anything were to happen. Something I should have done right from the start of my career - or sooner. Oh well, lesson for my future kids - if they'll listen.

Last note, I mentioned the economic uncertainty as being something that I need to watch out for in the future. However, I have to say that I am really proud of myself for buckling down and improving my finances little by little during the current economy. Each time I read a story about consumers buying less and saving more, I feel like I'm reading a story about me. It's nice to be part of a statistic that I can be proud of - instead of the usual statistics associated with my type of finances.

Anyway...onward.