I had to cram so many things to store everything in there

Yesterday was the last installment on my debt-repayment plan.  I looked at my bank account online this morning, saw the debit, and muttered to the screen, “Bye-bye, and don’t let the door hit you in the ass.”  

If this sounds even a little bit rancorous, consider that for over five years I’ve been sending CCCS c. 25% of my net monthly paycheck.  When I’ve had a job at all.  Sure, it was my own fault I got into the hole in the first place but that doesn’t mean I’m feeling anything but relieved to finally be out.  

And more than a bit triumphant, too.  Essentially, my life’s been on hold these five years.  Tonight I’m shopping for a bottle of (cheap) champagne to pop the cork on.

Sorry, Martinelli’s.  Alcohol-free, and all that.

It’s been a very maturing process.  I’ve learned a number of important lessons – how to think ahead, to use credit responsibly, to live within my means, and especially to employ a debit card for every single purchase you make or (gasp) go without – and I don’t intend to forgo applying them to my lifestyle anytime soon.  

This whole time I’ve kept one credit account, a Mastercard with a $500 limit.  The plan allowed me to have it as long as I let no balance roll over month to month.  I kept it because you need a credit card to rent a car, although I only ended up using it maybe five times, all small charges buying music on the net.  My promise to myself now is to not raise its limit, or get any cards to supplement it, until I’m sure I won’t start being an idiot again with credit.  Even if the only things I’d learned from this process were a) what it feels like to be that kind of idiot and b) what it feels like to clean up afterwards, they’d definitely have been enough.

Thank you, CCCS.  But with all due respect, I hope we never meet again.