The Rush of Paying Off a Debt

Since I had Friday off as a sick day to finish recovering from my procedure, we took the opportunity to get some errands run around town. In between trips to Lowe’s for yet more supplies for the basement and a stock-up trip to the grocery store, we stopped by our credit union to take care of some business. Having just been paid and having plenty of snowflake money saved up that we needed to apply to some debt, we decided to take the plunge and pay off the last of our car loan. I knew we were close to the pay-off amount, so it only made sense to go ahead and pull the trigger.

As we stood in line and waited for a cashier to free up, a wave of excitement washed over me. This is a loan we got into because we were desperate for a new vehicle to replace an old, dying car. We didn’t shop around enough and we didn’t work hard enough to secure the best deal, so the frustration of a minor failure has shadowed this loan from the day we opened it.

I stood there with my restless daughter in my arms and my wife ready to write out that final check and I was feeling a rush because this poorly-executed decision was almost behind us. We learned a great deal and we paid our dues and we’ll not make the same mistakes again – and now the slate was almost washed clean. In mere moments, the car would be completely ours and the loan would be gone almost a year ahead of schedule.

Finally, a cashier motioned us forward and we explained to her that we intended to pay off our loan. She nonchalantly typed in our information and read our closing balance to us: $738. With a quick sweep of my wife’s pen, our debt was gone. Nothing more than another zero in a database somewhere and one less payment holding us hostage. For a moment, there was a quick breath of freedom and it smelled nice. And, boy, that smell was addicting because all I can think about now is paying off the next debt as soon as reasonably possible.

In a year of chronicling our financial journey, I have often written of the debt snowball and now we finally have the opportunity to implement it ourselves. The $300/month we had allocated to paying for this car will go toward paying off the short-term loan my parents have floated us to help us finish our basement and toward driving down the 8.375% home equity loan that we took out to secure the mortgage we needed to purchase this house. With the extra income I’ve been making and the snowflake money we’ve been accumulating, it shouldn’t be too long before we’re nearing another pay-off day and another rush of joy.

If you are working toward debt freedom, keep at it because the feeling of reaching the finish line is something everyone deserves to feel. I don’t think I can adequately describe it in words; it’s something you have to experience for yourself. And once you do, it’ll take you over and soon you’ll be addicted to debt elimination. And there’s certainly worse things to be addicted to! Good luck. It is so worth it!

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Featured in the Carnival of Debt Reduction #166.