I remember a time, which seems so very far in the past now, when my friends and I used to hold on to the belief that we would be financially secure once we reached our 30’s.
Able to buy the clothes we wanted, go out to dinner on whims, and take vacations whenever and wherever we pleased.
That was our idea of financially secure after all.
We assumed that our 20’s would be the time when we would struggle to establish ourselves. Living paycheck to paycheck, scrambling to pay all the bills, and treading water more often than not when it came to financial concerns.
But our 30’s? That would be the time for breathing easy. The point in life when we would be sitting pretty with not a financial care in the world.
Yes, it was naïve.
But in a sense – it was also slightly etched in reality.
So what if our idea of financial security was missing a few key components (I’m pretty sure that never in our fantasies did we ever conceptualize the idea of a savings account utilized solely to build a safety net just in case that security ever waned), but the basic theory wasn’t so far off.
We struggle in our 20's to solidify ourselves as adults and find a way to make ends meet. But I think most of us hope that by our 30's, we'll have more or less figured it out.
Attained whatever idea of "financial security" it is that we each carry around with us in our heads.
And the truth is – most of my friends are still a year or two away from that highly anticipated year 30 mark, but have already achieved their own level of financial security.
With a mixture of what we once dreamed it would be, and a little reality added in for good measure.
Because let's face it - none of them are jetting off to Greece just for kicks.
But my circle of friends are no longer the bunch to live paycheck to paycheck, struggling each month to pay the bills as they come through. They have instead become a group capable not only of planning financially for the future, but also of enjoying the spoils of their hard work in the present.
If there's ever a one in the group concerned about the costs of any given adventure on the horizon - you can almost always bet it's me.
Just to be clear, I am speaking right now mostly of my friends up here in Alaska – where the economy simply did not take the same hit the rest of the lower 48 did. The friends I have in California and elsewhere however, are mostly still steeped in the financial struggles that we always imagined our 20’s would hold for us. For many, it's worse than we ever imagined - with layoffs and college degrees that no longer seem to mean what we once thought they would.
But my friends up here – most of them have entered into that next phase.
There are vacations, and dinners, and money fairly regularly spent without too much concern about adhering to a budget or paying off another bill instead. There are houses, and cars, and savings accounts and 401ks. Kids with college funds and private hockey lessons to boot.
For the most part – those in Alaska who I am blessed to call my friends have made it firmly into the comforts provided to the middle (or even upper-middle) class.
And at 28, I can honestly say that I would be there too.
If it weren’t for the last two years of surgeries, and IVF’s, and endometriosis and infertility and… spending a lot of money on a goal that never was reached.
It added up so fast. Not just the money spent on IVF, but also the money spent on overall health. It gets expensive after all. The supplements, and appointments, and treatments.
And while in the end, all of that has proven to be more than worth it (unlike the fertility treatments, which despite their unfortunate results, I still can’t bring myself to regret), I am still left with a mountain of debt I never imagined having as 30 approached.
Don’t get me wrong – I don’t regret spending any of it. Not a dime. I have found a way to treat endometriosis as naturally as possible, which is something that I truly believe is priceless. And as far as those failed IVF cycles; I never would have known if I hadn’t tried. I needed to try. My future ability to cope with infertility depended on it.
Still, I went from being a girl who carried nary a credit card balance, to one who now holds a maxed out card, a bank line of credit, a loan from the fertility clinic, and a grandmother who I am determined to one day reimburse in full.
Like I said; it all added up. Fast.
And while I diligently make all my monthly payments, and still find myself with money left over to spend or add on to the top, it’s not dissipating nearly as quickly as I would like.
Meaning, I can either continue to slowly chip away at the debt I accumulated in 2 years over the next 10-15 while I try to keep living my life as though that debt doesn’t exist, or – I can buckle down, sacrifice, and put an end to it all before that dreaded year 30 finally comes to pass.
I’ll give you 2 guesses which path I have decided to forge.
Debt free by 30.
That is the goal.
Giving me about a year and a half to find ways to pay off a debt that still (even after a year of payments) totals about a quarter of my annual salary.
Still, I think I can do it.
I’m not going to worry about the debt I carried with me prior to embarking down this path. The car and the house and the student loans – those are all fairly typical burdens that everyone else I know also carries. But the debt I accumulated on the road to health and baby making?
It has to go.
I’ve made a few moves in the last few days to help aid in this goal. Transferring the loan from the clinic to a 0% for 12 months credit card – with the explicit intention of having that completely paid off before those 12 months are up (even though the current loan terms are set to extend out for 2 more years). Tweaking my budget so that I no longer count on the roommate’s monthly rent contribution as income, but rather ignore those funds entirely and instead plug them straight into the debt every month. Learning more about the envelope system, and taking the steps necessary to implement it entirely by January 1, 2012.
I even set up an appointment tomorrow at the bank to review the possibility of refinancing my mortgage. When I bought my place two and a half years ago, it was under a FHA loan. I think now though that I could pull off a conventional loan and shave off a percentage point or more from my current APR.
One thing I am at least proud of is the fact that even in the act of accumulating all that debt, I have always managed to maintain a credit score that should give me a bit of wiggle room when it comes to making changes like that happen.
But we shall see.
I have to admit that more often than not, I tend to look at that debt with shame. I’ve always been responsible with my money. Always been a savvy financial planner. And while I know that every cent I’ve spent on this journey in the last few years was necessary, it’s still hard for me to face how it has affected the bottom line.
How it has altered that financially secure in my 30’s dream.
Which is why it’s time for me to really bite the bullet and do what I need to do to wipe the slate clean.
Why I need to talk about it here in order to remain accountable for my goals and actions.
Because let’s face it, when a friend wants to go out to a fancy dinner or an opportunity to travel comes my way and the money ostensibly seems to be in the bank – I have a hard time saying “no”.
Especially now, when it seems that more and more, those in my inner circle are in the position of being able to say “yes”.
But it’s time. Time for me to get better at watching what I spend. Better at assuring anything I have extra is going into debt payoff, rather than an ever growing list of wants.
It’s time for me to catch up.
And anyway, 30 isn’t that far away.
Besides, I’m a pro when it comes to setting goals and reaching them.
So debt free by 30.
That’s the goal.
And I'm either going to get there through hard work and dedication, or...
I'm going to marry rich.
ADSPACE
