Happy Debt-iversary
One year ago today, at roughly the hour of this posting, we made a decision that would alter our entire future… No, we didn’t get married or have a baby. We’d already done both of those! What we did was completely commit ourselves to achieving financial independence. It all started with paying off Mr. Maroon’s student loans.
Looking back on it, we had already made some pretty good choices in that arena – the most positive being that we consolidated eight years of loans into one heaping mound of debt and set the payment for 10 years. 10 instead of the 30 years that was offered by the servicing company. Can you imagine still paying for your own school loans after your children had started, or likely even already completed, their own college experience?!? I don’t think so. We had gotten minor interest rate reductions through automatic drafts and we rounded up to pay a bit extra to principal. But still, we watched that $750 disappear every month with nothing tangible in return.
Mr. Maroon had emailed earlier that day wth news he’d discovered the key to our freedom from some obscure personal finance blog. I was completely skeptical. You can call me the type that follows conventional wisdom… go to school, get a job, work away for your best years, finally retire once you are 100% sure it’s safe – likely needing somewhere in the multi-millions to make it all work. These ideas of saving half your income to retire early sounded like a far-fetched pipe dream to me. I was not on board.
So you might imagine my reaction to Mr. Maroon confidently declaring that we should pay off his student loans. I mean, we had the money, but it was in an emergency fund clearly labeled “DO NOT TOUCH – MR. MAROON, THIS MEANS YOU!!!” In my conventional wisdom, as noted above, I firmly believed that we needed to have a full six months’ worth of our spending habits tucked away as cash in an emergency fund. I was very risk-averse… a total worrier about the worst possible scenario that might surprise us and what that could mean for our financial stability. I was terrified to drain the majority of this emergency fund to put towards the payoff. The nerve of this man!
But being the perfect wife that I am, I trusted Mr. Maroon and grasped his hand as we leapt off the cliff. Hands down, it was the BEST decision I’ve ever made. Except, of course, choosing him as my partner for life!
Worst part of it was waiting, very impatiently, to see that loan balance go to $0.00. The money didn’t even leave the bank account for two days!!
Since that day in December 2013, we’ve made a lot of changes – way more than I could mention in this short post. But I am convinced none of the great things that have happened in the last 365 days would be appreciated or even accomplished if we hadn’t started with such a big game-changer.
So, happy one-year debt anniversary to us! Even after celebrating six wedding anniversaries and two birthdays for Mini Maroon #1, this anniversary is just as sweet to me. I’m so very glad that Mr. Maroon coerced convinced me to forge a new financial path. And I’ll raise a glass to celebrating many more financial milestones… It’s going to be a fun ride!
~Mrs. Maroon
UPDATE: I have unashamed-ly changed my title after a comment by Mrs. SSC! As I read more and more about them, I think we lead parallel lives. Go check them out!!
Happy debt-iversary! Wouldn’t it be great if everyone celebrated occasions such as this? Now – I feel bad that I don’t recall when our debt-iversary was, sometime in June 2013 we finally paid off Mr SSC’s student loans. And, next month, we are coming up on the one-year anniversary of when I discovered the idea of FIRE and finally got Mr. SSC on board. I’ve started trying to look at a one-year look-back, and I am so amazed by what we have been able to do – and the complete change in our attitudes. It sounds like you all are seeing the same changes in your house. It is really amazing what is possible when you put your mind to it!
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Mrs. Maroon Reply:
December 18th, 2014 at 6:57 AM
The date is burned into my brain because of the sheer size of the payoff. Even in buying houses, we had never spent so much in a single day! I’ve thought about one year look back ideas too… So much has happened that I have a hard time corraling my thoughts into something another person can follow. My brain can be rather circuitous. Perhaps I will find a moment of clarity. Or better yet – I’ll ask Mr. Maroon to be in charge of that one!
That’s a great anniversary to be able to celebrate! I’m glad you both were able to get on board with it so easily… very lucky!
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Mrs. Maroon Reply:
December 18th, 2014 at 2:31 PM
Instead of consumer-driven wedding anniversaries full of cards, flowers, expensive dinners, and lists of prescribed gifts for each year, we may choose to only celebrate debt-iversaries from now on. We shall celebrate with home-cooked meals and perhaps a healthy debate about how we might further optimize our strategy 🙂
A debt anniversary, I absolutely love it, congrats. I’m a few months away from paying off my student loan, I’ll make sure to celebrate that day and the year after!
Even Steven recently posted…Interview of Sorts: FrugalWoods more like FrugalWeirdos
Mrs. Maroon Reply:
December 18th, 2014 at 7:52 PM
Make sure to let us know when you get there so that we can toast to your success too!!
Congrats on your 1 year debt-iversary! Mine’s next week 🙂
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Mrs. Maroon Reply:
December 19th, 2014 at 11:09 AM
Oooh! Congrats!! What a Merry Christmas to you 🙂
Happy debt-iversary, that must feels good to be debt free. That’s definitely something you should celebrate. 🙂
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Mrs. Maroon Reply:
December 19th, 2014 at 4:32 PM
Why, thank you! It’s a wonderful feeling. And how did we celebrate? We bought stocks!! Talk about a change in mindset.
I’m late to the party, but congratulations! I can’t wait to have my own payoff date to celebrate 🙂
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Mrs. Maroon Reply:
December 23rd, 2014 at 8:50 AM
No one can be late to the debt-free party!! Can’t wait to hear about your date. Make sure to share so that we can all celebrate with you!
Happy debt-iversary, I’d imagine there are very few feelings that feel as good as being debt free. Glad to hear once you were debt free you have remained debt free for a year. Great stuff.
A post last month by one of my favorite bloggers Mixing Maroons, got me to thinking about the exact moment I stumbled upon the concept of FIRE.