Debt Payoff = COMPLETE

Remember this sad story?

WE PAID OFF OUR DEBT! Our success is partially due to a few rules I made at the beginning of this year:

1) No eating out except on Taco Tuesdays. We did okay on this one; when we did go out we tried to share entrees and go to cheaper places (we did splurge a few times on our vacation and for birthday events). Can we do better? Yes.

2) No movies in the theater. We actually ended up seeing 3, I think. One for our anniversary, and 2 for birthdays.

3) Cut down on beer and wine costs. I mainly switched to boxed wine. 4 bottles worth for $19.99. And it's good! Robert brewed a batch of his own beer. That doesn't mean he doesn't still buy beer or go out for beer but it helps (if you don't count the $70 he spent on the beer kit -- let's just not mention that).

4) No more weekend lattes. We both gave up our weekend latte habit and now just brew a small pot of coffee. That saved us $500!

5) No clothes shopping for me. Boo. I did buy some running shoes, a few tops and a few items from Buffalo Exchange. I'M HATING EVERYTHING I OWN RIGHT NOW...

6) Cook cheaper meals. I've used less fancy cheeses, fewer expensive cuts of meat, etc. I've also tried to make things that are sure to get eaten up by the hungry teenage boy when he's searching the fridge for leftovers (so more vegetarian stuff). I've been tossing less food out.

7) Cut back on the expensive groceries. I started using Amazon Fresh and not being in an actual grocery store is a HUGE help for me. I don't randomly toss stuff in my Amazon Fresh cart. I compare prices. I do still buy organic as much as possible. My new favorite thing is 3 half-gallons of organic milk for $8 at Costco (vs. $3.50/half-gallon in grocery stores). I also grew a lot of food this summer (but enough to cancel out the cost of building the raised beds? I doubt it.)

8) Spend less on auto fuel. We have the same car but our monthly costs have gone way down (perhaps half what they used to be). I'm sure that has to do with less trips to the grocery store and less drives out to the 'burbs to see movies and shop at the mall.

9) Cut down on bills. This is a multi-parter:
a. We canceled caller ID and voice mail; now we just have basic service on our home phone (and we're about to cancel that as well).
b.We're also about to cancel our newspaper delivery. It just increased to $65/3 months. That's ridiculous when you can access it online for free. Robert is a little sad about it. He supposes he will check out the rss feeds.
c. We sold our Suzuki so we only have to register, maintain and insure one car.
d. We inadvertently saved money on natural gas. Sid had swimming class 1st period for the first 5 months. That was 100 less 30 MINUTE showers in our house!

The only "rule" on that list that I'm not going to continue following is the clothes shopping rule because that's just insane. I just need to update my wardrobe a little. Just a few things. I'll even give Buffalo Exchange another shot.

Really, though, our success is largely due to the fact that we no longer have car payments and didn't charge ANYTHING on the card. Also, thank you Citibank for allowing us to pay off our debt on your 0% introductory offer. Also, nothing blew up, fell down, clogged up, or flooded.

I'm excited and optimistic! Hopefully I can start paying down that menacing home equity loan at a fiercer pace.

Oh, and I need a car.