Reflections On 1 Year Debt Free

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It’s been a year since we finished paying off over $26,500 of debt.

A year already?! Although the past year seems like it simultaneously went by in the blink of an eye and also at turtle speed. So much has happened and changed in our lives, but also so much has stayed the same. I’m excited to go down memory lane with you in this post!

Also I just needed to take some time to celebrate that we have not gone back into debt over the past year!

What I Thought Debt Free Life Would Be

When we were in the middle of paying off our debt, sometimes we threw $1000+ a month onto the debt. Most months it was a bit less than that, but it was a big chunk of change every month. I thought once we were debt free we would be able to SAVE that much (spoiler alert – we haven’t)!

I knew it would feel amazing when we finally became debt free, and it totally does, but I wasn’t prepared for the lack of direction I would feel for a few months after. 

Finding My Footing

Last summer was a bit of a mess financially. We took a trip to Toronto and Niagara Falls at the end of July that was a bit of a budget buster, and then I took a few weeks off budgeting as I switched us over to bi-weekly budgeting from monthly budgeting. My husband also switched jobs, which led to a little drop in his income initially. 

Once the Fall rolled around I found my footing and we settled into a new budgeting routine that included saving quite a bit for travel. 

We took an amazing trip to Disney, all paid for in advance and then set our sights on a Meditteranean cruise for April 2020.

2020

Financially we decided we needed to start saving for a new car. I set a goal of saving $10,000 in one year, which was a bit of a stretch but I thought we could do it! We also were saving for our April trip, and we had definitely experienced some lifestyle creep by going out a bit more.

Of course in March everything came to a screaming halt when I was mandated by the government to stop working. Our April trip to Italy and the Meditteranean was cancelled and I lost my income for the next 11 weeks. Thanks to the government CERB program, I was able to top up Ryan’s income so we didn’t go into debt or use much of our emergency fund. 

Going Forward

That brings us up to today! I’ve been back at work for the last 4 weeks, but to be honest I went back part time. This was a personal decision, not so much a financial one. My income is less than it could be right now but I needed to step back a bit. Massage therapy is a physical job. I didn’t realize how much it was affecting me until I took an extended break. 

To be even more honest I don’t know what my future career will look like. I’ve been wanting to step back from massage therapy for a while, I’m just not sure what to do next. I’m grateful for the space to figure that out!

As I stated in my Quarter 3 goals post, we are not currently focusing on saving for a new car. Instead – short term – we are focusing on saving to replace our deck, and then we’ll see what our goal will be after that.

As for the mortgage, which is technically debt, we are still chipping away at it, little by little! We got it  under $200,000 owing a few weeks ago! Our mortgage is up for renewal in a few months as well. 

Final Thoughts

Being debt free allowed us to weather a pandemic, and going down to one income without too many financial repercussions. I can not be more grateful that we paid off the debt last year instead of this year! 

If a global pandemic has taught me anything, it’s the importance of pivoting. Being able to pivot your business, your financial goals, and your focus.