Closing a Long Overdue Saga... Debt Repayment
Today, I nailed off 2 important debts... My 2005 tax penalty to the IRS and the remaining penalty from my school grant that I flunked out of college for. With that out of the way, I can say that it's nice to have those behind me as I can now concentrate on the smaller things and even follow up on my debt collectors who have not sent out my "confirmations of payment". It's been a long road, but I just need to run in "paranoia" mode and fool myself (without "cheating" and looking in my bank account) that I am in the negative... because I literally have $25 to live off of until my next paycheck after paying off my debts today.
After the next check shoots in, I can swat off the 2 minor debts dead and call it even-Steven. From there, I will be shooting my parents cash as fast as possible to repay for their help loan... After that's repaid, I plan to save up and pool my cash together for something that I will really appreciate. That's in the future, of course. In addition, I plan to throw chunks of cash to savings in order to plan for my future retirement with how the lack of pensions and the current give-everyone-a-401k game has been going on for every employer. I know as a kid, I should have saved 25% - 50% of my income and put it to savings for a possible retirement at age 40, but if I can minimize my expenses to the point that I can toss 75% of my earnings to savings, maybe I can catch up. Sometimes living a little cheap and crappy is all the compromise I need to get acquainted to.
I realize that my downfall was a heavy addiction to being in with the latest and greatest digital electronics. I have semi-"dated" tech toys like a Dell laptop converted to Linux, Nintendo DS, Sony Ericsson P990i & W300i phones, old birthday PC my parents bought me to build, but they are adequate enough to keep me entertained. As far as electronic toys go, I don't plan to get a new phone for a very long while as the P990i should keep me company for a good time while the W300i will be great for times that I don't want to look flashy or like I am carrying a mobile office in my pocket. The computer issue, I will keep my Dell slugging for me for a good long while. My parents may be inclined to get me a "newer" computer although through retail venues, it would probably be just a new Windows Vista laptop which would be for purely gaming for me as the Dell will continue the bulk of life doing secured and protected work such as term papers I can't have eaten by a virus. For the "entertainment" bit, all I just want is a PSP with the new Castlevania game, because it's remake on a game that I have been sorely waiting for, but never had a chance to import it due to the fact that it costs $100+ for it and it was published back in the 90's! So the way I see it is an expense for the system for cheap and then the cost of the game ($40) is much more cheaper than playing eBay for an import of the original and then trying to hunt for the system which could be iffy business.
After my last minor debts have been completed, I will finally be able to say "Debt... I hardly knew you"
