I will not share with you the amount of my debt but I will share that while I've been saying for quite some time that most of it is from maintaining my life - car repairs, house crap like broken dishwashers and washing machines - in truth, most of my debt is from having fun. It's true. I like to go places, see things, run 5K's and 1/2 marathons, fly to my 25th high school reunion in Michigan and do a 5K while there, spend Christmas away from Fort Collins, travel to see a band in New Orleans, give to multiple charities, buy new Dansko and running shoes (at at least $100 a pair), buy more pairs of black pants than any woman should own, spend about $15 a week on iTunes (really?!), etc. You get the idea. I have a fun, fulfilling, awesome life and I spend a lot of money to have it that way - a lot of 'money' that is in the form of a little plastic card. I do spend money on my house and car, the car more than the house of late, but if I'm being truthful with myself, I spend my money on fun.
I'm turning 44 in a couple of months and then about a year after that I'll be turning 45. As a 45th birthday gift to myself I want to travel to Italy to ride my bike for a couple of weeks, see the Giro d'italia and have some fantastic adventures. It hit me this morning while sitting in church that I will not be able to do this unless I get rid of most of my debt. So, in order to have future fun I will be discontinuing current fun for one year.
This is certainly more of 'deal' to me than not buying anything new for a year. I can already see myself saying 'no' to stuff and not liking it one bit. I will get to see just how awesome my life is while doing without what I think is fun. I'm always up for a challenge and if I can do this I will be duly rewarded. Not only day-to-day but with a fabulous trip to Italy. Talk about delayed gratification.
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