The Insanity of the United States Postal Service

Nice work on the outta debt, Face. Very nice work.

Amazing job Face stand tall and feel proud not many can do it.

Congrats on killing the debt monster. I am hoping to do the same to my own the next 30 months. You have been thru a lot.

yeah, man, good, getting out of debt is like getting a raise, no question about it

Thanks all. I'll tell ya, it feels really good. One of those goods that fills you from the inside out. Not only for having accomplished a huge goal, but to now have what feels like a bounty coming at me every pay period. And the lessons learned along the way? Innumerable and invaluable.

Quote: DRich

Congrats Face. I couldn't even imagine only having bills of $1000 a month let alone $300.

Your story makes me reflect on how fortunate I have been, and also makes me feel a little guilty for what I have and the $4000 a month I spend mostly frivolously.

Good. Reflection is good, helps keep one from losing themselves in life. But you certainly needn't feel guilty just because you have. Were I making $60k a year, I'd be throwing money at race cars and hot rods round the clock =p

EB made a comment via PM that I felt was important to discuss. I'll copy/paste and respond now...

Quote: EB

Face, I don't get it. I read your story
of travail and am puzzled. You quit
your job right in the middle of all
that. You went on an expensive vacay
twice to the islands. If you were that
far in debt, why didn't you keep working
till it was paid off. I'm just sayin..

'Tis true I still spent even when I was in debt. I sort of feel that sometimes you have to, and I damn for sure think I earned the things I did. Perhaps that's just a product of being in the entitled generation, but through all the things I did, this debt was never cast out of mind.

I view spending while in debt to equal taking a loan. What I mean is, for the $120 I spend on smokes a month, that's $120 that's sitting in red in my account. That's $120 I owe, that's $120 I'm suffering interest for. Nothing is ever "cash", nothing is ever "mine". Whatever I spend while in debt is viewed as a loan. I'm sure a math or economics savvy person can point out some differences, but I feel my stance is good enough for government work =p

I spoke before about how evaluate some of things I do. A new stunt on atv, for example. I sort of weight the probability I can pull it off with the "good" of the accomplishment, the reputation, the pride, and then subtract from that the negative of injury or damage I may sustain if I fail. I sort of compute all of this together, and if I'm left with a positive remainder, then I go for it. It's how I figure risk vs reward. This money deal was much the same thing.

It forced a new value system on me. Some things which you "just can't live without" need to necessarily be shuffled down the list, or even off it entirely. And I did so, in some cases with extreme prejudice. I certainly didn't enjoy eating 6 times a week, and I definitely prefer to be around 210 for hockey season, but "food value" needed to be reshuffled down the list. Same goes for every other thing I did. How much was racing vs how much value I got from it, how much is name brand food vs the value I get over generic, how much value was there in fishing on the lake vs dragging the kayak through the woods. I pretty much did and continue to do this for everything in my life. And when you're up against a wall as I feel I have been at some points, some serious changes wind up occurring.

But despite my debt, some major things happened, which EB pointed out. I went to 3 different travel tournaments across the north for hockey, went to BVI twice, started a race team, went to Wyoming just to fish. None of these are cheap and some are certainly considered "rich man games". The reason they happened was nothing more than "they made sense".

Let's put BVI through the grinder. Though an extravagance the likes of which I had never experienced before, when all was said and done, every penny of cost came in at under $2,500. Let's just call it $2,500 to make it easy. As it was a 10 day romp, that's $250 a day. And what did that $250 cover? Some, like rental, licenses, souvenirs, was legitimate spend. But a lot just replaced what I'd use every day anyways. Maybe $5 of one day covered the items needed for the ham and cheese bagel in the morning. Well, I'd be eating at home, too. Life costs money. They water we bought, a bit of that cost really "doesn't count". I have to pay for water at home, too. It's more expensive in BVI, so there was a "real cost" portion of it, but do you understand what I mean? I had to pay for food in BVI, but I'd have to pay for food at home. I had to pay for fuel for the generator so we had electric in BVI, but I'd have to pay gas and electric at home. So once you start shaving and seeing what your actual spend is, we're talking in the neighborhood of $200 a day for our 10 day romp. Was that trip worth $200 a day? You're damn right it was, to me. That $200 wasn't even "$200 cash"; it was a $200 loan that came with interest, as I wasn't using it to service the loan I had. But as far as value goes, BVI way more than made sense. In Wiz parlance, it was a damn good bet.

All of this stuff went through the same grinder and came out as a "go". And it was a really rare thing for me to feel any guilt about, either. I really did, and am still doing, a complete lifestyle change. I recently lost Netflix, leaving me with just an HBOGO account a friend lended for TV. I don't even watch that anymore. I've changed, choosing instead to work on a project or come here and talk to you all. I recently shredded my hockey skates. I didn't even eschew the $400 pair for my typical $80 pair, I got my new ones for $40. Still using bottom of the barrel stick, still got the same elbow pads I wore at 18yrs old, hell, I'm still wearing clothes I wore in high school. I didn't buy a new deck when my mower broke, I didn't even replace the shredded pulley. I got out the grinder and welder and bodged it together. Didn't buy a NexGen console; while everyone's off playing Destiny or NHL '16, I miss out. Not spending $100 at the bar taking in the weekly sports ball, not heading to First Niagara with The Beav to watch Sabres v Leafs, there's a lot I just do without. Racing was the only "big thing" I ever had compunction over, and I would sit here and say the four figures dropped were not worth the value I got. But it was a dream, man, and it's not over. Perhaps that value will still be realized...

Basically, it was a value thing. A man does need pleasure, and I shredded pleasure with reckless abandon. I had to stop shooting, stop racing, sold my boat, halved eating, all but stopped drinking, am taking no vacation this winter,... I did what needed to be done, as evidenced by the fact that as of Friday, I am 100% free and clear. But I can't deal with no pleasure whatsoever, and I don't think any man can or should. Especially when my responsibility is being met and even exceeded, as my debt was, I felt no qualms in taking the very few liberties I did.

And let's be real, here. I'm already naturally on the cusp of making the National News every day. I have to counter that with something =p

Quote: Face

Basically, it was a value thing. A man does need pleasure, and I shredded pleasure with reckless abandon. I had to stop shooting, stop racing, sold my boat, halved eating, all but stopped drinking, am taking no vacation this winter,... I did what needed to be done, as evidenced by the fact that as of Friday, I am 100% free and clear. But I can't deal with no pleasure whatsoever, and I don't think any man can or should. Especially when my responsibility is being met and even exceeded, as my debt was, I felt no qualms in taking the very few liberties I did.

Debt reduction is a long road and you must take some pleasure as you meet goals. After buying this house the remodel and some other things ran me up to about $45K plus my mortgage. I'm down to about $22 now, and people I know keep telling me to enjoy myself more. Some wonder where the money goes as it seems all I do is work, eat, and sleep. Even when I do take some pleasure it looks like I am not doing so much. But this month makes a turning point, one line is paid off and another is to a point it will be mid this year. It is going downhill faster.

The weird thing is, after literally 10+ years of hustle hustle hustle I have a hard time enjoying life. I'd rather work a casino party than go to a party. Hopefully you are not so far down the same road that you can unwind.

Sorry to steal your thunder here. Just that your story recharges my batteries to buy my debt freedom.

Quote: AZDuffman

Debt reduction is a long road and you must take some pleasure as you meet goals. After buying this house the remodel and some other things ran me up to about $45K plus my mortgage. I'm down to about $22 now, and people I know keep telling me to enjoy myself more. Some wonder where the money goes as it seems all I do is work, eat, and sleep. Even when I do take some pleasure it looks like I am not doing so much. But this month makes a turning point, one line is paid off and another is to a point it will be mid this year. It is going downhill faster.

The weird thing is, after literally 10+ years of hustle hustle hustle I have a hard time enjoying life. I'd rather work a casino party than go to a party. Hopefully you are not so far down the same road that you can unwind.

Sorry to steal your thunder here. Just that your story recharges my batteries to buy my debt freedom.

No stealing of thunder. It's good to talk about, sometimes even brag about. I might eschew most social elements, but I still like someone to recognize what I've done. So I share. So should you =)

I can almost empathize with the working man's blues, but I'm not to that level yet. I don't have a hard time enjoying life. I can still feel a fire inside me yearning for the water, still feel that soothing when I'm on the crick. As Feb approaches I can start to feel the need to smell that 104 octane and melting tires. But I DO have a real hard time with days off now. I'll get almost excited to do laundry/dishes/clean floors, because it needs to be done and I actually have the time to do it. But once I bang that out,... I found myself just standing in no particular room. Not paralyzed, but... I didn't know what to do. The only thing in my head was reffing; I wanted to go work.

Don't get me wrong, had it been May, I'd have been hammered and sunburned with a new FWF entry. But I'm finding that unless it's real R&R, I don't desire it. Not relaxing with a movie, or spacing to a random vid. If it's not a desire, I'd rather just go work.

Jesus f#$%ing Christ.

Headed to work with eyeballs planted firmly inside my own mind. Ever do that? Just get so consumed with a thought you don't see anything? I know you have. Everyone's driven somewhere and not remembered sections of the ride. Well, I was doing it. And with eyes focused inward, I never saw the shadows.

Smoked three f#$%ing deer. THREE. Two ran, had to drag the other twitching, leaking being off the road. And, of course, now my goddamned CEL light is on. This on the literal day that I phoned in the last goddamn payment.

I just want to quit. Quit it all. The only thing stopping me is the fact that I want to, and since I want to, it is guaran-damn-teed that I'll f#$% it up if I try.

Remember when I said I wanted to find my breaking point? I lied. I don't want to know anymore. Just make it stop.

Quote: Face

Jesus f#$%ing Christ.

Headed to work with eyeballs planted firmly inside my own mind. Ever do that? Just get so consumed with a thought you don't see anything? I know you have. Everyone's driven somewhere and not remembered sections of the ride. Well, I was doing it. And with eyes focused inward, I never saw the shadows.

Smoked three f#$%ing deer. THREE. Two ran, had to drag the other twitching, leaking being off the road. And, of course, now my goddamned CEL light is on. This on the literal day that I phoned in the last goddamn payment.

I just want to quit. Quit it all. The only thing stopping me is the fact that I want to, and since I want to, it is guaran-damn-teed that I'll f#$% it up if I try.

Remember when I said I wanted to find my breaking point? I lied. I don't want to know anymore. Just make it stop.

How awful for you, Face. And the deer. So sorry that happened.

I have experienced the eyeballs-in many times while driving. And flying. And had to fight it constantly at work, had to have a mantra of leaving everything outside the door of the radar room or tower, or people would get dead. It's an acquired skill and takes constant vigilance. As you know (agreeing, not lecturing). Usually hardest when I'm emotionally attached to the distracting thought, not just trying to work something out.

Quote: Face

Smoked three f#$%ing deer. THREE. Two ran, had to drag the other twitching, leaking being off the road. And, of course, now my goddamned CEL light is on. This on the literal day that I phoned in the last goddamn payment.

Ugh, sorry to hear. I've come close to clipping a few on deliveries. One at like 40 mph and jumped right in front of me, was like watching it in slow motion. But never a strike. Lucky I guess.