Remarkable Failure

In eighteen months, I’ve eliminated over $14,000 in debt. I paid off my car loan (two years early) and I paid off my numerous credit cards. I sent my last check to a credit card company yesterday, for $600. It felt anticlimactic when it happened—I intended to have it paid off in July—but today, it’s starting sinking in. $14,000 is a lot of money.

Some people set goals and nail them. I’m not one of those people. In my journey to pay off this debt, I set goal after goal, and the only thing I was consistent at was failing to hit my marks. If I promised myself I would pay $1,000 towards my cards, I would inevitably pay $200, or barely stay even. I would go out and spend large amounts of money for dinners when I promised myself I wouldn’t. Expensive wool jacket? Well, I know I shouldn’t, but what the hell.

I have a $300 pirate outfit in my closet, bought after I consumed several glasses of wine at a fair. Being the hit of some as-of-yet unplanned Halloween party doesn’t seem as cool as it did that night.

But I kept setting goals, and I kept trying. And when I told myself I would send the $600 government refund check to my credit card company, and I actually sent $500, it was still $500 less to worry about. When I told myself I wouldn’t go out and spend money on Friday, and I went out and spent $20, at least it wasn’t $50.

I’m not a sterling example of personal finances. I know that. But I think there are a lot of people like me out there, who just have to keep plugging away. Keep setting goals, keep trying.

It’s remarkable how great a success you can be, if you persistently fail enough.