The Beginning of a New Chapter

I wanted to sit down and provide an update about things the past 2-3 months. Sorry in advance, as this post is probably going to suck because I have not written something in so long and lack a good flow. There are a couple of reasons why I have not been posting nearly as regularly as I want to do. First, I have been extremely busy at work. I am usually working non-stop and when I arrive home, I have been so tired that I am taking naps in the evening. This is not a great thing and has really screwed up my sleeping schedule. I also wake up really early in the morning to make a 6:30am weight lifting class. I enjoy the class, but am still trying to become a morning person. My most important reason for the lack of posts is due to a laser focus on paying off the last of my student loans.

I am pleased to say that today – March 19, 2010. I have no more remaining student loans to pay. I must say that I feel a heavy burden has been lifted off my shoulders. No more monthly payments, no more automatic payments, No more logging in to my loan account and seeing huge amount of money that I owe some bank. I can finally say that my college education is completed now that it is entirely paid for. It’s funny that while most students graduate from college in 4-5 years. They continue paying for that education for many many years past the graduation date. Looking back, I wish I had realized what kind of commitment I was taking on when I signed the dotted line for those loans. I think all too often many 18 and 19 year olds do not realize the financial obligations they are taking on when they take out student loans.

Needless to say, after spending the last ~5 years paying off almost $80,000 in loans (car and student loans), I am going to take a long break from taking out a loan for a house, car, or even a masters degree. I have no problems renting and appreciate the flexibility that it grants me. Instead, I am focusing on saving for traveling for an extended period of time and seeing the world. I refuse to wait until I am “retired” (whatever this really means) to see the world. It does not make sense to me to spend the better years of one’s life working and not seeing the world. When you’re 65, you just don’t want to do the same things as when you’re 25. Additionally, you might not be capable of doing the same things.

So what’s the next challenge or the next step? Well it is definitely planning for an extended around the world trip. Now that I have my financial house in order, I finally feel comfortable taking some risks and doing some things that I have been holding back on because of the loans.

For those of you with any type of loan, I know it’s not easy paying it off and you think that it will never end. I am here to let you know that it is possible to do. For those of you without loans, I commend you for staying debt free and hope that you are pursuing your goals.

As always – I am dreaming and thinking big while continuing to relentlessly pursue my goals.

I encourage others to do the same.

Dream. Pursue. Succeed.

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Tags: Debt, goals, paying off loans, perspective, student loans, Travel

This entry was posted on Friday, March 19th, 2010 at 10:43 pm and is filed under Debt, Finance, Major Announcements. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.