Blogging Through My Debt: Goals Reached and Uncertainty Ahead

I've been on this journey to get out of my financially crushing credit card debt for nearly 2 years now.  But I've earnestly been on this journey to get out of my financially crushing credit card debt for only about 5 and a half months.  That's because, before January, I don't think I was really doing everything I possibly could to get myself out of debt.  Though I had cut my spending, I still shopped.  And though I made my monthly payments, those payments were never large enough to pay more than my accumulated interest.

And then at the end of the 2010 and the beginning of 2011, I started to really think about my future.  About growing up and buying for quality instead of quantity, about saving for things like a wedding and retirement, about one day owning a home, and about traveling without practically breaking my credit card in two trying to do it.  And I realized that I seriously needed a financial make-over if I was going to accomplish any of that.  I needed to get out of debt.

So that's when shit got real.

And what do you know?  When I really try, when I really put my mind to something and work at it, things start happening.  Because as of a few days ago, my credit card balance has looked like this:

Now I know this may not look that impressive, especially considering that I'm still almost $12k in debt.  But, that number used to be a lot higher when my Platinum and VS cards didn't read $0.00.

And so I've officially reached my second Blogging Through My Debt goal: I've paid off my Small Credit Card.  

Unfortunately, while in any other normal circumstances this would mean that all that money previously being funneled into paying off numerous cards could now be spent on just one, that's not the case for me.  Because I've recently put in my notice that I'm leaving my job and, as of June 1st, I'll be unemployed and will have no income to speak of.

....

Don't you like how I just casually dropped that in as if it weren't a huge deal?

More on the job will come this week, but as far as how much it will affect my getting out of debt...I'm still working on that.  I know the speed of this journey will take a hit, and I'm prepared for that.  I just don't know how big of a hit at this point, and that's really the scariest part.  Because who knows how long it will take for me to find another job?  Who knows how much that other job will pay me?  Who knows what kinds of financial crises can occur between now and then that will send me scrambling to bring the balance up on already-paid off cards?

I just don't know.  But I'm going to worry about that tomorrow.  For today?  I'm going to bask in my accomplishment.