Yesterday, Brad and I did something really scary.

We paid off the last of Brad’s medical bills and one of my credit cards.

Why is this scary?  You say.  This is awesome!  Woohoo to getting out of debt!  Woohoo to two less bills to pay next month and every month after!  Woohoo to being responsible with your money and getting on the right track to saving!

Woohoo!

Well, yea.  But what about those three days next week when the restaurant is closed?  What about Brad and I having three whole nights off together and all of the debauchery we could get into?  What about instead, using all of that money and just going to Vegas and playing blackjack for a couple days? (yea right, that money wouldn’t last us three hours in Vegas. I have a terrible track record when it comes to gambling)

I know it sounds silly, but to us, paying off debt is kind of scary.  It’s making sacrifices and sticking to budgets.  It’s not just paying the minimum every month, it’s living below your means in a city that is very obviously above your means.  It’s forcing yourself to pay that little bit extra to get things done.

Brad and I and just love pumping our money back into the economy with our fancy meals out and our semi-extravagant lifestyle, so it feels a little unsettling to be looking at a whole week with a smaller than normal bank account.  Especially when you work really hard and you just want to play as hard in your limited free time.  Sometimes it’s frustrating.

But sometimes when you go home and see your friends and family who have bought houses and cars and who have gone on extravagant vacations around the world, you reevaluate.  We can do this.  We can skip that crazy expensive (but delicious…) dinner this week.  We can hang out at home with our pup and play with our new Christmas presents.  I can write a few songs and take a whole lot of pictures, and Brad can design an apron or two.  We can make ourselves a crazy delicious dinner and enjoy each others company.  Sometimes it takes extreme measures and goals to stick to, but we can absolutely do this.

And we can be really proud of ourselves that we are living an incredible life in an incredible city.  Clicking send on that last credit card payment was really tough, but those tough decisions need to be made and they need to be stuck to.  Because now our list of bills is two shorter for 2013.

And that absolutely balances out the scary.

xoxo