I bet you guys are excited, this is my 2nd post in one day after a week long absence 
I've been thinking about debt repayment motivation. I get really excited when I send those large checks to my student loans, but once thats over, waiting 15 days for another payday makes it hard to stay focused. There are quite a few things that I do to combat this.
1. I know its all mental, but I LOVE to plan ahead. My work displays our paychecks online about 4 days prior to payday. As soon as that happens, I 'spend' all the money by putting them into budget categories & pre-documenting any checks or online payments in my checkbook. For example, out of this paycheck, I pay:
-cell phone
-monthly student loan #2 payment
-mortgage
-gas
-groceries
-spending money (entertainment)
-gifts
-car exenses (oil change, ect)
-cat food & litter
-clothing
-weight watchers fee
-electric
-trash
Then I divide up my overtime money, most of which goes to the student loan. Seeing that large amount written down is always exciting!
2. I try to see the 'light at the end of the tunnel'. I like to prepare a futuristic budget that no longer includes my student loans, but instead has bigger retirement categories and other savings goals. It’s a real big motivator to see that instead of paying $335.00 (in just minimum payments) to the student loans, I am putting that money to better use. I also run those numbers using my discretionary and overtime income (putting over 1,335.00 a month towards new goals looks REALLY good!)
3. I keep a post-it on my checkbook with the current balances of both the student loans. It’s a nice little reminder that I have to pay back such a large amount of debt. The note makes me think twice before spending. This post-it actually replaced the little drawing of a house I used to keep on my checkbook, which reminded me of my biggest savings goal, which was buying a house.
4. I get comments ALL the time from friends, family, coworkers, managers, and the head honchos about the amount of overtime that I do. Most are just joking with me. But there is always truth behind their statements. They don’t seem to understand how I can do such a large amount of overtime or why I would ever want to. I try to give flip responses, but if someone is genuinely interested, I’ll give my real reasons J
I tell them the why: I want to pay off my student loans
And I tell them the how: In high school, I went to school full-time, played sports AND worked part-time. In college, I went to school full time and either worked full-time or worked multiple part-time jobs. I tell them how in the summer, I would work 6am to 2pm at one job, work in the evenings at another job and then did overnight babysitting for a neighbor. I’ll explain that I just finished working full-time and attending grad school. I’ll explain that I’ve never really done ‘just’ a 40 hour workweek and if I’m comfortable with it, why not do it and meet my goals.
5. Finally, I get motivated thinking that one day I could scream “I’m Debt-Free!” I probably won’t be calling Dave Ramsey’s show to scream. But I might just have a party in my living room J
Thoughts on debt repayment motivation
September 25th, 2007 at 10:27 pm
September 25th, 2007 at 10:44 pm 1190760280
September 26th, 2007 at 01:02 am 1190768535
September 26th, 2007 at 03:47 am 1190778443
Most of the time people don't want to hear the truth about wanting to be debt free. They would rather everyone be in the "debt trenches" with them.
September 26th, 2007 at 01:56 pm 1190814971
September 26th, 2007 at 02:14 pm 1190816054
September 26th, 2007 at 02:33 pm 1190817180