I made my July goal!

Current debt: $5000 medical +  $4000 Prius = $9,000!

I made a $501.55 Prius payment today which bought it down squarely to $4,000. My goal this month was to get my total debt down to $9,000! Rather than relaxing, I am going to adjust my goal, since my OVERALL goal is to be debt-free by September 29th (the day I fly to my high school bud's wedding in Jamaica).

I've calculated that I have 10 working weeks between now and September 29th (2 weeks I will be on a family trip in August in Montana). If I'm to hit my goal, I need to put $900/week toward this debt. My only option is to extend this Spending Freeze until then 9/26. Also I have a quarterly tax payment due in September, so this should prove to be a serious challenge. It's possible... But it's going to be difficult. Not just difficult to keep not-spending, but I'm going to have to work my ass off. Also it's just plain fun to have a very challenging goal that I'm worried that I might not hit. I like hard work. I like doing a challenge like this that makes me have to carefully plan and calculate and take actions every day.

Yesterday I drove out to Chillicothe, Missouri where I gave a talk at the Livingston County Library on the best kid/toy organizing tips that I have learned from moms. Notice how I didn't say "how to keep your child organized", because that would be hilarious... The child-free minimalist telling moms what to do! I told this great group of women off the bat that I'm not a mother myself, but that I wanted to pass on what I had learned from my mom-clients that works well for them (own less stuff is usually the point I come back to). I also played up the fact that I taught preschool and that I studied child psychology in depth. All the women (and the two men there) were engaged, and laughed when I needed wanted them to. This was a paid speaking gig, which was awesome, plus they paid me a travel fee since it's a 105 minute drive each way.

I got badly caught in that murderous storm on the way back, so I pulled over and got gas, and then I... I had a roast beef sandwich at Arby's. I had brought a loaf of gluten-free bread to snack on but it was literally the worst ever. It was unpalatable, and I was starving, and trapped in the storm. So yeeeea, I went to Arby's drive thru. I had never been to Arby's. Their roast beef sandwiches were a big bunch of meh.