Graduation, 3 Years Ago.. Debt, Still Here

On May 1, I will have my 3 year anniversary in my current job. 3 YEARS! I don't know why it evokes some fear within me, because I never doubted that I would be in this job for less than five years. Yet, it seems like I only just graduated from University and that it really can't be 3 years ago!

Maybe this fear has to do with the massive weight that sits at the bottom of my online-banking screen - Mastercard Line of Credit  !! <Enter terrifying horror movie sound effect here>

Wait, let me clarify. The scary part is not the LOC itself. Debt is healthy, correct? What scares me to no end is the fact that the number has not moved down in the past three years. In fact, it is actually bigger now than it was when I graduated (due to a poor self-directed decision that it was better to use LOC to pay down government student loan due to LOC low interest rate - bad decision because interest on government student loans is tax deductible).

SO, in the past 3 years, I have managed to get away with only paying the interest. Not only did I get away with this, but I took advantage of it and made zero effort to pay it down. To say that this weighs me down enormously now, would be a gross understatement.

So I am considering putting all this out here in the public, which I know my mom is completely disapproving of as she reads this. However, I have reached the conclusion that debt is like any addiction; the first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem. Furthermore, the "Smart Cookies" always rave about money clubs and the importance of talking through our financial woes to find solutions, rather than viewing finances as taboo conversation. My final reason? Accountability. Fabulously Broke in the City has inspired me to track my repayment progress through my blog. Hopefully, this will serve as a regular reminder to stick to my plan and my budget, so I can achieve my goal.

That being said, I am still absorbing some of the numbers that I just calculated, and I think this is going to take some time to get comfortable with.  Plus, I need to find a really cool tracking meter or something for my sidebar. Stay tuned...