When I got divorced this past spring, there was still some debt that remained….$15,258 that was on a credit card. Specifically, this was the overdraft from our joint checking account.

It seemed like on average, each month, more money was spent than was earned. We weren’t profligate spenders, but clearly, this is a sign that we were living beyond our means…and this was one of the several stress points that lead to our divorce.

I felt like I was on a treadmill, going nowhere.

Sinking actually. No cash savings (aside from 401k plans and my pension), just debt that had to continually be knocked down. It never seemed like there was anything left over to save, build and grow. Usually the debt would be reduced in the spring, when I would get my bonus and just about all of it went to pay down debts like this account.

That was a deflating feeling…a bonus that drops out of the sky and into the bank account. Lots of money! Instead it went to pay off the prior misdeeds of living beyond our means during the prior year.

Well, when the divorce was finalized, this was a remaining balance that was in my wife’s name. We had an amicable separation, so she wasn’t worried that I was going to not pay off my portion. Actually, there was nothing that I wanted to do more than to rid myself of the last vestigates of what had been an undisciplined financial life.

My portion was $7,629 and I wanted it to disappear so badly.

Paying off the credit card (Checking overdraft)

We agreed to a payment plan…$966 each month, starting in April 2021 and ending with the final payoff in November 2021. I made the first 3 payments, but it was tough…I was still trying to invest, but now I had to pay for my apartment and still pay for the house (my wife got the house) where my kids are living. This monthly payment was stretching me thin…

So I bit the bullet – I sold a little bit of my cryptocurrency portfolio and promptly paid off the remaining balance in June.

Below is how it all went down…

Those two payments in red, totaling $4,730 got rid of the remaining balance.

In some ways, it hurt to sell my crypto…I have cut short future gains, because the cryptos that I hold, I believe have long term fundamental potential:

• Nano
• Dero
• Bitcoin

Come to think of it, I’ll create a post on these 3 with why I bought and continue to hold them. I specifically sold Dero, because it had a decent pump in price, which I knew was temporary (that actually was indeed the case), so I could buy more at a later date when it came back down to replace the coins I sold.

Paying off debt feels good – it’s priceless to me!

In any event, it felt good transferring the gains from my crypto exchange account down to my checking account and paying it off!

As before when I used my bonus money to pay off another credit card, the feeling was amazing! As I mentioned, I don’t know if this was the smartest move financially, but in a sense, it was a smart move…because it makes me feel good.

I’ve been so scarred by worrying about in my life, I need to feel like I am making progress, removing what remains of dark financial days in the past.

Jumping the gun and paying off debt like this, while maybe not the best for me financially, was the right decision:

• It inspires me to continue to save and invest even more.
• It gives me confidence knowing that I am taking the steps to right my financial ship
• It makes me happy…and in the end, is there a price on that?

This was one more step towards “my financial self improvement” and it is an amazing feeling!

Glenn