Another Loan Paid

Today I mailed off the final payment for my car.

Yeah, it’s hardly the earth-shattering news that I usually pen in this blog, but hey… in my life, it’s one less thing. It’s also one more example of how I’m a schmuck I try to be a responsible citizen by not taking on more than I can pay, and paying off my debts on time. In a period where both our financial institutions and the people who borrow from them are reeling from not being realistic about monetary matters, I think we can use as many fiscally conservative people (yes, like me) as we can find.

The great thing is that now I’m not carrying any debt beyond what’s on my credit cards for this month—which will get paid in full when the bill comes. When you are in the lower fringes of middle class like I am, not having any debt is a good thing. I pay for what I can afford, and what I can’t afford I either don’t get, or I’ll save up until I can afford it. I save when I can, but I’m not miserly, especially where family is concerned.

Do I worry about money? Sure. Just about every day. The fact that we’ve had 8-years of criminal rich-people cooking the books and otherwise caring more for how much more they had than their rivals than they cared about our economic health just makes me sick. I worry if my savings will be there tomorrow, or next week, or next month. I worry about how I’m going to maintain the house. For me, every $200+ maintenance visit means that something else doesn’t get bought that month.

I do wonder if being responsible is worth it. Yeah, I get to take the moral high ground sometimes, but the fact is that I’m one of those who falls through the cracks. I don’t make enough money to get all of those perks that well-heeled get in terms of interest rates and tax breaks. I also don’t make little enough to get any sort of help from the government. I have what I have and that’s pretty much it. And I get a load of worry on top of that, too.

Still, I’m better off than some in this country, and better off than most when considering the rest of the world. I don’t have much cause for complaint. True, I’m nowhere near keeping up with the Joneses… or even a subset of the Joneses… but I have family that loves me, I have good friends, I have a roof over my head, I have heat and cooling to make life livable, and I have food in the pantry. And, as I mentioned, my most recent car is bought and now paid for. So, I’m doing OK. I’m getting by.

Now…with all of that said, I’m in no way saying that if I won a Lotto that I wouldn’t be happier in terms of the money stuff. I think others would be more likely to be the beneficiaries of it (after all, I don’t need for much). There are definitely some people and organizations I’d like to help. But they’ll have to wait because I need to buy a dozen T-shirts to replace the ones that have gotten too worn.

Still. The car is paid for! Yay!!!