Oh, boy. Where to start? 2020 was a year. I'll spare you the platitudes that include phrases such as "pandemic," "unprecendented," and "dumpster fire." You've heard them. We all collectively experienced 2020 and I imagine we all collectively did not meet the goals we planned for ourselves.
That being said, if 2020 had a silver lining at all for my family, it was that not doing anything or going anywhere lent itself well to our debt-free journey. Before I share what we accomplished in the last year, I thought I'd recap the goals I shared eons ago in January 2020:
Recap of my 2020 financial goals
In January, we celebrated paying a total of $37,250 toward debt in 2019 (a 22% increase from the year before). This total included wiping out medical debt, as well as our credit card debt. We were elated with the progress we made and ready to maintain our financial discipline and set our sights on new hurdles:
GOAL #2: Purchase a new car- INCOMPLETE! | Technically, this is an "incomplete," but for a very good reason- I didn't purchase a new vehicle, because I didn't need to! Starting the new year, we assumed we'd have to replace my little Kia that's been with me since before we were married. What we weren't anticipating was the fact that my weekly mileage would go from 400+ miles per week to probably less than 20 miles per week when I began working remotely from home due to the pandemic. The only thing I used my car for in the last 9 months was school drop-off and pick-up. And did I mention how much I loved not having a car payment?
GOAL #3: Payoff a student loan- COMPLETED! | I am so excited to share that not only did I payoff a student loan...I paid off THREE! That being said, in the interest of full disclosure, the CARES Act stimulus check and forbearance of Federal loans allowed me to put a lot more money toward my high-interest private loans than I would have been able to in a "typical" year.
GOAL #4: Payoff personal debt- COMPLETED! | We had a couple small miscellaneous debts that we carried over from 2019 and were able to knock out by February. However, we did add debt to this category when I financed my Peloton in August. It's 0% APR so I think of it less as a debt than a payment plan, but still keep track of my payments along with my other debts.
So, how'd we do in 2020?
Last year, we paid a total of $43,308.17 (a 16% increase from 2019) toward debt! Here's how it broke down:
5 Financial Goals for 2021
GOAL #1: Payoff my next highest-interest (10.25%) student loan.
GOAL #2: Finally purchase my minivan.
GOAL #3: Save and cash flow our family trip to Walt Disney World!
GOAL #4: Increase my monthly tithe by 25%.
GOAL #5: Increase our Emergency Fund savings to $10,000.
Ideally, I would love to pay off all my remaining private student loans, but between the car purchase and the family trip we have some bigger expenses to save for so I think our priorities are going to shift in that regard. And yes, one could argue that student loan repayment should come before Disney World- but my children are only going to be this age once and honestly, I want us to enjoy a little reward for the hard work we've put in to dramatically reduce our debt. We are not entitled to a family vacation, but for the first time in our 8-year marriage we are in a position to do so. The trade-off feels more than worth it.