Cup of Coffee

January 28, 2015: The End

83 Comments

...of credit card debt, this time. We had our best income year yet but fell short of the next bracket, so we still get a decent tax return and are going to be able to kill the credit card debt four months early. This feels so good, dudes.

83 thoughts on “January 28, 2015: The End”

  1. Congratulations! That's an awesome feeling, isn't it? The only debt I have is student loan debt from seminary, and I'm so looking forward to the day when that's gone.

  2. Awesome! I got my (relatively small) credit card paid off a few years ago, and it's nice now that whenever I use it, I can usually get it covered in the next month. Now if only I could get this car, mortgage, and student loan completely paid off....

    1. Dido on the congrats. Law school debt is a cruel mistress, but not having any of the other stuff is nice at times. Of course it means not having any of the other stuff, but... Tom Haverford I'm not.

      1. Echoing the congrats above. I recently paid off my student loan from culinary school in a lump sum, which felt wonderful. Our medical debt has finally dropped below five figures. I made more money last year, even though I didn't start my job until late March, than I have in eight years.

        We still have a mortgage, but that means we also still have a house. Ten months ago keeping the house was an open question.

    1. And its a really terrible feeling when you used to be able to make it work for you instead of against, but can't anymore.

        1. We thought we had a credit card, but had never used it. We were going to use it to travel to Vancouver, because work would pay everything back. But it wasn't even a credit card, just a card thing showing that we had credit with one vendor (we used it for an A/C for the old house). So on the day we left for Canada, we had to run to Wells Fargo and get a personal loan. That was a stressful day. Then after travelling and customs we get to the hotel, and my bank card is not accepted because the total bill was greater than my limit and for some reason, I couldn't communicate to them to do half now and half tomorrow. I don't remember how, but EAR did the talking and got the point across while I cooled down.

          1. We are blessed to be able to pay off the credit card bills in full each month. I'm a big fan of the convenience of not having to carry much cash, the float, and the miles/cashback (respectively).

              1. That commercial scared me. I could have gone that way.
                There were some irrational vehicle purchases.

                We later realized that our plans of moving (this was more than 5 years before we moved) would be ruined if we couldn't get our spending below our earning. EAR learned about Dave Ramsey from a friend, and we haven't done it perfectly, but it informs our decisions.

                  1. I like Dave Ramsey, and think his plan is very good, but I don't follow it to the tee. I used to follow him much closer, now I barely listen to his podcast. It's just the same thing over and over again

                    2. If we'd followed Dave Ramsey's advice, we never would have beaten our debt. I have this tedious brother-in-law who's a tireless devotee of Ramsey, so his unhelpful and oversimplified advice was hammered into us constantly for a few years.

                    3. My parents are Ramsey devotees, and like Spooky, if Linds and I had followed his advice, we'd still be quite a ways out of being credit card debt free, instead of having done so last summer.

                    5. For us, it was mostly his advice to get rid of low balance, instead of high interest. Following his advice wouldn't have been bad, per se, but we crunched the numbers, and by consolodating and then eliminating a couple of our higher interest payments, we were able to get the whole thing done much quicker (and save a good deal of money in the long term).

                    6. That's one flaw that's constantly brought up. It comes from not understanding the reason for his method.
                      His method assumes that you have lots of different types of debt and that they all have similar interest rates. The idea behind getting the small ones out of the way first is that you get little victories and feel like you're making progress.
                      If you have one large debt that has a much higher interest rate, then I would agree that that needs to be taken care of first.

                    7. Ramsey admits that, on the math of it, it's better to get rid of the high-interest debts first. He just thinks that, for most people, the psychological effect of getting some debts paid off will give more incentive to stick with it. As the punman said, he thinks a lot of people need to be able to see they're making progress.

                    9. Right. He assumes a psychological mindset about all people in debt - that they need victories to remain motivated - which wasn't the case with us. From everything I saw at the time, he never even suggested that he knew the math wasn't there.

                    11. Yes. He explains it clearly the first time he talks about the "debt snowball".
                      The idea being that for most that are up to their eyeballs in debt, it's because it feels like "why even try"? or something.

  4. I'm currently working my way through seven (7!) thank you notes from a series of interviews I had yesterday (all with the same office). Fingers crossed.

  5. The Challenger space shuttle blew up 29 years ago today.

    At the time, I was still clinging to a dream of becoming an astronaut. This event stands out to me as a "where were you moment," probably on par with Twins World Series wins and 9/11 (not attempting to equate the events, of course, just my memory of them).

    1. I was at my office. I was listening to the radio broadcast of the shuttle launch. It had gone up well, and I was just about to switch stations when they came back on the air with the announcement that it had blown up.

      On the radio, they spent several hours clinging to the hope that there might have been survivors. When I got home and was actually able to watch what had happened, it was obvious that there were none. I remember being very annoyed at the newspeople for not being honest about that.

      1. somewhat apropos, the 45th anniversary of Apollo 13 is this April. So, I was 6-going-on-7 when that unfolded, partly on national TV.

        It's hard to express what Big Deals the Apollo lunar missions were back in the day.

    3. I suppose it would make sense for me to mention I was home sick from school that day in Waseca, MN. Stomach flu - so pretty miserable. I thought being able to watch a space shuttle launch live would be a silver lining.

      1. This was my experience as well. I'm sure it was in no small part due to Christa McAuliffe's presence that the schools ran so heavily with it.

    5. I really don't remember how I learned (I do remember how I learned about Kurt Cobain).
      I can't believe that we were watching at school. Would they interrupt class? I was in second grade.

      I do know that a friend of my parents (from the Duluth area) was a finalist for that teacher position that went to Christa McAuliffe.

      1. Also in second grade. I was aware the launch was going to happen and that a teacher was involved, but we didn't watch it live. I think the disaster was announced by the principal via the intercom.

        1. My school had less than 100 kids in 4 grades. It was one of two relic hamlet* Catholic schools that were part of the New Ulm Area, that had kids bussed out to it to keep it alive (because the main school had no capacity).

    6. I was in elementary school. I remember:

      * We had a gathering days/weeks before the launch because there was a teacher involved. I seem to remember a live chat in the library. Like with teleconferencing where a bunch of schools were involved with astronaut interviews. Was that even possible at that time? Maybe a video feed and a conference call?
      * I'm pretty sure we watched the event live because it was made into a big, educational deal. But I don't have a clear memory of _seeing_ it happen live. I wonder if we were immediately shuttled out of the room when it happened.
      * I remember some terrible jokes told by 4th and 5th graders. They thought it was funny that a teacher had died.
      * I feel like I got home early – like we were sent home to be with our parents. I was going to see a cartoon that I usually didn't get to see because school bus. I remember being mildly disappointed that cartoons weren't on because Challenger.

      The memory is weird.

      1. I was quite disappointed about the cartoon situation that afternoon. (Pretty sure I typically watched He-Man after school.) I did not understand why the tv just kept showing the same thing over and over on all the channels. My mom was there, so I assume she tried to offer some sort of explanation.

    7. I had just started work the fall before, and was visiting a friend in Phoenix when it happened. We were just getting going for the day when another friend called from work and told us to turn the TV on.

    8. Yesterday (Jan. 27) was also the anniversary of the Apollo 1 accident, which killed Gus Grissom, Edward White, and Roger Chaffee.

    9. I wasn't quite born yet (I'm 29 in June). I do remember the Columbia disaster. The next day my English teacher asked "Who would still go into space?" My friend and I were the only two to raise our hands, being the gigantic science nerds we were (and still are to some extent). Even with the recent private space carrier setbacks, if Richard Branson or Elon Musk came up to me and said, "pack your bags, you're going into space in three days", I'd be there in a heartbeat.

  6. Congrats on the debt going away!
    We'll have our van paid off in three months. After that it's just the mortgage which has another 11 years.
    There is nothing quite like the feeling you get when a debt is paid off.

  7. One of these years, I am going to buy myself a nice cookware set. Everything I cook with has either been gifted to me, taken from Pizza Hut, or left behind by former roommates.

      1. I love my cast iron skillet. My wife doesn't use it because she literally cannot lift it. But it cooks better than any Teflon pan I've ever had.

        1. Word. I have four skillets, one of which is the lid to my dutch oven. I never use anything else aside from the occasional use of my small stainless pan to toast burger buns when I've got all the cast irons in use.

          This also reminds me that I need to re-season this weekend.

            1. I'm going to scour the crap out of it, then put some fat on there and bake the crap out of it. I don't think I did a real great job on the first one I got because it looks like a lot of the seasoning is peeling off on the bottom, so I'm hoping to not screw it up this time.

              1. I use my cast iron frying pans (a 10-inch, I think, and a grill pan, both Lodge) and Dutch oven (some knock-off brand) all the time. Re-Season, re-schmeason. I wash 'em with (very little) soap and water, dry on the burner, then sometimes remember to rub a little vegetable oil all over the interiors.

                I cook curries and stews in the Dutch oven frequently, so it gets quite a bit of acid cookery and liquid cookery, but the seasoning holds up Just Fine.

                1. Normally, I'm with you on the re-schmeasoning thing. But I really do think I messed it up the first time. I'll have to take pictures of it. Of course, the inside of the pan is fine, so maybe I'm just trying to make extra work.

                  I also make curries and tomato based foods in my dutch oven, so I'm penciling that acid thing in as a myth.

                  1. well, I did season mine reasonably well initially. The main keys are to get it clean and then get it dry as a bone.

                    I suppose if you have rust spots, then it makes sense to sand those off and re-season.

        2. Ours used to be too heavy for me, but having a 26-lb. toddler whose favorite word is "up" (as in "pick me up, Mommy") solved that problem. Same goes for the enameled dutch oven, which gets a lot of use during the winter months.

      2. We've been using enameled dutch ovens lately. We got a 6-quart one originally and it's great, but a little big for some things. Thankfully there's a 3-quart size. Got that one within the last month. I expect it will get plenty of use.

        1. Love this dutch oven. Replaced the handle with a La Creuset handle that is safe in the oven to 500 degrees because no knead bread making. Reading the description, they must have changed the Lodge design because it claims safe to 500 degrees now.

          1. my dutch oven is just plain cast iron, with a heavy wire loop handle. Works great for no-knead bread too.

          1. Stays hot, very even heat distribution, easy to clean (for enameled), and can use on stovetop or in oven.

            The wife resisted getting one for a long time and was dubious about them in general. She finally relented to America's Test Kitchen's experience and we got one. She loves both of them now.

            1. My non-enameled cast iron is very easy to clean.

              Versatile (can bake bread at a billion degrees in it, can cook stews, soups, curries, can use for deep frying, if you are into that). Works on gas or electric stovetop or in oven, or even over an open fire. Great heat retention. Lasts forever.

          2. oh, and if you are cooking acidic foods in one, you are probably upping your iron intake very slightly too. Bonus!

            Myth-busting!
            example:

            The main advantage of cast iron is that it has very high volumetric heat capacity, which means that once it's hot, it stays hot. This is vitally important when searing meat. To really heat cast iron evenly, place it over a burner and let it preheat for at least 10 minutes or so, rotating it every once in a while. Alternatively, heat it up in a hot oven for 20 to 30 minutes (but remember to use a potholder or dish towel!)

            For more on this stuff, check out this great article by Dave Arnold at Cooking Issues.

            The other advantage is its high emissivity—that is, its tendency to expel a lot of heat energy from its surface in the form of radiation. Stainless steel has an emissivity of around .07. Even when it's extremely hot, you can put your hand close to it and not feel a thing. Only the food directly in contact with it is heating up in any way. Cast iron, on the other hand, has a whopping .64 emissivity rating, which means that when you're cooking in it, you're not just cooking the surface in contact with the metal, but you're cooking a good deal of food above it as well. This makes it ideal for things like making hash or pan roasting chicken and vegetables.

      3. I didn't expect a whole discussion when I got back from work.

        I don't know if a cast iron if for me. One, I have never had one. Two, the whole seasoning process is foreign to me and would probably forget to do it.

        I really want and need pots with lids that properly fit.

        1. If it helps, there are pre-seasoned pans available and the lids for my stainless set got great on my cast iron.

    2. We just bought a 12" stainless skillet and it is so much better than the crappy non-stick stuff we had previously. I definitely want to buy more good equipment.

    3. Oh, man. I've been on a mission to figure out what I want. I read this article and this whole thread, even. So far I've settled on…

      Pots:

      * Enamled dutch oven from Lodge. I love the hell out of this thing.
      * Large 12 qt soup pot with heavy aluminum disk bottom and strainer insert.
      * 6 qt cheapo pot for boiling pasta.
      * 4.5qt saucepan with heavy aluminum disk bottom.
      * 1.5qt saucepan with heavy aluminum disk bottom.
      * If I ever started making real sauces, I'd want a saucier/chef's pan.

      Pans:

      * 10" nonstick from Calphalon or Cuisinart or whatever. For eggs…and my wife.
      * 10" lodge cast iron skillet
      * 12" lodge cast iron skillet (I'd probably go with this one if I had just one cast iron skillet)
      * 12" 5qt Tramontina tri-clad stainless steel sauté pan (this is kind of huge - and heavy aluminum disk bottom is probably ok)

      Also, a couple half sheets with a cooling rack. Pyrex casserole dish. Another interesting post. If I ever get a gas stove, I'll probably buy a wok. I've determined it's not worth it with my glass-top stove, however.

      1. My wife managed to ruin my carbon steel wok, so now all I have is a Calphalon flat-bottomed wok. Not nearly as good, but I use it (gas stove). I have a large aluminum frying pan I got from a restaurant supply store. It gets a lot of use -- much more than my old Calphalon (not non-stick) frying pans any more. And a set of three non-sticks from Costco that get a lot of use.

    4. We have a needless amount of nice cookware. The Milkmaid is a very good cook and likes to do it, so her family typically goes to that easy well every Christmas and birthday. It's the same reason I have a ton of baseball paraphernalia.

  8. This is crummy. I've listened to the station less and less lately, and this is going to continue that. Abney was one of their least pretentious DJ's.

      1. I admittedly can't stand Abney, but Jade as the replacement is yuck. Jade is like April Ludgate without any redeeming qualities.

        More Bill Deville or Mac Wilson would have been much better.

    1. I'm no biokinesutritionologist, but I try to pay attention to these sorts of things. I've gotten the strong impression there there is something crucial in the working of muscle at weights/intensities high enough to stimulate the failure/soreness/repair cycle that just does something very, very important in the body in numerous systems. Those set points being one of them.
      We have those parts for a reason - use 'em! But then, confirmation bias and all that...

    1. I watched the Wolves game instead of the Gophers.
      On the plus side, the women's team beat Penn St. Too bad that squad is rarely on tv.

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