It's all mine!

As many of you may know, our financial aid checks came yesterday!! I was extremely excited about this even though that I know that the money will immediately disappear in a wave of bills and attempts to "get ahead." Of course, just knowing that the check was waiting in my mailbox gave me the impetus to buy a sterling silver charm bracelet and three silver charms to go with it (I've wanted a charm bracelet for as along as I can remember, and, as soon as it arrives at the jeweler's, I will now have one!). Of course, as soon as I got home, I ran to the bank to put my monies in my account. I resisted the urge to "do my checkbook" as soon as I returned home. I figured that I would let me bank account bask in the glory of actually having money before I started writing checks left and right.

Of course, that means that first thing this morning I began paying bills. I paid my rent through May, paid off my computer and my AT bill. I also made some large payments on my credit cards, and, most importantly I PAID OFF MY CAR!!!!! The Alero is officially all mine. I just need to wait for the payment to clear and for the bank to issue me a clean title! I'm pretty stoked about this. I've had this car for almost five years (the dumb ex-husband convinced me, in all his wisdom, to take out a five year loan so I would have lower payments. Never having had a loan before ever, I followed his guidance. It should have been a sign when I realized that he had had five vehicles in five years and all of his loans were now upside-down! Oh well. Live and learn.)! Hopefully she will continue to behave herself and work well with the occasional minor repairs and oil changes (Knock on wood!). Of course, as I am on the phone with the bank, they tell me that they are going to transfer me to a loan officer so I can speak to them about getting a new loan. I was like, "Hold up, peeps! I want no more loans (other than my school loans, and I only take them because I have no choice!)!" I nicely explained that I now lived in NC and taking out a loan from a bank in NY was ridiculous, and I wasn't in the market for another loan. I couldn't believe their vulture-esque behavior. Let me have a few months with no payments, people! Back off!

With all the furious check writing, I resisted the urge to blow the entire pot on all my bills. I'll let a decent chunk of it sit in the bank for a little while in case something big and unforeseen comes up! Maybe after I get my paycheck at the end of the month I will take care of some more crap. We'll see. In the meantime, I may be chopping up my AT card. And my VS card. And my Old Navy/Gap card. Maybe I'll just keep them and use them as an exercise in will power. I wonder whose will would win? Mine or my compulsion's?

Is it wrong that I feel so friggin' ecstatic about paying off my car with a student loan?