Bit by bit. . . . .

Today is payday!! And today, I was fortunate enough to receive two checks, one from my day job, and one from my night job. The entire "night check" went towards my credit card (aka 'emergency card') debt, leaving me with a grand total of $171 to pay off! This, I know, I can do before the end of the month.

Technically, I could send the money now and get rid of this last little bit of consumer debt. However, I'm going to be away at a professional conference the week after next, and since the university doesn't hand out advances on travel funds, I'll have to cover my meals and transportation with my own money, and receive the reimbursement after I return. I want to have a cushion of cash in my checking account, so I'm not tempted to use my "emergency card". Invariably, when I travel for business, I end up spending more than the university per diem rate, and that would end up sitting on the card until the following month when I could pay it off.

Anyway, I'm ecstatic to be $171 away from my goal, almost exactly a year after I began my frugal experiment! In December, I'll need to start thinking about how to use that 'extra' money. I know I'll start putting money back into my 403(b) retirement account, and I know I'll pad my emergency fund, but the real question is whether I should start making at least the interest payments on my gargantuan student loan debt---right now, the interest is accruing and being added to the principle, so I'm basically going into more debt by not paying at least the interest. . .