Kninja Knitter

I haven’t shared a great deal about my finances so far, but because I realize it may help some people to know that they’re not alone in the struggles of making headway in this area of life. I’m hopefully just a few years away from retirement, but that timeline has me very nervous about resolving the mistakes of my past and ensuring my future won’t follow in the path of my parents.

History

I’ve made great strides in the past couple years to address my financial challenges. I was never taught how to manage money – because my parents didn’t understand how either. And while I grasped the easy stuff (don’t spend more than you make, obvi) that didn’t really make it easy to accomplish. Dealing with depression and loneliness makes things like this harder. I’m not excusing my behavior, but I have to understand the underlying complications if I’m going to correct them.

So I started off a few years back with a simple spreadsheet just tracking my income (mostly paid semimonthly) and where that income had to go – paying which bills in which pay cycle, etc. Of course, credit cards make it a little tricky because I can get my groceries and gas and everything else throughout the month, but I only have to pay the bill once a month. For a long time, I didn’t have the capacity to pay the outstanding balance, so I was shelling out beaucoup bucks in interest.

I reached a point a couple years ago where I decided to stop that merry-go-round. Thanks to my annual bonus and income tax refunds and some spreadsheet “magic,” I was able to get caught up. It also helped that some of my credit card companies offer promotions so I can make larger purchases and not pay interest but instead pay some other fee. We won’t talk about how that’s pretty much the same thing – banks are in business to make money. My core point is that I’ve made strides.

I’ve managed to get my credit score to creep up and up, inching closer to an excellent score, hovering just below that line. Only time will allow me to bump up there. Well, time and more efforts in pursuing my goals.

Goals

So here we are in 2025. Because of the home repairs and upgrades I’ve had done in the past two years (new water heater, new HVAC, new bathtub, etc.), I have a few loans I’m paying on, along with a handful of credit cards. The credit cards (mostly) serve to address my routine needs of groceries, gas, etc., and I use certain cards for specific purchases for the rewards programs. Cash back may be small, but it’s not nothing!

Still, my chief goal this year is to reduce my debt. If retirement is going to happen in the next five years or so, I need to be free of these strings. Currently I have five loans in payment status, not counting my mortgage. The one with the highest interest rate is where I’m throwing large sums of money each month. I should be able to pay that loan off in less than two years this way (it was initiated as a five-year loan, so I’m saving thousand of dollars in interest!). The two smallest loans have no interest, so there’s no benefit to paying them off early, and both will be paid off this year. And I’m using the avalanche method to proceed., with my goal for the quarter to pay down 15% of my debt balance.

To get where I want to go, it makes sense to boost my income wherever I can. I already mentioned that I get cash back on some of my credit cards, and I also participate in the Upside program, earning small rebates on my routine purchases, like gas, groceries, and dining out (or take out). That’s all good, but it’s not going to accelerate my debt payment plan in any meaningful way.

So this month I started working as a DoorDash delivery driver. I’m in my third week, actively making deliveries, and it’s been a learning experience. I like that the company gives its new drivers a VIP treatment, giving me time to learn the ropes.

January Progress

As of the end of January, I’ve paid down 2% of my loan debt (compared with 2024 year-end), including my mortgage. I had some higher credit card balances to pay down because of my travel to South Carolina at the start of the year, along with some impulse spending, one of the things I’m trying to curb. But I’m becoming more intentional about my spending since returning home. And with my annual bonus coming at the end of February, I can make a bigger dent in a couple of the larger debts.

I mentioned under my goals that I’m using the avalanche method – this is a way to prioritize where my money goes to pay down my debts. Specifically, the avalanche focuses on paying the debts with the highest interest rate down to the lowest. And as a debt is paid off, its monthly payment is then redirected to go toward the debt with the next highest interest rate. And along the way, the other debts are paid based on their original schedule.

Two of my smaller loans are scheduled to be paid off in Q3 of this year. And then the avalanche can begin. The loan with the highest interest rate is currently projected to be paid off in March 2026. But because I’m boosting my income, there’s a strong chance I can pay it off in February, or sooner. It depends on how aggressive I can get with these payments, as well as the size of my bonus (this year and next year).

As of this post, I’ve earned over $350 in three weeks through DoorDash. I’m setting aside a portion of each paycheck for taxes, and the rest is going into my general fund for paying my debts and bills. I’m using an app called Stride, recommended by DoorDash, to track both my mileage (for next year’s tax filing) and my estimated taxes.

And speaking of taxes, I promptly filed my income tax returns. I owe a little bit for federal, so that will be paid closer to the deadline (after my vacation 😉). But I’m getting a nice refund from the state of Ohio, and that will be direct-deposited into my checking account next month. One reason for the difference between the two is that I contribute monthly to my grandson’s 529 account, and Ohio offers a tax credit for such contributions. Another win-win!

Oh, and also on the income front, I work part-time in the music ministry at my church. My choir director recently resigned, so I’ve been filling in leading rehearsals and Mass. Candidates are being screened, and hopefully someone will be hired in the next month. But in the meantime, I’m making a bit more money than usual. Every little bit counts! At least with this job, I’m a W-2 employee, so the tax topic isn’t a big deal.

I’m still learning some of the ins and outs of DoorDash, but it seems I’ve started off strong. I’ve already completed my first fifty deliveries and scored eight 5-star ratings from customers (no ratings excluded). And I’m particularly proud of the one “friendliness” recognition I received. The biggest challenges I have to deal with are lulls in the activity and slowness at a restaurant. They’re part of the gig, but I’d rather be busy for an entire shift – and preferably getting more deliveries packed into my schedule. Right now I’m front-loading my week with shifts, but weekends can be better paying. It’s all about balance!

I’ll keep you posted on how things continue. My bonus will help me towards my goals for this quarter, but after that it’s going to have to be smart choices and cutting costs where I can. Stay tuned!

Knit on. 🧶