I'm also really bad at personal finance. I was dirt fuk'n poor through my twenties, because I decided to give up my career in favor of going to graduate school. I didn't mind not eat well and living in a tiny apartment, but still, even with those cutbacks, I built up some credit card debt. I make decent money now, but I haven't paid it all off yet, primarily because I keep 'investing' in weird shit (well, and I bought a sweet new car that I love). I've bought a couple awesome pieces of art that have set me back a few thou, and I recently threw a sizable chunk of cash at an independent film that I'm really excited about.

I'm sure that 99.999% of financial advisers would tell me I'm batshit insane, as these are super high risk investments at a time when I probably should be worried about having some cash on hand. But fuckit, I put away about $1000/mo in long term, low risk investments, too, so I'm not altogether worried about having a few grand in high interest debt. It'll get paid off soon enough, and for the time being I prefer to live in a way where I have some fun with my money. Even if I never see a penny of the money I threw into the film again, at least I tried something awesome and helped a friend achieve a dream that he's been working toward for a very long time.

But anyway, congratulations! That must be an amazing feeling. I've carried at least a little bit of credit card balance for about 10 years, and I can't imagine life without it right now. It must feel like a weight has been lifted off your shoulders. Like I said, my level of debt, especially given my debt:income ratio, is not at all threatening, but it's still there. It still looks me in the face every month when I pay the bill. And that sucks. Good job.