This is the second checking of my 5 financial goals for 2008. The following is a recap of this goal:

2.) Pay Down 20% Of Our Non-Mortgage Debt
This is a pretty ambitious goal but I think we can do it. After the wedding and home purchase though we have quite a few assets our debt has been steadily increasing. I would like to get this completely eliminated within 3 years, and 20% will be a great start. Most of this debt is at 0% or other reasonable rates so that is why I am not overly worried about paying it all off before all else.

Starting Point

We started this year at a rather staggering sounding $148,240.40. The majority of this debt however is my wife’s student loan debt which is at a fairly low interest rate (3.25%) as well as on some 0% credit cards that have been lingering for a while.

Progress

So far this year the debt has been reduced to $122,836.94, which is a 17.14% decrease. The chart below illustrates the decrease so far:

At last update I was thinking 20% would be hit rather quickly and I should up the goal to 25%. Well, I’m at 17% with a few months to go. I think 20% is definitely within reach but 25% may be a little much with the Holidays coming up.

Overall I’m very pleased with the progress of this goal so far this year. I have made steady progress on it throughout the year and am looking forward to seeing it down to a more reasonable number next year.