You were -$24,700, now you’re +$300.
I felt the same way after I paid off 40k in student loans earlier this year, lol. It sucks to be broke, but at least you’re not beyond broke!
It helps to look at a graph of your net worth; moving money from one side of the equation to the other doesn’t change anything (moving assets to pay debts), and it should be increasing.
Being $0 is better than most. So many owe thousands. Isn’t the average credit card debt over $6000? You’re better than that.
I knew someone who burned a $100,000,000 hole in her company. Then a newspaper expose showed the company engaging in fraud with their customers, buying stuff from Costco and passing it off as high-end organic whatever. It sunk the company, which was already $100,000,000 in losses. So at least you’re not her.
Congratulations! That feeling of being broke is real!
What I did was continually remind myself that I was far beyond broke when I had debt but was riding an artificial high. Now that the debt is paid off, I’m essentially sober for the first time in a long while, and this is what it will feel like for a bit.
It really is a bit of a mind game—find an analogy that works for you and ride it out.
Again, great job!
You’re making a smart move. You might be broke now, but you won’t be for long.
Debts can make you rich.
Cale said:
Debts can make you rich.
Only if you’re using it to generate cash flow! In my situation, it was a different story.
You’re going to have the benefit of enjoying positive cash flow every month! Without debt payments, you’ll build up cash much more quickly. Few people are as lucky as you are right now.
Go out and treat yourself. Tomorrow you’re back to the grind and investing/saving instead of paying debt.
You’re no longer drowning; now you’re treading water. Where you want to get to is swimming (in wealth!).
Just look at where you came from.
I’ve never been in debt before, but I feel like I go through that every month when I pay off my credit cards. Sometimes I’m left with less than $50 in my checking account (after putting money in my savings). The way I see it, money isn’t doing much in a checking account, so I try to keep it lean as possible, just paying off my credit card bills and other bills.
You’ve just been broke with cash flow. Now you’re in the growth stage.
Soon you’ll be doing a stock rug-pull after your successful IPO 
.