After Credit Cards

Lately I've been spending some time thinking about what we'll do with the "extra" money each month, once all of our credit cards are fully paid off. Assuming no major catastrophes (job loss, medical emergency, etc.), we will be able to pay off the remaining ~$20,000 in just over a year.

We'll definitely increase our discretionary spending, so that we can go out together (movies, dinners, concerts, weekend trips) and to lunch with coworkers a bit more often. We'll also spend more on clothing and sporting gear.

We'll have to start saving for auto repairs & a new vehicle, as the one that will be paid off at the end of 2010 will be five years old but will have well over 100k miles. It should last for at least a couple years, but it will likely need a couple thousand dollars in maintenance and repairs to stretch the life out longer. We will probably set aside the monthly payment amount ($442) to use for repairs and eventually a down payment on a new car.

The biggest thing that I'd like to tackle is paying off our second mortgage. If we can pay an additional $1000/month on it (which should be possible, with no credit cards), it'll take only two years to pay that off entirely.