Changes to my Action Plan

Well, here we are, nearly halfway through March, and I am already thinking about revising my debt action plan.

You see, I've had a couple of little life snafus/changes.  First of all, I took out a loan through Lending Club to pay off my remaining credit card balance (more about my experiences with Lending Club in a later post).  Things had been going swimmingly; I requested an additional payment to be made, and Lending Club debited it and applied it to my principal balace.  Except for when I made an additional payment three times my normal payment.  Lending Club stuck it into this "cash balance" and it was never applied to my principal.  After some frustrating emails and calls in which Lending Club STILL didn't understand my request, they've credited the extra money back to my checking account.  Since the payment schedule keeps my on track to pay off the loan within two years, I may just forgo making extra payments on this account and apply them to my massive student loan tab or car loan.

Secondly, my boyfriend C. and I are taking some big steps this summer/fall.  As I've mentioned repeatedly, we're moving in together in June.  In July, we're taking a road trip to IL so he can meet my dad and his side of the family for the first time.  We've discussed the possibility of C. proposing after meeting my family and talking with them (I refuse to say that he's "asking my dad permission").  And a couple of years after that...babies!  My subconscious has been in overdrive, spurring dreams of weddings, giving birth and raising babies.

And the possibility of these events happening in the (rapidly approaching) future is causing my slight panic and making me want to go into savings overload.  I've always been a saver, and it's been really hard paring down my savings rate to pay my debts off more quickly (sorry, Dave Ramsey).

So, I'm struggling more than ever with how I should pay off my debts and how much I need to be saving (if anything).  I never quite know how to balance it all.

Your Turn: Have you had little life "snafus" or changes that caused you to re-evaluate your savings and debt reduction plans?  Do you focus on eliminating debts, saving a nest egg or maintaining a balance between the two?