Short read - $190,000 withdrawn in $20 bills

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Debt Consolidation

I've received messages from someone telling me about some company to help reduce my debt.

Thanks, but honestly, I'm not interested in going through a company for assistance. My debt is not a problem for me, I'm not struggling, creditors are not calling me and I have a job...and a budget.

Also, after hearing Dave Ramsey talk so much about these rip-off debt consolidation companies, I would never want to go to one even if I was in a bad situation!

Things are under control and I'm feeling good about my plan! Though I must admit, I am a bit obsessed and have wondered what I will obsess about when it's all paid off and I start my 3-6 month emergency fund!

And...a bigger step

The goal date to pay off my car mentioned in my last post has been changed to October. See, I had just over $1,000 in a savings account (not my emergency fund) that I didn't want to touch, BUT...it was making less interest than what I was paying on my car loan by about 4%. I know this isn't much, but after thinking of how stupid it was to keep this money aside when I could pay off my car sooner, I did it.

Today I called my bank and the conversation went something like this:

Me: Hi, I'd like to make a transfer from my savings to my car loan.

Her: Ok, do you want to transfer the amount of your next payment?

Me: No, I want to transfer all that is available, I believe it is about $1,065. I'm trying to pay off my car loan early.

Her: Sure, do you want to close this account?

Me: No, keep it open.

Her: Ok, it's done.

Me: Great, thanks so much!

Her: Yup........(hung up)

Wow...really? She probably has a giant car loan and mounds of debt and was mad that I am trying to do something about mine. -- Should have dealt with my branch manager but didn't want to bother her.

Anyhow, this is done, I owe $3,435 on my car and am excited!

:) Going to update my sidebar now....

Tiny steps to a paid off car

I just made an extra payment to my car loan. I had planned on paying $250 out of this paycheck but $180 of it comes out of my bank account automatically in a few days. Therefore, I paid the difference of $70 ... $48.50 of it went to the principal and $21.50 went to interest.

Knowing that this is my next debt to pay off, I keep crunching numbers and figuring when it will be paid off. I'm such a number nerd. I think I can pay off my car loan by November which is about 10 months before the bank's scheduled pay off date!

BUT...this could also be set back if my dentist bill is high :( I'll know soon.

Yard Sale

I'm so tired of having "stuff" so have been planning to have a yard sale. It won't be for a few more weeks or so. I feel so cluttered with things I either bought or "inherited" that I just don't want or have a use for anymore. Also, there is a possibility that my housing situation will change in the next several months and I don't want to move everything.

Sure, I could sell it all on ebay, but I don't want to make the time to take pictures and list the stuff...I just want it gone. I am so sick of it all.

Looked at my finances

Last night I went over my money situation. I always seem to know how much I have and where, but when it comes down to adding it all up and figuring where it is supposed to be, I have to stop and write it down. By doing this, I also figure out how much money I have over and above my budget which can be applied to debt.

For example, in my pocket I have cash and checks to deposit, then I have money in checking and savings, but from that I have to pay AMEX for a few things I have purchased with it to bring it down to my current owed balance, replenish money I loaned to someone (very short term) back to the emergency fund savings account and pay my ebay fees. I found that I will have approximately $600 extra after I get paid Monday which amount can be applied to my car loan.

However, I do have a dentist appointment coming up in about a week and a half which is going to cost me at least $125.00 for a filling. Once the dentist goes to work he may discover that my tooth needs more than a filling and the price will go up. I am just hoping I don't need a root canal or anything extensive like this. It's not the pain that bothers me, it's the money.

For the record, the dentist told me that he would not have seen the problem (a shady spot in my molar) during a routine checkup. It's a good thing to keep up on your oral health and point things like this out to your dentist, they may not always catch them!

Back to the finances. It is best for me to put the extra money into my emergency fund savings account until after the appointment. This way I will know if it I can use it to pay my car, or if I have to pay the dentist more than the estimate. I sure hope I can pay my car!

If I do get to pay my car, I figured I can have it paid off by the end of this year and not April or May of next year as I had projected!

Flower

Yesterday I decided to buy a lovely porch flower. It was $9.99 plus tax and if I can keep it alive for the rest of the summer I will be happy. Unfortunately I don't have a green thumb so am a bit worried about this. Time will tell!

Stay focused

I've been working hard and staying focused, which is what it takes to get out of debt. The extra funds from my last two paychecks have mostly gone to my personal debt and the balance now is onyl $480!

Last week I returned some items from a MLM deal I never should have got involved with and received a credit of $290 to my bank account today. -- To add to this, I also made some extra money ($70) by helping some strangers move into their new home. It was random and unexpected, but very welcomed by me and my BF who also made money.

I will combine the $290 and $70 ($360) and with my paycheck this week add $120 to pay off my personal loan. I'm glad to know this will be paid off this month instead of August.

My sidebar has been updated, I can't believe how much I have paid off this year!!!

UPDATE! Actually, the credit was for $387 but they made originally made a mistake, so I took this, plus the $70 and a little extra I had and PAID OFF MY PERSONAL LOAN!!!! It's done! I'm no longer a slave to this lender!!! ;)

The car and AMEX are all I have left. I'm so happy about this today!

Changed plan of attack!

Nearly two months have gone by since I last posted, but I am still on the get out of debt wagon! I've been doing well so far and have killed over $6,000 of my debt which is so exciting!

A few of my goals / plans have changed since then. Last month I did well on ebay and with the help of other funds I had available, paid off Capital One 2. This is the card that was only charging me 3.99% interest and that I had planned to pay off last due to the low rate. I decided that I just wanted it gone...and when they charged me a $39 yearly fee, that was it! I called them and asked them if they would remove the fee if I paid off my account and closed it. They agreed.

Funny thing though, you know when you try to cancel a credit card they do just about anything to keep you? Well, the man I talked to didn't even try. When he asked me why I wanted to close the account I just told him that I wanted to get rid of all my credit cards. No questions asked...and I was so thankful for that.

Now, all I have left are: Personal Loan, Car and American Express. I will pay them off in that order. In fact, I noticed my last post said that I would have the personal loan paid off by December of this year...that has changed. I now plan to pay it off by August/September!!! Next to be attacked is my car which will be paid off maybe by April/May 2010. The loan schedule shows it to be paid if full by Sept. 2011 so I'll be pretty early on that one. Last will be AMEX which could take me until December 2010 and hopefully not longer than that!

It feels so great to know that I only owe on one credit card and my total debts are only three! I can't wait to be FREE!

Estimated pay off date for Personal Loan

After making out my budget for a year and a half, I calculated that my personal loan will be paid off in December 2009. For a long time I was only paying $20 / $40 here and there, but now I've worked my way up to $50 per month, for the next two months. In July, I'm bumping it up to $225 per month (and possibly more). Again, all this is assuming my finances remain the same.

I struggled with this debt for a while as far as what priority to give it, because the person is not charging me any interest and doesn't need the money, I know this to be true. In fact, the times when I've brought up repaying the loan, she has told me not to worry about it.

Anyhow, it was a loan from a friend and although it is at zero interest, it should receive priority.