Be debt free

i’m making steady slow progress on this… i will be taking out loans for school though..but as i think i said earlier this is specifically credit card, car debt… i’m proud that i have not defaulted on my payment plans yet. still straggling a little behind on my car payments but its all coming along.

I realized as I was reviewing my debt list how I owe entities other than credit cards and I want to pay that off as well. So, I’ve adopted this goal instead. Here is a rough rundown of where I am…

I’ve got my two biggest credit cards on payment arrangements. They are closed out completely and I make a monthly payment ($41 on one card and $180 on the other). Each plan will last 4 years and when I am done the cards will be paid off completely (interest and all). On one card they reduced my interest on the other it is eliminated. No prepayment penalties but I also haven’t had the opportunity to pay it down faster.

My smallest card is not on an arrangement and is also nearly maxed out but I make a bulk payment to it and use it for my gas and groceries. This is not entirely effective but it gives me a bit of a cushion. Luckily, when I’m not late the minimum payment is only about $30.00.

Aside from the three cards I owe one student loan (currently deferred and it is pretty small considering), about 7K on my car, 4 individuals in my life (that part kills me… dad, sister, sister and good friend), and then a couple small debts to companies.

Proud to announce that last pay period I resolved my debt with the county library. I know that sounds silly but I had forgotten to take some books back for MONTHS and they said I owed them nearly $100. I returned the books some time ago but didn’t have the money to pay them so I avoided it. Last weekend I had two boxes of books and old music scores to donate and so I walked in and asked if they’d trade. Unfortunately, they don’t do that. I asked what my total debt was and I guess, because I had returned the books the fines got reduced to $20.00. I happened to have a twenty dollar bill (I had sold some bookshelves) and so I paid the debt right there. It’s not the AMOUNT that kills me, it’s how long these debts have lingered and how I ignore them.

BETTER story about how long I wait to pay things… I owed the hospital that I was a member of a co-payment ($30.00)from 2008 (yes…. 2008) and I have either never had the paperwork handy or haven’t had the $30.00 available to expend on anything other than gas/groceries (or my ridiculous addiction to caffeine)... Anyway, finally got my game together this pay period (this morning!) and called them. Had to hold and get transferred around a bunch but finally paid it and the 13 dollars worth of interest that accrued.

So… run down: lots of debt… lots of anxiety and fear about facing that (so I push everything off).

Next pay period (Sept 15th..) I will pay my little sister back completely (I only owed her $80 total and she borrows from me on occasion too so it’s not a huge deal). I owe her $40 now.

Then also next pay period or MAYBE the one after I will take care of my cable bill from last year (moved out of my apartment and forgot to pay the last $80 and return a modem… hopefully I can still return a modem. I don’t know where it is but since I’m moving again hopefully I will find it.

See a pattern? Long story of avoidance for anything that seems stressful. But, two gone in 2 weeks isn’t bad. The rest won’t progress so quickly as they get bigger but at least I have a plan…and I’m actually doing something effective about the problem finally.

(In total I owe around $23K… not as bad as daunting as some people but it’s still quite a total and more than anyone I know my age who doesn’t own a home….)