Pay off all my debt

I got my free credit reports this past week and everything is spotless. I now have two credit cards and some student debt left to pay. The total is about $16k. Even with my trip next month, I should be below 15k by the end of the year. Of course, as soon as I get it down a little lower, I’m looking into grad school, which means more debt unless I can get a job at the college first. We’ll see how it goes. But at least I can THINK about grad school now. I wasn’t willing to go with all the debt already looming over my head so I’ve been putting it off. Now it feels like time to start studying for the GRE. Yay!

Two of my debts were wiped clean unexpectedly, which means I’m already below my $20000 goal for the end of the year. We’ll see how much more I can knock off by December. Very exciting! Of course, I’m taking a trip in October, which will accrue a little debt, but I’m trying to be smart about it so it won’t set me back too much.

After college I was about $60,000 in debt with credit cards that were charging me 29% interest. I thought I would NEVER get out of debt.

Three years ago I was at about $40,000 in debt with better interest rates and a better job.

Now I’m at about $29,000 with very low interest rates and the best job I’ve had so far. It finally seems like the end may be in sight! If I continue to pay at the rate I’m paying now, I should be able to knock $9000 of this off this year. I’m also not adding any new debt, which is definitely helpful (not as helpful as winning the lottery, but we do what we can).

The debt isn’t cut in half, but it is decreasing at a fairly decent rate. I’m down to only two credit cards instead of 6 and I’m paying more principle on my student loan, which means it’s decreasing fairly rapidly as well. The nice thing about paying down debt is that, as it gets lower you’re able to pay it much more quickly because you aren’t paying as much in interest. I’m going to start cutting up my old cards and just keep enough open to keep a good credit rating.

From now on, living more simply is my goal. Books and movies have always been my big vice, but there’s no need to buy them when you live right up the street from a library and can get them for free. Consumerism isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. I think we’re learning this the hard way.

The debt, not me. I hope to have it cut in half by this time next year. Sticking to a budget is hard, but it will be worth it.

Two things that make paying off debt a little difficult. I transferred my biggest credit cards and combined them onto one 0% interest card. I have two more that are about two payments away from being completely paid off. This will still leave a lot of debt, but I feel a small victory any time I can throw a credit card to the side and know that it’s paid off.

Sadly, I spent tons of money this weekend getting new tires for my car and a dress for a wedding I’m not looking forward to attending. Life can be expensive.

Being unemployed for six months has caused an increase in my debt burden. On top of still having the student loans, I now have two credit cards nearly maxed and two more that will take a month or two to pay off. Thankfully I have a job now. My first priority before signing up for 401k or insurance will be to pay down my debt. I don’t think I’m eligible for benefits for 90 days anyway. So 90 days from now I hope to be considerably less burdened by debt.