Monti says "MEOW" is doing 42 things including…

Get out of debt

77 cheers |

Monti says "MEOW" has written 26 entries about this goal

June  — 3 weeks ago

Total = $1,151.22
Charged = ZERO
Paid = $310.00

Emergency Fund = $666 (great number, huh?!?)

Jun 29, 07:43AM PDT 5 cheers | 1 comment

May  — 1 month ago

Total = $1,492.87
Charged = $0.00 (Yes, that’s zero! For the first time ever, I did not charge anything for one month! Cutting up my card was the best thing ever!)
Paid = $360.00

Emergency Fund = $800 (I need to use a few hundred to pay for Monti’s vet visits and medicine. So instead of having $1,000 by June I won’t have it until July.)

May 27, 08:13PM PDT 5 cheers | 2 comments

Ouch that hurt!  — 2 months ago

I finally did it! I cut up my card. I think I bled alittle. I was thinking about doing it last night but couldn’t get myself to make that first cut…then this morning I just went for it, hacked it all to pieces and now it’s in the trash.

I was figuring out that I’ve used it two times each month this year. The charges always equaled less than what I was sending them that month but by doing that I was just spinning my wheels. I want to be done with the debt and have an extra $300 a month to do whatever with (disperse it throughout my budget).

May 01, 03:56PM PDT 8 cheers | 3 comments

April  — 2 months ago

Total = $1,771.58
Charged = $162.72 (online shopping) I still suck!
Paid = $300.00

Emergency Fund = $600 (I should have this back to $1,000 by the end of June)

If I can control my spending/charging, I should be out of debt by the end of September.

Apr 28, 07:13AM PDT 5 cheers | 6 comments

March  — 3 months ago

Total = $1,882.76
Charged = $205.12 (Shoes, art and deferred billing clothes) I suck!
Paid = $300.00

Emergency Fund = $400 (must be $1,000)

Mar 31, 01:28PM PDT 2 cheers | 5 comments

Ouch!  — 4 months ago

The car needed repairs, $700.00 worth. Luckily I have my emergency fund so I was able to pay cash. It still hurt though. Now I must concentrate on building my emergency fund back up. I’m working on my budget now and I’m afraid I’ll have to send the credit card less for a few months. So I might not be able to make my “out of debt by August” goal anymore…unless I work tons of overtime which might be possible because I’m slammed at work right now. I’m going to try to squeeze my budget til it bleeds!!

Mar 21, 05:04PM PDT 8 cheers | 6 comments

February  — 4 months ago

Total = $2,016.10
Charged = $238.72 (clothes)
Paid = $500.00

I didn’t plan on spending that much on clothes but I went to NY&Co. and there were sales and really nice fitting shirts…I just couldn’t help myself.

I still have a target date of being debt free by August. ;)

Mar 01, 07:25AM PST 7 cheers | 3 comments

January  — 6 months ago

Total = $1,966.76
Charged = $208.78
Paid = $225.00

I have an extra pay next month and I’ll hopefully be getting my taxes done in the next few weeks. With those and my regular monthly payments (and without charging too much more), my spreadsheet tells me I will be debt free by August!

Jan 27, 10:28AM PST 4 cheers | 1 comment

I found this interesting and wanted to share  — 7 months ago

Five Big Downsides to Store Credit Cards

by Marshall Loeb

Here are five reasons to stay away from proprietary credit cards, outlined by CreditCards.com, a leading consumer resource for credit card information.

1. While the biggest benefit is at the beginning of the relationship, when you typically get a typical 10% to 15% discount on same day purchases, most store cards go unused after the initial transaction.

2. Private-label credit cards generally have much higher interest rates (typically in the 20% range) than general purpose cards, which charge an average 13% to 14%.

3.Though they are easier to qualify for than major credit cards, and may tempt consumers who are trying to build credit, a wallet full of store credit cards, in addition to several major cards, can quickly degrade your credit by causing you to have too many open accounts.

4.Purchases with store cards can deplete resources you would have otherwise used on reward-points opportunities from general purpose cards.

5.In event of a purchase dispute, store credit cards don’t have an association to act on behalf of the consumer.

Consumers who sign up for store credit cards may also end up on marketing mailing lists or find that their personal information compromised. Large chains such as Wal-Mart routinely sell data to third parties, which in turn try to offer you special promotions or services. Unsolicited offers like these may be an annoyance, especially if you’re already flooded with offers you don’t want.

Dec 29, 07:37AM PST 4 cheers | 2 comments

December  — 7 months ago

Total = $1,871.78

Charged = $74.19 (Computer Security Program) I should add this to my budget because it’s a fixed yearly charge. If I divide it by paychecks I’d only have to save $2.88 a pay.

Paid = $200.00

Dec 22, 08:11AM PST 5 cheers | 3 comments

Monti says "MEOW" has gotten 77 cheers on this goal.

 

I want to:

The world wants to...

lose 50 lbs in 2 months pcoladawg wants to run a successful business dye my hair blonde write more poetry Live by the beach love unconditionally. laern to play drums get into Pinecone Research Start my own business See Common Rotation Live Learn to surf go to bhutan suicide START MY OWN ADVICE COLUMN get another tattoo or three be the person Christ wants me to be Erin Ellis wants to do a colon cleanse stop smoking Share my 'music knowledge' with other 'music geeks' as myself become a runner Get a new job learn to sew stop biting my fingernails Drive across the USA sadstopunlucky wants to stay sober Take a photo every day Pass all my GCSE's Find a good man