get out of debt

While no, I am not out of debt, I’m down to less than 5000.00 and I have high hopes to retire it all by the fall. We’ll see. But no, that isn’t exactly right either, because we had to buy a car in June and there are payments for that for a few more years. But the interest rate is so much lower that it is mentally in rather a different category. All the student loans are gone, however. 2 months ago

Starting this month, I will begin repaying my student loan. I plan to pay a reasonable sum monthly so that by the time I’m out of school, I would have at least made a dent in the interest. 2 months ago

Update on what I still owe:
—Credit Union: $3000
—Chase Rewards HRC: $1309
—Capital One: $2250
—World Points: $0 (done and done!)

New total: $6559, up from $5940. (I managed to see a dentist for a cleaning, etc., for the first time in years, and a $20 copay turned into a $750 “we have to deal with your fillings right now” ordeal. Yaaaay. =_=)

K, so here’s what I did. I opened a low-interest-rate account with a credit union and transfered the Capital One and World Point balances to that card, for a total of $3000. That paid off both those cards. Then, I transfered $2250 from the Chase Rewards HRC card to the (empty) Capital One card for the lower APR. (13.9% isn’t super duper, but it’s a head and shoulders above 29.99%!)

So, I’m playing APR shufflemancy, it looks like, but in my defense I did call the Chase people and asked to have my interest rate lowered, and they said “no”. So, fine; I lowered it myself… by transfering part of the balance to a card with a lower APR. So there.

Therefore, my World Points card is paid off (I closed the account a while back), but I opened another account with a credit union, so that still leaves me with three cards to handle. My new priority is paying down the Chase Rewards HRC card because of its super-high interest.

Here’s the new breakdown. I’m still dealing with (1) APR, (2) current balance, and (3) limit.

1. APR: 1.99% (first 6 months, then 9.25%)
2. CB: $3000
3. Limit: $3000

1. APR: 13.90%
2. CB: $2250
3. Limit: $2500

1. APR: 29.99%
2. CB: $1309
3. Limit: $3800

If I pay $100 plus the interest on the Chase Rewards HRC card, I’ll have it paid off by about this time next year. And of course, I’ll still be paying at least the minimum amount (though probably just a smidgen more) on the other two.

Now, as for my student loans. Simply put, I have a shit-ton of them. However, I spent most of March and the beginning of April consolidating them and during that process I signed up for the “income-based repayment plan”... Since my income is… well, let’s just say it’s not good… my monthly payments are, at this point, $0. Obviously, I would really rather just pay off the loans, but I have to work on one thing at a time, here, or I’ll get overwhelmed. If there’s anything I’ve learned in my time as a Real Adult, it’s that I can’t put too much pressure on myself or else I’ll cave and nothing will get done at all.

Next step is paying off that pesky high-interest card! 2 months ago

It’s worse. I borrowed against the truck to buy a trailer. I purchased a new car. :( So truck is at $4700 and car is $19K. Share loans aren’t bad, I’m at $1682, and $300 of that will be gone by end of month. Still, the vehicle debt is hard. They are both paid ahead currently and will remain so until after baby comes. At least I’m thinking somewhat smartly there. 2 months ago

Canceled my credit card. When I leave my house I only take as much cash as I need for my intended errand. I have been spending considerably less and overall have been much happier.

Simplifying my spending habits has reduced my stress significantly and improved my quality of life. I still have a lot of student loan debt, which I will avoid for now because even if I make the minimum payment I will barely be covering the interest so it won’t make a difference. 2 months ago

I am a generous person. Generous and optimistic. Good qualities, but when combined with an impulsive nature and a tendency to tell people what they want to hear, leads to a cycle of irresponsibility. For most of my adult life, I was overweight – couldn’t deny my friends and family my participation in eating and drinking rituals. When chronic, unrelenting knee pain made me finally face the fact that I had to lose weight or get knee replacement surgery, I somehow found the strength to lose 40 pounds. I was lucky enough to find TSFL/Medifast as a plan to do that. What I learned in the eight months it has taken me to get to a normal (BMI chart normal) weight, is a very simple lesson: losing weight and maintaining a healthy weight is hard. Being fat is hard – choose your hard. I have learned that vigilance, honesty, and denying people close to you some satisfaction is the only way to not be fat. As I overate, I also overspent. I was doing okay after inheriting some money, but I spent it all and am back in debt again. I want to be out of debt by the end of 2013. I want to use the same skills I learned to lose weight to lose debt. 2 months ago

Wow! 12,162 people want to get out of debt! Surely the desire is all wrong?

According to the Universal Law of Attraction, if you focus on “getting out of debt” your focus will be on the key word. So debt becomes the thing you concentrate on and your debts just build up as a result.

Most people’s image of debt is how dreadful it is. How they were prevented from doing certain things, or going to various places, or joining in with friends. I’m the same. Placing the emphasis on debt doesn’t make it go away, it just makes you feel miserable. (There is good debt, by the way).

Just spend a few seconds now. Think about what debt means to you and reflect on how it makes you feel.

So we want to get rid of debt but without focusing on it. Over the years I’ve learned to focus on the opposite to what I don’t want to make it a more positive goal.

Instead of being in debt, I think about what it’s like to be financially free and having enough money to do what you want when you want.

Now close your eyes for a few seconds and imagine what life would be like if you had no financial worries, know that you had enough money in the bank so you could buy your loved one something special, or go and do what you want whenever.

If you tried the two exercises, which one feels better to you?

If you felt better thinking about having no worries and living a financially free life, then you should always focus on the things that you want, not the things you don’t want.

It takes a bit of getting used to, but try.

Steve 2 months ago

To get out of debt I joined MCA. It helps me earn extra income. I am able to save more and maintain the budget that I have established.

MCA is looking for more agents. If you are serious about getting out of debt, I have information that can help you reach your goal. 2 months ago

CC = 1800€
UNI = 1000€
LAWYER = 0

In order to be debt free by June I have to be really really strict and finish to pay my debt by my Mexico trip in June, still on the meantime I will have to buy some plane tickets to UK and back from Mex so I think no eating out for me anymore. 2 months ago

Update on what I still owe:
—Chase Rewards HRC: $3180
—Capital One: $2360 (exactly the same!)
—World Points: $400

...which brings the total down to $5940… which is nearly exactly what it was last time: $6190. I discovered, upon being sent a brand new card, that my Chase Rewards HRC card account is NOT closed, and my lack of discipline and long-term thinking has caused the balance on that card to spike. As you may’ve noticed, however, I’ve been focusing on paying off the World Points card, and I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel on that one. I managed to keep the Capital One card at (exactly!) the same level, so I guess in that regard I’m running in place. Overall, I’ve cut into the debt only by a little more than $200, but I suppose even snail’s-pace progress is still progress, right?

In my last note, I predicted that I could have the World Points card paid off by December 2013, if I paid at least $100 per month. I’m happy to say that if I stick to this plan, I’ll have it paid off in July, almost six months ahead of schedule! YAY. Then, I’ll be able to roll those payments over to one of my other cards.

Do you all think I should go for the Capital One card or the Chase Rewards HRC card next? Since both of these accounts are still open (as I recently learned), I have to consider three things for each: (1) APR, (2) current balance, and (3) limit. Here’s the break down:

1. APR: 13.90%
2. CB: $2360
3. Limit: $2500

1. APR: 29.99%
2. CB: $3180
3. Limit: $3800

Now, immediate logic demands that, as soon as I’ve paid off the World Points card, I cut up and throw out my Chase Rewards HRC card (whether or not I close the account) and start paying that one down for good; it has a higher balance and a higher APR. However, it also has more wiggle room (at this point) to cover my ass for emergencies and the like. Maybe I could freeze the card in ice instead? We’ll see. Whatever I end up deciding, I really do need to pay down both cards enough that the balances aren’t so high compared to their limits.

I’m still living at home, so I don’t have to worry about rent or food money (thank all the gods). However, I still have other bills besides these credit cards, and balancing them is tiring. Being an adult really sucks sometimes, yeah? I pay for a storage unit in New Jersey monthly, and late last year I started seriously working on getting my mental health shit together, so the cost for those services is really biting into my bill-paying funds. I am also in the process of consolidating my school loans and for serious getting a better-paying job somewhere in the Los Angeles area. Progress is slow on the latter front, but at least I’m applying for work now, when before I just talked about applying for work. Baby steps; baby steps.

I’ll try to check in again soon. 3 months ago