Total debt: $44,591
- Bank of America $8,482
- Amex Blue $2,586
- Amex Gold $521
- CareCredit $577
- Chase PerfectCard $7,574
- Chase Universal $6,365
- Discover $4,387
- Student loan debt $14,096
- Savings (in various accounts) $3,177
- Traditional IRA $25,502
- Roth IRA $1,085
- 401k $4,655
- SEP-IRA $4,815
I never thought I'd be so happy about a negative number!
For comparison, here is what my debts looked like last July, according to Mint (which currently isn't doing so hot of a job at basic math, but it seems OK on regular data)
Total as of July 2010: $53,215
- Student loans: $15,393
- Bank of America: $10,627
- Chase PerfectCard: $9,659
- Universal $8,631
- Discover $4,653
- Amex Blue $3,361
- CareCredit $683
- Amex Gold $207
My goal for the year is to get the Amex Blue card paid off. That feels like a little bit of a daunting goal right now, partly because I am first trying to pay off the Amex Gold card since it has a higher interest rate, and I'm also paying down the CareCredit card faster than strictly necessary because it is 0% but only for a certain period of time, and I don't want to get hit with the penalty interest. So to accomplish this I have been stepping up my extracurricular activities. I picked up a couple of assignments I might not otherwise have looked at (like doing price audits at a furniture store - lots of running around the store!) and trying to do more mystery shopping that helps us save money (like getting a pizza pickup shop so we don't have to spend money on dinner.)
Hopefully this will get it moving in the right direction so even if I don't get it completely paid off by the end of the year, I will have made a serious dent in its balance. I'm really hoping that that will help improve my credit profile enough that I can qualify for low-rate balance transfers, which would REALLY help pay down the cards that aren't at a fixed rate. Luckily those are the low balance ones but it would still be really nice.
I'm also really pleased that I have so much cash on hand, and I'm really loath to spend any of it now, even on paying down my debt. =) Cash on hand means security to me, because I would be OK even if there was something catastrophic. (I found out I have to replace my shocks, but that's $400, not catastrophic.) Our household had a pretty good run of no catastrophes and I was able to save the extra money I earned. Also, I just sold CashDuck to a very nice guy who I think is going to do well with it. I really wasn't putting in as much time and energy as I could and I think new blood will really help it. So that gives me more free time as well as an additional bump to my cash reserves.
Our run of no catastrophes ended about two weeks ago, however, when our big cat got a urinary tract blockage and had to spend five days in the vet hospital, to the tune of $1,000. He is doing very well now, and is super floppy and willing to be held any way you want because he is on Valium to keep his urinary muscles relaxed to avoid another blockage. He's... puddly. Boyfriend opened a CareCredit card and put the bill on that, and I'm sending him extra money with each of my paychecks to pay off my half of the bill. Hopefully we can now start on another long catastrophe-free streak!
