I know it’s been almost 2.5 months since I’ve last blogged, but I’ve been quite busy, and things are just starting to calm down. I made quite a few new years resolutions, and have done a great job at sticking to them thus far. I’m going to try and keep updating on the following schedule: Monday: Finances, Wednesday: Environment/earth, Friday: Health of Yourself.
As you know from the title of the blog and most of my previous content, I’ll be working sustainability into each topic quite heavily, as I think it fits quite well into each one of the categories.
For an update, I’ll look at the last financial post I had, and Update you from that point.
Credit Cards (as of Nov 30, 2009):
Chase WaMu Card - 666.14 - this is the one I’m most happy about. I’ve had this card for about 5 years, and it’s been a burr in my saddle ever since. I currently have the cash on hand to knock this one out, but I am reserving that until I get paid again, in case I will need said cash for an emergency.
Chase Southwest Card - $1,534 - This one was paid off in August of 2009, but I had to use it before I had the change to close it. I had planned on paying it off with proceeds from the sale of the car, but that did not pan out. Find the link above if you want more on that story while I cry forget about it and move on.
Citi Card – 2,622 – I’m not to worried about this, as it’s on 0% interest and does not expire until may. It will be gone by then.
As with every financial journey, there’s going to be slip-ups, mis-steps, mistakes or whatever you want to call them. (It’s called relapse when you’re talking about drugs). Last time I put up a real post, I blogged about replacing my car. I couldnt be happier with the purchase, and I no longer wake up in the middle of the night wondering if my car is going to start when I go outside to turn it over. However, I learned one thing about purchasing a car in Wyoming that I didnt know when I wrote the article: You dont pay the sales tax on the vehicle to the dealer. Many have told me that the sales tax was rolled into the price of the car, and I figured mine was as well. It wasnt. So, I was all happy with myself for paying off the Chase WaMu card mentioned above, and then I got a 2,000 bill from the County. It included sales tax and licensing fees for the new vehicle. It was a tough pill to swallow, and I didnt have the back up cash for it, so I made a calculation. I was facing a liquidity problem, so I put the entire tax bill back on the credit card, and my calculations said i’d be able to pay it off with out being charged interest. I was able to do that, and now, after going from 2k to 0 back to 2k, it’s now got $30 on it, which I will be paying off on monday.
The next card, My southwest card was $1509, and the balance of that has been about the same, as I’ve focused on paying the WaMu Card. Im happy to say that with my calculations made after putting the sales tax on the other card, I have taken my tax refund and supplemented some extra cash of my own to pay this one off. This will also be done on Monday.
I can already feel the extra money heading into my savings account Other Credit card.
The final card balance has not gone down much at all, as i’ve been focused on paying the other two off. so, the current balance is: $2,532.42. It hasnt changed much, but at least there’s no interest until may. It’s going to be gone by then, and hopefully by tax day.
To pay off this debt, it has taken quite a few sacrifices and changes, and I’ll let you know what I did.
I stopped eating out for lunch. I made a deal with myself that If I took my lunch for 2 weeks straight, I could have 1 meal out the next week. That has worked well.
I spent less on clothes. I did go out and buy some shoes recently to replace some old ones, but I was able to get a great deal on some nice looking shoes for work.
I cancelled the tv (but kept the internet) and replaced it with netflix. This brought the tv bill down from ~110 to 48, and added $10 (we are on the 1-dvd at a time plan), so the total savings was about $50. (Not to mention saved time from being wasted in front of the tv)
I’ve done a lot of low cost activities instead of expensive ones.
All of those things have been great for lowering my expenses, but sometimes that’s just not enough. Sometimes you just need to earn more money, and there’s really not a way around it.
To take care of that, I’ve been working punishing hours at my second job. All told, if my commuting was added on to my work hours from both jobs, I’d be looking at putting in 80+ hour weeks. It’s not easy, or fun, but the money’s nice.
Along with working 2 jobs, I got a promotion at work that was about a 26% increase in salary per year. Once this takes effect (it should be soon) I’ll be in a much better position.
What have you done to get rid of your debt lately, and what are you going to use your savings for?
Im just hoping to build an emergency fund first, then see what else i’d like to purchase.
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{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Gosh that sucks about the sales tax. I have a friend who got slapped with a bill for more registration fees when he switched vehicles mid-year.
Yea, it does suck, but a lot of people around here buy cars from other states with larger markets (Salt Lake, Billings, Denver) and would skip sales tax all together if they did it that way.