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A year ago, I had $20,000 in credit card debt and $18,000 left on my car loan for a total of $38K on an income of $50K a year. The good news is, I paid off a credit card which was less than $100 away from being maxed out at the $8300 limit a year ago. I made a payment for the final $2400 today.
The bad news: I still have $9700 on the other CC (at 5%) and $12.5K on the car (at 3%). This means I'm paying $40 a month on interest for the credit card, which is, however, down from about $100.
My goal for the next year is to eliminate the credit card debt and then start working on accelerating the car loan payoff. It's going to take a lot of restraint, but I think I can get it done by New Year's next year.
Who's with me?
Scheduled the payoff payment on my CC for October 21. Feels so good.
Scheduled the payoff payment on my CC for October 21. Feels so good.
I love updates like this. Very awesome. So now you will be down to just the car. And you still have some months left in 2010 to get started on it. Are you under $10k on the car yet? Sounds like you are averaging around $1000 a month toward accelerated debt payments, so that car shouldn't take any time at all.
I paid off all my non-mortgage debt this year as well, which included a student loan, a car, and a small credit card balance, and it does feel great to have money in the bank each month, and an investment portfolio for the first time.
My payoff on the car is a little under $9300 now, with 23 payments left to make. I'm torn on whether to accelerate payments or start putting it into my IRA, which has been on hold while I work on debt. 2.9% is a pretty low interest rate.
I had been credit card debt-free for several years, paying everything in full every month, until this summer. I spent a little too much - in some occasions, definitely unnecessary costs - and I've also had a few other expenses which set me back, but which I couldn't necessarily avoid.
As a result, I've run up a balance of $5k.
I could pay it off now, but my cash reserves would be very low if I did that. And, my car's payoff amount is a little bit over $6k. I could pay it off now - but again, I'd be nearly broke if I did that. On top of that, I have a mortgage and maintenance charges every month, which I've never missed on.
So, I've decided to do something I hadn't done for at least 4 years: I transferred a few balances to a 0% account, and I am interest-free on this new account until August of 2011. I hope to have paid off a minimum of 50% of this so I can transfer the remainder to a new 0% account in the meantime.
I'm waiting for early next year, as I get a bonus every January, and I will apply a good chunk of that money to accelerate my debt elimination - the same will happen w/ my tax refund. For the winter of 2011, I will not be using these two sums for enjoyment; rather, I'll be using them to get my fiscal house in order.
This thread is encouraging. Thanks to you folks who are doing well with your finances. I have always prided myself in sound budgeting but this year I overspent... and now I have to "pay for it."
I didn't know there was a 'debt thread' that we had to get rid of, but I'll start working on it. Maybe we can just ask a moderator to delete it.
They forgot the hyphens. But I appreciated your post.
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