Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I FINALLY PAID MY FIRST CARD BALANCE OFF (My sister's card 2)!!! The initial balance was $12,200 and it took me 4 months to pay it off. Feels freaking amazing!
I still have a long way to go though and I'm super tired but I can't stop now. Going to keep plugging away. The next balance I'm attacking is my sister's card 1 ($18,860).
Here is the latest update.
SUNDAY 9/3/23 UPDATE
1) My Loan 1 = $18,938 @ 9.99%
2) Her Credit Card 1 = $18,860 @ 0% until April 2024
3) Her Credit Card 2 = $0 --- PAID OFF IN JULY 2023 ($12,200 paid off in 4 months)
4) My Credit Card 1 = $2,260 @ 19.49%
5) My Credit Card 2 = $18,215 @ 2.9% until December 2024
6) Her Cash Loan = $25,000 @ 0%
7) My 401k loan 1 = $11,824 @ 1.5%
8) My 401k loan 2 = $6,961 @ 3.1250%
Total Debt = $102,058
Great progress!
At $3k/month Her Credit Card may take 6 months to pay?
I see your other balances coming down as well. Good job!
You could wipe out Your Credit Card @ $2260 next month then add that payment amount to other debt. Get the 19.49% gone for good.
OP first congratulations. Paying off $3k/mo in debt is amazing.
But secondly, are you making a lot more than 65k now? I make a similar salary at 70k and from a salary calculator I used if I put my 401k contributions to $0 I would take home $3950 a month. Are you living off around $1,000 a month? Regardless of what you’re doing it’s amazing that you are paying this all off as you surely would have qualified for bankruptcy.
Wow, I felt sick when I read OP first post. Do many people get into this kind of trouble?
Away more so across the US, across all income levels.
The higher the household income, the higher the debt can be.
I've done it twice in my life: once as a 20 something single, who traveled it alone;
And once as a married man..with spouse "helping" get in debt.
Again tackled it, TOGETHER made very HARD choices and put nose yo grindstone for two years to clear over $65k of debt.. except the mortgage.
Took two years of almost literally buying absolutely nothing, going nowhere (to save on gas), just work home, each paycheck going 95% to debt and cash gas allowance for work only and med appointments.
The more gets paid down/paid off, the easier it gets to chip away.
Never again.
Finally got to where we could trade two very crappy vehicles..a Kia and a Hyundai (sister crappy companies) always needing major expensive repairs on basic vehicles (not even fancy, no bells or whistles) the justification being "they are paid for", bug equivalent each year to about a $400/ m payment...to paying cash for a 4 year Honda HRV and then later a brand new Honda CR-V. Much better results. Just oil and soon a new set of tires. No repairs at all.
It just takes patience, hard work and dedication to pay off debt.
Wow, I felt sick when I read OP first post. Do many people get into this kind of trouble?
If you listen to Dave Ramsey may be more common than you think. Anyone can spend beyond their means & run up credit card debt. Data shows credit card debt is at record levels.
Anyone can get a new car with a loan. If the "average" car runs $40k or more get into trouble. Buy more car/truck than you can afford.
Another group may be doctors, lawyers, other "professionals" running up six figure student loan debt. Now the freeze period is over. Time to start paying for those loans. Time for interest to begin accrual again. May depend how much debt while still a undergrad student. Then the job prospects depending on the degree aren't that good. Not even talking about the expensive private college/university.
So yes, the OP isn't much different from other people. The bad part is getting money from sister. Could be parent instead of sibling.
OP first congratulations. Paying off $3k/mo in debt is amazing.
But secondly, are you making a lot more than 65k now? I make a similar salary at 70k and from a salary calculator I used if I put my 401k contributions to $0 I would take home $3950 a month. Are you living off around $1,000 a month? Regardless of what you’re doing it’s amazing that you are paying this all off as you surely would have qualified for bankruptcy.
My base pay from my primary job is around $52k but I am on the overtime list so my gross income so far this year is roughly $64k. I do work 2 other part-time jobs and the way its looking I think I should hit close to $100k or so gross this year. I'm still contributing to my 401k during this time and I do live with my parents (cultural reasons) so my monthly rent payment is only $800.
I do pay for other things myself (food, gas, car repairs, etc) and I've been using one of my credit cards for these purchases and over the last 9 months I've built up a balance on it. To be fair, my daily driver is at roughly 190k miles and there was quite a few things I needed to do in order to pass inspection this year so a decent amount comes from that. Don't hate me lol but eventually I'll transfer the balance and include it in my debt totals.
Anyway, thank you guys for all your responses and support! Its definitely a tough road but as the months go by and my debt slowly reduces it definitely feels like a huge load off my shoulders. I can almost see the light at the end of the tunnel despite it being miles and miles away but I'll get there eventually!
Side Note
I was reading over my initial post and it looks like I messed up on the math. I listed my total debt amount as $134,593 but the correct math totals to $130,842. I'll be sure to list the correct amount on future updates.
My base pay from my primary job is around $52k but I am on the overtime list so my gross income so far this year is roughly $64k. I do work 2 other part-time jobs and the way its looking I think I should hit close to $100k or so gross this year. I'm still contributing to my 401k during this time and I do live with my parents (cultural reasons) so my monthly rent payment is only $800.
I do pay for other things myself (food, gas, car repairs, etc) and I've been using one of my credit cards for these purchases and over the last 9 months I've built up a balance on it. To be fair, my daily driver is at roughly 190k miles and there was quite a few things I needed to do in order to pass inspection this year so a decent amount comes from that. Don't hate me lol but eventually I'll transfer the balance and include it in my debt totals.
Anyway, thank you guys for all your responses and support! Its definitely a tough road but as the months go by and my debt slowly reduces it definitely feels like a huge load off my shoulders. I can almost see the light at the end of the tunnel despite it being miles and miles away but I'll get there eventually!
Side Note
I was reading over my initial post and it looks like I messed up on the math. I listed my total debt amount as $134,593 but the correct math totals to $130,842. I'll be sure to list the correct amount on future updates.
Keep up the great work. Imagine when this debt is paid off if you keep this motivation up and save 30k in investment vehicles a year. Obviously I’m sure you’ll need to take a step back from working so much once the debt is paid off but take that same motivation to make more money.
I look forward to future updates.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
