Me vs Debt

Feel Free to Skip a Payment?

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda) — Fri, 29 May 2009 13:01:00 +0000

Ok, so things have been a little quiet from my end lately, but I feel compelled to bring this up. As you probably know, there have been major changes in the works for the credit card companies. Now that I'm a pay-the-balance-in-full customer, I've been wondering what that means for me. I don't really care if they raise my rates. I'd rather they didn't, just in case. But honestly I'd be just as disappointed in myself paying 9% as 30%, so whatever. So yes, some of the companies have raised my rates. No surprise there.

What really surprised my was that Chase eliminated my minimum payment.

By now I know exactly what day to expect my statement. So I went online to check for it. I don't know about you, but I usually look at the minimum payment when I'm expecting a new statement. As soon as its more than zero, I pay it. Well of course, it stays zero for a couple days longer than I expect. So I check for a new statement. Its there. New balance. List of account activity. Everything but a minimum payment. And all the way down at the bottom it says:

You have the flexibility to skip a payment. You must pay
past due and overlimit balances immediately. However,
the remaining minimum payment for this month has been
reduced to $0. Finance charges will continue to accrue.
To reduce your balance, feel free to make a payment.

What? Come on Chase! You notice that I pay my full balance every month so you're trying to trick me into finance charges? Please watch out for this, people!

The Tip Jar

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda) — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 11:27:00 +0000

I highly recommend checking out the Tip Jar. Find and share tips in a variety of categories including Finance, Eco, Health, Home, and Work. These money saving tips are ranked by other user. I had fun browsing through and submitted a few of my own :)

Reader Question: What do I say to get the company to reduce my finance charge?

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda) — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 11:26:00 +0000

A reader emailed me with a question yesterday. She wanted to know who she should talk to and what she should say to get the credit card companies to lower her rates.

This is tricky because I haven't needed to make one of these calls in months. Since then, problems with the economy and upcoming legislation has driven these companies to take unusual actions. They've started lowering available credit, closing accounts, and increasing rates. They are desperate to make up for huge losses and they are taking it out on people that really need help.

The best I can do here is tell you what has worked for me and cross my fingers that it will help you too. To test the waters I called a couple of my companies and tried this for myself. Chase, as ALWAYS, was unwilling to work with me. Even though I'm in perfectly good standing with them. No red flags. No problems at all. Discover on the other hand made me a few offers. So it may be a 50/50 here.

Anyways this is what I do (please submit your own suggestions if you have them). First of all, I try to be polite. I think that makes a person more willing to work with you. I start by saying hello to the first person I'm connected with. I tell them why I'm calling and then ask them to connect me to someone that can help.

"Hi Jennifer, my name is Amanda. I'm looking to reduce my APR. Can you please connect me to someone that can help me out?"

If you're lucky they can help you or they will transfer you to an APR department. Some companies (like Chase) may not be willing to help you at all. Don't let that stop you from trying. Keep these things in mind. How long have you been a customer? Have you been paying your bills on time? Use those facts when trying to persuade them if you need to.

"I've been a good customer for the last 5 years. I pay my bills on time and I'd like to keep it that way. A little relief would go a long way. Please work with me."

I hope this helps! Please let me know if you've taken a different approach and how these calls have been working for you.

Ok, I'll Try Smarty Pig

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda) — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 12:46:00 +0000

I'm very fond of ING. It will remain my primary savings account. Its very easy to use and the savings options are flexible. Historically the rate has been very competitive. But as HS from Our Debt Blog points out, there are other options. Its been a while since I shopped around for good interest rates - like I said I'm happy with ING. So thanks, HS, for pointing out a few good options:

ING has always been among the lower rates, try FNBODirect.com they still offer 2.40%www.smartypig.com offers 3.25% APY and redneckbank.com has a checking account with 5.25% apy on the first 25,000.

I have heard good things about Smarty Pig from the blogosphere, so I decided to read up. Its a very unique banking concept. Its all about saving for specific goals. You tell them your goal and timeline. They suggest a monthly savings contribution. You can accept that or adjust to get started. They have all kinds of options for how to redeem your savings and interest. You can get a debit card, a gift card for a retailer, or just transfer the money backto your funding source. There is also a social aspect you could take advantage of. People can watch your progress and cotribute to you goal.

Thats all fine, but I just want to take advantage of the interest rate. Then I want access to the cash when I need it. This is not where I want to keep my emergency fund. In case of emergency I want quick access to the money. With ING I can transfer directly to my checking account or take money out of the ATM. Plus I contribute anytime I want, any amount I want. (ING is savings snowflake friendly!)

Still I want to take advantage of the interest rate. Its almost twice what I'm getting at ING. So I decided this might be a good place to park money I won't need quick access to. I set up a goal that will take two months to meet. Once the goal is met, it can sit there and gain interest. When I eventually need this money I'll go through the transfer back to my checking. Kind of complicated. Not even close to the convenience of user-friendly ING, but it will work for now. Plus, I probably will use it for my next non-emergency fund savings goal.

Has anyone else used Smary Pig? How do you like it?

How Low Can It Go?

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda) — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 12:16:00 +0000

No, I'm not even going to mention the stock market. But I am starting to see a negative correlation between my own personal savings rate and the interest rate on my savings account.

Finally I'm ready to start saving and the interest rates are plummeting. How low can it go?

My First Micro-loan

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda) — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 12:43:00 +0000

I made my first microloan on Kiva.org yesterday. Kiva is the world's first person-to-person micro-lending website, empowering individuals to lend directly to unique entrepreneurs in the developing world. I decided to go with a group of people from Bolivia.

The Acapulco group is a group formed of 13 members now going for their second cycle where all of them have demonstrated the capacity to administer funds with responsibility in their payments. The members are dedicated to activities in the area of selling products like bread, clothes, food, catalog cosmetics, and providing services like construction, carpentry, and domestic services. There is a lot of competition, especially in the commercial field, but the experiences of the members prevails before any contingency. The credit is destined to the purchase of ingredients, materials to be able to provide a better service and get better incomes to improve the quality of life of their families.

My small contribution will go farther towards improving the quality of their lives than it would for my own, stashed away in some savings account. Plus, these members have demonstrated that they can use the loaned funds wisely. If all goes well, I'll be able to re-loan this money to other members six months from now :)

As I plan to keep these funds in the Kiva.org system, this will be my first donation for March. Other causes I plan on contributing to in the near future include:

The local homeless shelter
The local foodbank
My city's community gardens

Most of these are local because I have visited the operations and can see what my money will be going towards. Otherwise I haven't done much research. I'm still open to suggestions here if you have any.

Cheers!

February 2009 - Monthly Review

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda) — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 15:40:00 +0000

I have to say, this was a big month for me. With the rest of the economy in crisis, I still had one solid investment: me. My remaining credit card balance was paid in full in the second half of the month. Then with my tax return I was able to pay off the balance on my car loan. What a weight lifted off these shoulders.

This is an example of that snowball effect really starting to take off. First the credit card and car loan, next will be the hospital bill in about three months. Soon I'll finally start making progress in my emergency savings and student loans.

I've already increased my monthly student loan payment by $50 and I'll increase it by $50 again once I have three months living expenses saved, and then again at six and nine months. At that point I believe that I could easily live with two hundred less per month. Putting it towards my highest interest loan will greatly accelerate the payoff while still allowing me to begin saving for a home.

I'd also like to point out that Dan is making great progress too. He's hit the 75% mark on his credit card payoff. It looks like he'll be debt free by the time he moves in this May. (I'm proud of you!)

February Net Worth:

Net Worth: ($24,678)
Increased: 7.4%

Taxes Returned and Car Paid Off

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda) — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 12:53:00 +0000

I got my federal and state tax returns today. This is my first year being taxed for my full salary plus a substantial amount for tutoring. Now that I know that I'm paying too much each month I'll be adjusting my withholding to get a little closer to even. While it is fun to get a tax return, I now fully trust myself to use the money wisely throughout the year. I don't need forced savings or to give the government an interest free loan.

Since my credit cards were paid off earlier this month, I will be putting this money towards paying off my car. And that's it, the car will be paid in full. It feels really good to start knocking off these obligations.

Have you gotten your returns back? How did you use the money?

Little Motivation Games

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda) — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 12:02:00 +0000

While getting out of debt I liked to play little motivation games. Well maybe not games in the classical sense, but I created habits that gave me a little boost when I made progress. Like updating my debt reduction spreadsheets or sidebar charts. Like being extra careful to spend wisely when a credit card is almost paid in full just so that I could say it was done. Or similarly to reach the next $1000 mark or 10% mark. Little things like that that made represented some kind of mental milestone for me.

What do I do now that I'm all paid up on the cards? I have to admit that I started slipping a little this month. I made several impulse purchases "because my credit cards are paid off, I deserve it".

Ok sure, a small spending spree is forgivable, but I don't want to lose my good habits. I decided to stick with the monthly challenge just changing the title to savings snowflake challenge. I still have a side bar for emergency funds. I still update my Networth IQ. But somehow these things aren't as motivating as paying off the high interest debt. Anyone else out there notice this after debt pay off?

This morning I printed out paper that shows my savings in a different light. Months of living expenses saved. My goal for this year is 8 months. (That way I can call in Suze Orman and be part of her Can I Afford It? segment!) Just kidding, but I think that's a good place to start. So anyways I printed off this sheet with the numbers 1 through 8. I took a look at my budget and determined my bare minimum living expenses. I.e. take out any additional savings and spending numbers. So that's my current monthly living expense. Which at the time I'll share with you is $1200/month. This means that I can cross off month 1 right off the bat since I have about $2000 saved.

Going forward there are two ways to progress. Save more to reach the next multiple of $1200 and/or decrease the required monthly expenses. One way to do this is decreasing you monthly bills. Please tell me you have all called the phone company, the cable company, the credit card company and asked for a reduced rate. If not, you are probably paying to much and might be able start reducing you number right away. We are in control of the energy bills, so as long as there are no infants or elderly we can adjust the thermostat a few degrees out of our comfort zone or invest in simple insulation to decrease the monthly bill in the long run.

I have two major decreases coming up this year. First I'll be using my tax return to pay off my car this month! No car payment and it feels great. I own a used 2001 Chevy Impala with almost 130k miles. Can it last a few more years for me? It sure feels like it, I hope so! This is a huge benefit to buying car outright. Eventually you own it and don't have to worry about payments. Another living expense reduction: the hospital bill should be paid in full by this summer. That will free up $200 a month. So as these things happen, I can re-evaluate my Months of Living Expenses Saved and keep crossing off numbers until I reach my 8 month goal :)

Do you have little motivation games? We could all use a little more, right?

Worm Farming

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda) — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 12:07:00 +0000

Yep, I said it. Worm Farming. I've been reading various gardening books from the local library in preparation for spring. This spring Dan and I are getting a community garden plot. A 25' x 30' patch of land where we can grow vegetables, herbs, and flowers May through October. I've always wanted to compost, but its tough when you live in an apartment. Vermicompost (or worm farming) seems to be the ideal solution.

We'll start with a half pound of red worms (a.k.a. Red Wrigglers or Eisenia foetida) in an aerated bin. I'm using a 10 gallon rubber made tub with a bunch of 1/8" holes drilled into it (mostly on the top and bottom). I've lined the bottom with moist cardboard, shredded newspaper, and some old soil. I'll be keeping old food scraps (veggies, fruits, coffee grounds, tea bags, rinsed egg shells... NOT meat or dairy because those attract rodents and pests) in a used coffee can under the sink. Once a week or so I'll feed the scraps to the worms and make sure to keep the bin moist, but not too wet. Hopefully by spring I'll be able to start collecting 'worm casting' which are supposed to be the best fertilizer you can get.

I think this is a great concept! Keep scraps from going to waste plus get free fertilzer. I'm really excited to see how this progresses. Supposedly this method does not smell if you do it correctly. I'm new at this so hopefully I can get it right the first try. If anybody's interested I'll post updates from time to time. Wish me luck!

Giving Back: February 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda) — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 14:06:00 +0000

Now that I'm officially credit card debt free (!!!) it's time to start a new monthly challenge: Giving Back. Each month I'll be donating to or micro-financing for a cause of my choice. When Dan moves in this May we'll be making it will be a monthly activity that we share. (By then he will be credit card debt free too!) We'll begin by budgeting about $100/per month and we'll probably increase that once we start meeting our savings goals.

This month I made a few separate donations. The Humane Society sends me return address labels every year. In return I sent them a small donation. As you may know I love pets. My own cat was a stray and I appreciate those that make an effort to take care of animals in need.

I also donated directly to a specific cat that was attacked by a dog while placed in a foster home. Her spinal cord was injured and she's unable to use her back legs. I made a donation for her hospital bills and really really hope they can help her. I found this opportunity when browsing through PetFinder.com. This site is a great resource for finding rescue animals for adoption or sponsoring. It also provides links to the local animal rescue centers.

Lastly I made a small donation to my local public radio station. I don't go a day without listening to NPR! Might as well do my part to keep them in business.

I've also registered for Kiva.org, but at the time all of the loans were funded. I'll be checking back throughout March.

Do you have any suggestions for next month's Giving Back?

Please share, I'm excited to start this monthly segment!

The Big Day

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda) — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 12:20:00 +0000

I'm sending an auto pay for my remaining credit card debt today. I really thought this day would never come! So it feels great. I'm totally ready to embrace savings. My debt snowball will roll right into my savings snowball and before you know it I'll be meeting new goals.

In about a year and a half Dan and I will have our 8-month emergency fund.

In about five years we'll have a down payment for our first home!

Big goals, but really all we need to do is focus on one day, one week, one month at a time. Can we stay this motivated without the credit card debt looming over us? I sure hope so. In a way that credit card debt was one of the best things that could have happened to me. Paying it down really made me take a hard look at my finances and develop responsible habits. If you can take on Visa, you can do anything you put your mind to!

January 2009 - Monthly Review

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda) — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 15:21:00 +0000

Well its 2009... I hear about new layoffs and new aspects of the financial crisis every day. I am so thankful to be working right now and I've done my best to stay focused on the goal. As of January I only have about $781 left to pay on my credit card. Huge weight lifted off of my shoulders, but that's really only the beginning. As much as I want to celebrate this milestone, I'm really only back around zero. And technically I've already gotten myself back into debt - sort of.

I had planned to get myself a new computer this summer. Mine is outdated and starting to act flaky. Have you ever gotten the blue screen of death? Its a regular occurrence for me these days. Plus my CPU can't handle some of the advanced engineering software I use at work and plan on using at home to prepare for a certification exam this summer. Long story short - I'm getting a new computer and I'm not paying for it in cash. Whaaa? Yes, its true. I'm getting it on a credit line at 0% which I will pay off over the next 12 months. Whether or not that's the right thing to do, I feel justified. Its a career investment as well as the first major purchase I've made in the last year and a half. So although my credit card debt will be down at zero next month, there will be a new debt in its place.

Fortunately I was be ready to start working towards my savings goals at the same time. I plan on saving around $1000/month beginning in March. That should have me on track to meet my year end emergency fund goal.

I'm thinking about renaming the monthly challenge. I'm no longer under pressure to pay off the credit card debts so I'm going to look at those extra income dollars as savings snowflakes :)

January Net Worth:

Net Worth: ($26,626)
Increased: 7.85%

Watch Out! Chase has new tricks...

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda) — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 12:45:00 +0000

If you are a long time reader, you know how badly Chase bank has treated me. In the summer of 2007, I made it my mission to eliminate my debt with the so that they could never profit off of me again. And I'm almost there. Next month I will pay off my last Chase balance. Will they try to stick it to me one last time before I go? According to Lynn at Wisebread, I shouldn't be surprised if they do:

The other day as I was going through my monthly process of paying bills, I noticed one of my credit cards (which I have had a 3.99% APR on an old balance transfer I've been slowly paying off) suddenly had an increase in the minimum payment by about 50%. Additionally, I saw a "SERVICE CHARGE *FINANCE CHARGE" line item for $10! I immediately called the bank (Chase) and asked about both of these things.

Turns out, their latest policy changes include upping the minimum payment from 2% to 5% of the balance, and charging a maintenance fee for "processing payment and statements." So I asked if the fee would go away if I closed the account. The customer service representative said, no. Closing the account would make no difference. She did give me two options that would remove the charge:

Give up the 3.99% APR and pay the normal APR (I forgot what she said specifically, but the consensus is that they're offering 7.99%)
Pay off the entire balance within 30 days of when the $10 fee was first charged (which was about 20 days ago)

Great options.

It's not just me. There's plenty of complaints from Chase card holders. But this is just one of the many changes that credit card companies are doing to accounts. Some people might suddenly see that their available balance got cut by half or more. Others will see these sort of "maintenance fees" pop up suddenly. Back in December, The Federal Reserve Board voted for new rules to protect credit card customers from exactly these types of fees, but the rules don't take into effect until 2010. Unfortunately with the current downturn, it looks like banks are seizing the opportunity to charge while they can.

For me, I'm looking into whether I can fight the fees (doesn't look like it so far) or find another credit card that will allow me to transfer this balance (all my balance transfer offers that used to come by the truckload in the mail have all suddenly decided to honor my request for no more mail).
Has anyone else faced similiar new "policy changes" from their credit cards?

The Big Payoff is Near!

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda) — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 01:19:00 +0000

I've worked out my finances for the next month. If all goes well, I will be paying off the last credit card on February 22, 2009! That's almost $20k in credit card debt paid off in 1.5 years. Looking back, it felt like that day would never come. I'm already starting to feel such a big weight being lifted off my shoulders. The best advice I can give to someone in debt is don't wait. No matter how hard it seems, take the first step. Come to terms with your debt and take it head on!

Suze Orman's 2009 Action Plan - Free Download

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda) — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 13:00:00 +0000

I don't know how you all feel about Suze Orman, but I think she rocks. I love the Can I Afford It? segment! I always want to submit a question to the show but I know that she would deny me because I don't have an eight month emergency fund yet. And that only motivates me to get there sooner :) Here's an opportunity to download her new book for free.

More free Toilet Paper at Krogers

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda) — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 12:41:00 +0000

Thought I'd pass this link along. Go here to print a $0.50/any coupon for Cottonelle (you can print two). If your Kroger doubles coupons you can get two of the $0.99 4-packs for free.

2009 Financial Goals (Guest Post)

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda) — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 13:31:00 +0000

This is a guest post from my boyfriend, Dan. We'll be living together later this year so we've already set out a budget and personal goals. These are his :)

1) Pay off remaining Citibank balance of $4320.22 by June 1

This should be an easy goal to attain. I have about $375 a month budgeted for this. I also get a monthly that has recently been ranging from $300-$350. Almost all of this bonus goes to my Citibank balance. I should be getting a similar tax return to last year that I will put toward the balance.

2) Open an ING Interest Savings Account and accumulate $4000 by the end of the year

I plan on using about $900 of my last paycheck in January to open a savings account. After I pay off the Citibank balance in May/June, I will be able to put almost $400 a month into savings.

3) Stop financing 100% of every big thing I buy

After I move in with “me” (vs debt), my main focus will be purchases for our home (a desk, a new TV, etc.) I plan on, and will be able to, budget $100 a month to put toward spending for the home. In the past, I’ve financed a recliner, a couch, a computer and half of an engagement ring on credit and it took months to pay off (save for the ring). It was always great at first to get new stuff, but it turned out to be a hassle in the long run to pay for it. Not anymore!

4) Share the “wealth”

Well, I wouldn’t consider myself wealthy. But I do feel that I am much better off than many others in the world. That’s why I’m also budgeting $50 a month for various charities after I pay off the Citibank card to try and help someone enjoy life as much as I do.

5) Keep the focus!

Goals 2, 3 and 4 all depend on the first goal being attained. So I’m going to need to maintain discipline in my spending and stick to my budget, especially until that Citibank card has been paid. I think it’s going to be a great year!

My 2009 Financial Goals

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda) — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 12:07:00 +0000

Thinking about the year ahead is exciting! I'm so close to paying down this debt, I can taste it. Not only that -- I will finally start saving up some cash in my emergency fund. When I started this blog, these kind of goals felt out of reach.

Me vs Debt - 2009 Financial Goals

Pay off the Credit Cards
As of right now, the balance is about $2200. Working out my budget for the next couple of months, I estimate that this will be paid in full by February 2009.
Pay off the Hospital Bill
The current balance on my hospital bill (from 2006!) is $1200. I'll be paying about $200/month so this should be paid in full by June 2009.
Pay off the Car Loan
After I pay off my credit cards I will begin putting $350/month towards my car loan. At that rate it will be paid off by August 2009.
Grow the Emergency Fund
I'm going to go ahead an aim for $10k. It won't be a fixed month amount, but I've worked out the numbers and its possible. This includes an additional income of at least $200/month.
Contribute to the Roth IRA
I'm not quite ready to fully fund, but I'm going to aim for $24oo by investing $200/month.
Contribute to the 401(k)
I'm going to stick with 5% here, just enough to get my full match.
Fully Fund the HSA
The limit for Health Savings Account contributions is $3000. My employer kicks in half of that so I'll be contributing the rest. Thats $62.50 per paycheck.
Enjoy Life
Dan will be moving in with me in May 2009. We're really excited about making this place our own. I'll be saving up about $500 for whatever we want to make that happen :)

Me vs. Debt - 2008 Year in Review

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda) — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 14:26:00 +0000

So I've started thinking about my goals for 2009. Its only appropriate to take a look back at 2008 first...

I went into 2008 with huge goals! I can't describe how thankful I am for that. Even though I didn't meet every goal, I made great progress. I feel 1000% better about my situation than I did back in 2007. Lets go through the list of my 2008 resolutions:

8 Ways to Cut My Net ~~Worth~~ Debt in Half in 2008

Credit Card Debt
I am going to pay off my $14,939 credit card debt by putting $1400 per month towards it. First and foremost, I have to eliminate high interest credit card debt. The sooner, the better. In my original Financial Resolution for 2008 post I described my plan. Since then my $17k goal has been reduced to $15k but my plan remains the same. My budget has been cut down to bare essentials. I'm going to start making more time to tutor and keep selling my stuff for extra income.

So did I pay off ALL of my credit card debt? No. I did keep my expenses low and I worked to make extra money each month, however as of December 2008 I still have $2435 outstanding credit card debt. You know what? That's over $12,000 less than last time this year and I'm ok with that. Things come up that you don't expect. I never budgeted for $1600 in car expenses. I didn't budget $400 for the wonderful road trip Dan and I took last August. I also didn't think the economy would be such a wreck right now. I'll admit, I got scared. This past month I've put more towards savings than credit cards. And from here on out, I'll be doing much of same. I need a good emergency fund to feel secure. Thankfully my interest rates are low - both under 9% - so I feel good about my current strategy. From now one I will split my extra money between debt and savings until I have at least a 3 month emergeny fund.
401(k)
I am going to increase my 401(k) investments by at least $4000 by contributing a minimum of 5% of my gross income. My employer match will kick in about half way through the year to help me out here. This is the easy part. Additionally I plan on increasing my contribution to 6% next time I get a raise.

Did I increase my 401(k) savings by at least $4000? More than that, even with the stock market crash. Last December: $404. Now: $4659 at Vanguard + $8170 in Company Stock. I never increased my contribution, but thats ok. Instead I made contributions to a Roth IRA which gives me a little bit of tax diversity. Once I can fully fund the Roth, I'll start increasing my 401(k) contributions...
HSA
I aim to save $2000 in my health savings account by having $30 deducted from each paycheck. Combine that with my employer's contribution and I will have over $2200 deposited into my HSA in 2008. So the real goal is to accumulate less than $200 in medical expenses. I've already stocked up on prescriptions for the year and I plan to be very careful with my medical expenses. This is not a hard goal. I'm not going to skip any necessary medical care to save money. However, I am a young and healthy woman so I shouldn't need more than $200 worth of care. I'll go into how I plan on reducing medical costs in a future post.

Did I manage to spend less than $200 on medical care? Nope. My HSA only has about $500 left in it right now. Medical expenses come up. Not really a big deal.
Hospital Bill
I will reduce my hospital bill by about $2450 by paying $205 per month. These bills go back from when I didn't have insurance in college. I called the hospital and they agreed to lower my monthly payments to $205 and thats as low as they'll go. This won't be paid off next year but it will be reduced quite a bit.

Did I reduce my hospital bill by $2450? Heck yeah. Didn't miss a single payment. I only have about $1200 to go. Can't wait to get that off my shoulders!
Emergency Fund
I will have over $1000 in my emergency fund by contributing $30 per paycheck. My initial goal was to have at least $1000 before fully focusing on debt. By that time I have that much my outstanding liabilities will all be relatively low interest. Not to mention $30 per paycheck won't be terribly missed in my budget. My long term emergency fund goal is to have 6 months net income on hand.

Did I save over $1000 in my emergency fund? Yes, but not in $30 increments. Sometime at the beginning of the year I dismissed the EF. I thought it made more sense to pay off debt then to start saving. Sometime at the end of the year I panicked. Saving is now a priority to me. This emergency fund will keep growing in 2009.
Auto Loan
I will pay the $2500 balance on my car loan with my income tax return followed by consistent payments of $125 per month. In reality I'm hoping that a friend that owes me money for my last car will come through and take care of this one. If not I'm prepared to take care of it myself.

Did I pay off the auto loan? No. I've still got a $1950 balance. I have been making $50/month payments but will up those to $250 once the hospital bill is paid in full. And did my friend ever pay me back the money he owed me? No, the poor guy has been in and out of work all year. No grudge there. This goal will carry over to 2009.
Student Loans
I will reduce my student loan balance by about $1200 by paying $300 a month. Most of my payments go to interest these days, but my rates are nothing compared to rest of my debt. When my credit cards are paid off next year I'll be able to drastically accelerate student loan reduction.

Last years student loan balance was $45,551 and we're at about $44,044 this year. I met this goal, but I don't expect to "drastically acclerate student loan reduction" anytime soon. Like I've said, the emergency fund comes first for now.
Roth IRA
As if all of this wasn't enough, I plan on opening a Roth IRA for 2008 with at least $2000 from additional income sources and next year's Christmas Bonus and Tax Returns. This is the least "SMART" part of my plan. I'm not exactly sure how I'm going to manage to come up with this extra money but I know I will find a way. I don't want to count on a bonus next year and I don't want to loan my tax dollars to Uncle Sam. These are just things that may help contribute. I'm also hoping that a new position at Tutor.com will help me earn enough extra income to stretch my dollars enough to reach this goal. I'll be posting about this soon.

I did manage to make contributions to the Roth IRA throughout the year. As of right now the balance stands at $1960 - pretty close considering the financial fallout and all...

So thats it, the Me vs. Debt 2008 review. I'm very happy with my progress and I look forward to setting new goals for 2009! Hope the holidays have been treating you well and best wishes in the new year!

I'm so proud of you!

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda) — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 12:30:00 +0000

Dan, I'm so proud of you! It looks like you'll have that first card paid off by January 6th - only a week shy of your goal. That counts if you ask me. I don't know how you did it, but you managed to save up to buy me a beautiful ring at the same time. I know you miss me posting here, so its officially my New Year's resolution to write something at least once a week. (And I'll update your chart every month, I promise.) I love you and congratulations, to us.

Donate the Toothpaste

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda) — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 12:35:00 +0000

I signed up to do some volunteer work at a local shelter this morning. As I was reading about the facilities I noticed that they have a substantial wish list. During this past summer I stocked up on many of these supplies (toothbrushes, toothpaste, soap, shampoo, razors, etc.). Instead of trying to pawn them off on my boyfriend, I can donate them to people that really need them. Plus, I won't feel bad stocking up on more in the future :) If you have a similar surplus, you might want to search out a shelter in your area too. Cheers!

Use it or Lose it... (and I Don't Want to Use it.)

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda) — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 19:18:00 +0000

As it turns out credit cards may not be the best emergency fund. I paid off my Direct Merchants Bank card back in 2007 and I haven't used it since. That and one other card I had through HSBC were closed last weekend. No warning, just 'sorry, your account has been closed due to inactivity'.

With credit drying up everywhere, I don't think its in my best interest to rely on currently available balances as an emergency fund. I'll be paying off my National City card in the first half of November. That should bring my total personal debt down to around $3500. (That's over 80% paid!) Broken down, it's $2200 at Prosper with a fixed APR of 8.7% and $1300 at Citi with a fixed APR of 5.99%.

I'll continue paying an extra payment or two a month to the Prosper loan (because every extra payment pushes the next due date back one month), but the rest of my money is going towards building my 3-6 month emergency fund. Its a little bit of a loss, but its worth the piece of mind to me. Once I have a few grand saved up, I may end up making a lump sum payment at the debt. We'll see. But for now, I've made the decision to save.

One thing is for sure. I'm so glad to have started paying down debt when I did. I got away skipping the emergency fund step of debt reduction, but I don't recommend it. It was a risky decision and this isn't really a time for risks. In some cases, the starter $1000 is a great goal. Especially when you have very high interest debt. But for me? I've already worked hard to consolidate and reduce my obligations. Now I'd like to know that I could survive if anything happened to my job. If that's what its going to take to keep me worry-free, then that's what I'm gonna do.

September 2008 - Income, Net Worth, Cash Back Review

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda) — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 10:38:00 +0000

This was an ok month for me. It was the first time I've really tracked my spending since last spring. I wasn't sure if I could stick to my budget facing inflated prices. One interesting thing I noticed was that it wasn't too hard to stick to my tight spending restrictions for groceries and gas, but I have totally left other spending categories out of my budget. Donations, computer security, and auto related expenses to name a few. I've read different opinions on how to handle irregular expenses in a budget, but I haven't really tried them before. I usually just take that money from my debt reduction funds as the needs come up. It would be nice to have a rough annual estimate and treat it like a regular monthly expense into a savings account until I need it. That would definitely make it easier to make realistic financial goals. More on that later... now for the monthly review...

September Challenge

Goal: ~~$400~~ $650 Additional Income
Actual: $549.51

I set the bar a little higher this month in a last ditch effort to meet my year end debt reduction goals. I didn't quite meet the new $650 goal, but I did go above and beyond my typical $400 so it was definitely worth trying! If you're always meeting your goals, you're not setting them high enough, right? I'm going to keep this high goal with the understanding that my career comes first. I may not be able to meet this goal, but it will serve as a little extra motivation :)

Here's the complete list:

Money Makin' (Extra Income)
$430.31 Tutor.com
$3.73 ING Interest
$4.00 Affiliate Links
$57.07 Inbox Dollars
$20.00 Chase Cashback
$5.00 School Supplies Rebate
$9.40 Prosper Loans
$20.00 Discover Cashback

September Net Worth

Net Worth: ($35,802)
Increased: 17.67%

Talk about a boost. The 401(k) contribution from my employer overshadows the losses from health care expenses and car depreciation. Last month I had all but given up on meeting my year end goal of cutting my net debt in half... now it doesn't look to far off. I feel a little bit guilty about counting my total 401(k) balance rather than only whats vested. What do you think about that? Do you could retirement savings before its fully vested?

September Cash Back

Chase: 1.8%
CitiCard: 1.6%
Discover: 9.2%
Average Cash Back Rate: 2.4%

Not really sure why the Discover cashback reward was so high, but I'll take it. September was the last month for me to get 5% back on Gas from Discover's Get More. October through December categories include Groceries, Restaurants, and Movies. I usually don't find it hard to juggle these three cards, but I've really going to have to make a conscious effort to remember it this time. Discover - Grocery. Chase - Gas. Ok, got it. In other news, I'm finally going to be getting my dividends dollars check after passing $50 this month. That should help with the October Challenge :)

Hope you enjoyed the review, come back and join me again next month!

How many jobs do you have?

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda) — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 22:25:00 +0000

There was a story on NPR tonight about people working multiple jobs to get by. They listed a statistic: 5% of people work more than one job. I work two jobs anywhere from 40-60 hrs per week. For me, thankfully, it is a choice. For many, it is a necessity. How many of you work more than one job? Participate in this poll and feel free to leave a comment.

"Working two jobs" from Marketplace on NPR: