Citi - 22K
BOA- 22K
Att - 12K
Chase - 8K
JCP MC - 5K - no interest for 3 years
LL Bean - 3K
Sams - 800
SL - 800
Macy - 400
LC - 250 - no interest until March
VS - 80
----
Target - ZERO - paid off
Nordstrom - ZERO - paid off
My plan is to start by paying off the wimpy balances on the following and in the following order:
I will start with LC because there is no interest - so pay it off!
Then the lowest balances first... and my student loan interest...
Once I get rid of these wimpy little balances I will start hacking down the BIGGEST credit card with the highest interest rate - which I believe is Citi...
OR I should really start hacking the two that are at the limit - Chase and LL Bean. .... I should do those first... because they are dangerously close to being within $50 of the credit limit and if they go under I am screwed with late fees and other garbage... so I will do those two first... prob. Chase first.
So it will be the following:
LC - 250 - no interest until March
SL - 800 (student loan interest that is accumulating while in deferment)
VS - 80
Macy - 400
Sams - 800
Chase - 8K
LL Bean - 3K
Then
Citi - 22K
BOA - 22K
I will start there.... hope this works... God be with me. Universe conspire to succor me in my aid!
Monday, January 19, 2015
Time to get real!!!!!!!!!!!
Greetings. This blog is to track my personal progress with both weight loss and debt reduction in 2015.
I am deeply committed (finally) to achieving personal freedom and good health.
To do this I must commit to acknowledging the hole I have dug for myself and the danger I have put my health and my family in with my reckless and careless behaviors.
Behavior modification is not easy or fun but it is essential in order to grow and become our best. My past behaviors of over eating, not moving, and over spending have led me to weigh in at 165lbs (that's 30lbs over what I want to be) and Over $70,000 in credit card debt. There I said it.
That's a frightening figure for someone who makes roughly $40,000. I do not live extravagantly. Many factors contributed to our current debt load including:
Used car - refinanced to credit card $7,000
New roof - put on credit card $6,000
Basement leak fixed - put on credit card $1,500
Spouse unemployed for two years... this one we used credit cards to maintain our bare bones lifestyle. We were OK financially as long as an emergency car or medical repair didn't pop up. Now we had 2 years of unemployment that cost us about $26,000 per year to maintain our standard of living. My spouse is not working in his field (he is an artist) and so the day job he is able to secure pays far below a normal salary for a working professional. He makes about 23-28K a year as a call center customer service rep. Well add up about $40K in debt from those two years of not working and collecting unemployment - which was so meager it barely covered our medical premiums. We have a modest home valued under $150K and one car for our family - a 2000 2-door Honda Civic- this is a good gas saver but also hugely inconvenient when putting a three year old in and out of a car seat. $45,000
We have also had multiple miscarriages in our 7 year marriage - 6 to be exact.
Each one costing us about $2,000 in medical bills. $12,000
We also financed our living room furniture and dining room set
$5,000
and curtains for our home $1,500
and then there are the other yearly expenses that we struggle to meet:
$2,500 in heating oil
$800 in car insurance
$600 in sewer and trash
$200 in fire wood
$300 in oil changes for car
Then we also have paid out about $1,000 per year in my text books for my graduate degree:
$5,000 etc. etc. etc.
It's crazy to just try to live like a "normal" middle class family. I don't even think our tax bracket qualifies for middle class! I think combined the two of us make about $65,000 per year.
And the rest is just me spending money like a drunken sailor on "quality items" like Barbour jacket (it will last a lifetime and is part of the "language," Burberry watch (ditto), Coach handbags (standard issue middle class), iPhones, Tory Burch shoes (two pairs that I have been wearing for year), Lilly Pulitzer dresses (only on sale!), etc. At any rate ... all of this spending has brought us to where we are right now.
On the verge. On the edge. On the tippytoes of self destruction.
I have almost completely maxed out all of my credit cards and am within $50 of maxing out at least 2 for sure. Here's what the damage looks like:
Citi - 22K
BOA- 22K
Att - 12K
Chase - 8K
JCP MC - 5K - no interest for 3 years
LL Bean - 3K
Sams - 800
SL - 800
Macy - 400
LC - 250 - no interest until March
VS - 80 ----
Target - ZERO - paid off
Nordstrom - ZERO - paid off
Now I just know if I add that up I will THROW UP. So I'm not going to. I know the total is roughly 60K+ so it's prob just under 70K ... in CREDIT CARD DEBT. That is ridiculous. But I know I am not alone in this slave to debt hell. That's why it's time to GET REAL.
This blog will track my progress and I hope offer help and hope to others who also want to GET REAL about debt and calories.
LETS DO THIS.
I'm also 30lbs over weight but prob. more even. Ideal weight is: 117lbs. possible less. Lowest weight was: 111lbs. - I looked awesome. Felt like crap.
Highest weight was: 207lbs - when I was pregnant and gained almost 60lbs! Current weight is about 165lbs.
Normal adult weight used to be about 145lbs. until I had 7 pregnancies from 2009- to 2015. Sticking to an austere diet of grapefruit, coffee primarily and some protein and veggies.
That should do the trick. Also going to do weight training every other day and some light cardio (15 minutes) twice a week on the bike until the weather gets nicer than I will walk about 3 times a week for half hour. THISCLOSE to ruining my life.
TIME TO GET REAL.
This is my story.
How I climbed out of 70K in credit card debt.
How I lost 30+lbs.
How I started to save money, save my sanity, save my family's future.
How I saved myself.
Behavior modification is not easy or fun but it is essential in order to grow and become our best. My past behaviors of over eating, not moving, and over spending have led me to weigh in at 165lbs (that's 30lbs over what I want to be) and Over $70,000 in credit card debt. There I said it.
That's a frightening figure for someone who makes roughly $40,000. I do not live extravagantly. Many factors contributed to our current debt load including:
Used car - refinanced to credit card $7,000
New roof - put on credit card $6,000
Basement leak fixed - put on credit card $1,500
Spouse unemployed for two years... this one we used credit cards to maintain our bare bones lifestyle. We were OK financially as long as an emergency car or medical repair didn't pop up. Now we had 2 years of unemployment that cost us about $26,000 per year to maintain our standard of living. My spouse is not working in his field (he is an artist) and so the day job he is able to secure pays far below a normal salary for a working professional. He makes about 23-28K a year as a call center customer service rep. Well add up about $40K in debt from those two years of not working and collecting unemployment - which was so meager it barely covered our medical premiums. We have a modest home valued under $150K and one car for our family - a 2000 2-door Honda Civic- this is a good gas saver but also hugely inconvenient when putting a three year old in and out of a car seat. $45,000
We have also had multiple miscarriages in our 7 year marriage - 6 to be exact.
Each one costing us about $2,000 in medical bills. $12,000
We also financed our living room furniture and dining room set
$5,000
and curtains for our home $1,500
and then there are the other yearly expenses that we struggle to meet:
$2,500 in heating oil
$800 in car insurance
$600 in sewer and trash
$200 in fire wood
$300 in oil changes for car
Then we also have paid out about $1,000 per year in my text books for my graduate degree:
$5,000 etc. etc. etc.
It's crazy to just try to live like a "normal" middle class family. I don't even think our tax bracket qualifies for middle class! I think combined the two of us make about $65,000 per year.
And the rest is just me spending money like a drunken sailor on "quality items" like Barbour jacket (it will last a lifetime and is part of the "language," Burberry watch (ditto), Coach handbags (standard issue middle class), iPhones, Tory Burch shoes (two pairs that I have been wearing for year), Lilly Pulitzer dresses (only on sale!), etc. At any rate ... all of this spending has brought us to where we are right now.
On the verge. On the edge. On the tippytoes of self destruction.
I have almost completely maxed out all of my credit cards and am within $50 of maxing out at least 2 for sure. Here's what the damage looks like:
Citi - 22K
BOA- 22K
Att - 12K
Chase - 8K
JCP MC - 5K - no interest for 3 years
LL Bean - 3K
Sams - 800
SL - 800
Macy - 400
LC - 250 - no interest until March
VS - 80 ----
Target - ZERO - paid off
Nordstrom - ZERO - paid off
Now I just know if I add that up I will THROW UP. So I'm not going to. I know the total is roughly 60K+ so it's prob just under 70K ... in CREDIT CARD DEBT. That is ridiculous. But I know I am not alone in this slave to debt hell. That's why it's time to GET REAL.
This blog will track my progress and I hope offer help and hope to others who also want to GET REAL about debt and calories.
LETS DO THIS.
I'm also 30lbs over weight but prob. more even. Ideal weight is: 117lbs. possible less. Lowest weight was: 111lbs. - I looked awesome. Felt like crap.
Highest weight was: 207lbs - when I was pregnant and gained almost 60lbs! Current weight is about 165lbs.
Normal adult weight used to be about 145lbs. until I had 7 pregnancies from 2009- to 2015. Sticking to an austere diet of grapefruit, coffee primarily and some protein and veggies.
That should do the trick. Also going to do weight training every other day and some light cardio (15 minutes) twice a week on the bike until the weather gets nicer than I will walk about 3 times a week for half hour. THISCLOSE to ruining my life.
TIME TO GET REAL.
This is my story.
How I climbed out of 70K in credit card debt.
How I lost 30+lbs.
How I started to save money, save my sanity, save my family's future.
How I saved myself.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)