I just paid off my last CC balance online. Except for my mortgage, I'm
DEBT FREE!!!!![]()
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Yea!!!! Congrats! I'm so thrilled for you!
I just paid off my last CC balance online. Except for my mortgage, I'm
DEBT FREE!!!!![]()
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Checked the mail last night and we got our new payment book for the mortgage. The mortgage went down! Yea!!! That is extra money towards those ugly cc's!![]()
I'm now officially in. Who knew months ago when I was planning a Disney trip that I would find a home here on the DIS? I found so much info for that trip, and now I keep coming back for more advice and to share what I can. I'm now asking for the opportunity to hang out with you all and please forgive the long post.
Sooo,
It's really hard to say (well, I guess type)this. It helps that others like me are out there finding their way back and that I (hopefully) will not get flamed on this thread. I'm 43, divorced with one son who is in college and living independently, one son who is a senior in high school who splits his time between his dad's house and mine, and DS11 and DS6 who are with me full-time (two sets of kids). After health insurance and taxes/etc., I bring home about $1700/month. I also receive child support of $700. This is not always on time, but I have kept one month's reserve in savings and swap it in and out when he pays. So total of about $2400/month.
There was a long period of time when child support was erratic, if any, and so I built up a lot of credit card debt and with it interest and fees, for late payments etc. It doesn't help that I was really depressed for a long time and I tried to hide it, but the outlet for the empty feeling was buying stuff. Not expensive, but a little bit here and there constantly. It adds up! Then I stuck my head in the sand and just ignored it all. Didn't balance my checkbook or pay bills on time. Citibank made me mad with a huge finance charge increase, so I didn't make paying them a priority. Child support wouldn't come, late fees, disconnect fees, just a nightmare!! Stopped answering the phone. I went back and forth between depression and numbness. When my tax return and the stimulus check came in, I should have used that to get myself together. But my little one is 6 and I desperately wanted to take him to Disney, so I did, since "I could pay cash for it". Charge the tickets to the credit card, but paid it back before the trip. Meals and so forth, took cash down. Rooms and rental car put on the card and would pay when I got back with the money I had "put away". I know I should have canceled my plans, but we had such a wonderful time that I just can't regret that we did it. However, I know how stupid I was with everything else I have done...
So now, here I am, determined to make a new start and work my way out of this. This is what I have done so far:
Read all the threads on the Budget board that I felt would help me.
Checked out from the library the movie and book version of "Maxed Out". Very interesting information.
Checked out Dave Ramsey's "Financial Peace Revisited" and read it. I'm number 42 on the request list for "Total Money Makeover".
Balanced my checkbook, there was some money thankfully, paid my bills up to date (leaving very and I do mean very little).
Set up my budget for each pay period and what would come out of each check. Not very much for extra payments, but I shouldn't be late anymore.
I was paid yesterday, so today I went and withdrew the amounts for each envelope for the remaining two weeks for gas and for food.
Tallied up debt: Citibank Visa $5757 at 25% interest rate and I am on a "arranged" payment program with them, automatic $200 per month for a year; Sears Mastercard $2300 at 3.99% - old transfer; and Discover Card $4137 at 28.99%. Grand total before the interest accruing now: $12,195.82.
Checked my credit reports. No mistakes, but according to them, I am Very Low on the credit score scale (no surprise there!).
Thanks for your patience in reading this whole thing. Any advice would be welcome, but I do have a particular question for those of you who follow some version of Dave Ramsey. I have the $1000 that I was going to pay on the credit card for the rest of the trip. I could do that or I could use that as Baby step number 1. I know it would take me a very long time to save up that money otherwise, and it would get me started so I could start collecting snowflakes here and there for that eventual snowball and would keep me from using the credit cards in the future for emergencies. But if I pay it as originally planned, then my credit card would not have as high an amount to be accruing interest. Any words of wisdom? Again, thanks for just reading. I sincerely appreciate it.