So I get bal trans checks for 1.99 APR thru Feb 2009 from my paid in full Wamu Visa card. I'm not sure if I should bite. The credit limit on that card is $1k and right now, it doesn't see to be much of a dent to anything. The worst I'll be doing is spreading my debt across yet another card and I'm thinking of putting it onto the Target Visa.

If I do that and knock the balance down by $1265.00 this month, I did the number crunching and the finance charges will dip from $145/mo to about $124/mo. Not a huge drop, while I'll have to pay $145/mo from July to Jan to get the card paid off in time.

So my minimum payment on Target my drop by $100 and I'll know pay 1.99% on 1k of debt vs. 19.24 for 7 months. Even the time it'll take to do the math doesn't feel to be worth it so for now, I think I'll pass.

I have till 7/30 to use the checks.

- Numbers don't lie, finally did a budget and um, yikes! - Lean months are coming - Going back to school?? - Taking a step back to see what I have accomplished so far

Tackling the remaining topics I left dangling

Continue reading "3 out of 4"

Back in May I said there were a few topics I was going to tackle in coming weeks:

- Compound Interest is kicking my ass - Numbers don't lie, finally did a budget and um, yikes! - Lean months are coming - Going back to school?? - Taking a step back to see what I have accomplished so far

Naturally, I have forgotten the major points of said teasers, so this'll be easier than I thought. I'll be able to wrap this all up in one post.

*****

1. Compound Interest is kicking my ass

I didn't full grasp the evils of compound interest till I mused my Target bill and it's ever so slow downward creep. It seemed like I was paying interest on interest. Feeling frustrated and like I busted a credit card doing something sue-worthy, I opened up calculator and tried to crunch the numbers I never touch. The ones behind the scene. What I found out, floored me.

Continue reading "Promises, promises"

Ok, so last week I mentioned I was going to start posting (eventually on a daily basis) my spending, down to the penny. It'll reveal a lot about me and unfortunately as I transcribed all spending from MS Money to Notepad so I could copy and paste, I cringed w/each "reason" for spending.

*gulp* here goes nothing...

Continue reading "Ouch"

Twice in a row being on time, not too shabby. Ok, let's get to it.

Here is where I was 5/8/08:

Here is where I am as of today:

Continue reading "Progress Report - Month 5"

One thing is a given, if I'm not posting, it's b/c I'm offline working as many hours as possible, which has been the case for the last 4 weeks. May was a rough month, I had my car tags due, insurance renewed and overspent money that could've went towards my overall debt. Oh yeah, I had vet fees and for the first time in almost 6 months took a vacation.

All of the above was charged and have been paid in full and officially leaves me w/the Target card and the capital one card that paid my fed taxes from April. Geez Louise will this viscious cycle ever end? I'm hoping so and have decided to use June 1 as the turning point, both financially and blog(ially) if that even is a word.

Continue reading "Just about caught up"

Suprisingly ontime this month, considering the fact that every fiber of my being hurts, but I'm off tomorrow so it's all good right?

Here is where I was 4/8/08:

Here is where I am as of today:

Continue reading "Progress Report - Month 4"