by Tricia
I wasn’t planning on paying more towards our debt this month. I was going to beef up our savings. Thank goodness I reviewed everything online or I might have missed a minimum payment due!
All of our credit card debt is at 0% right now, and one missed payment would have been a disaster. Who knows how high our interest rate would have shot up. The payment wasn’t due until early June, but I wasn’t about to take any chances. I sent out a payment for $134 and our credit card debt now stands at $8,864.
What a difference a few years can make. I was able to find our minimum credit card payment from May of 2006…$743. Wow. No wonder we can breathe easier now!
I just wanted to leave a short note to say that I think your blog is amazing. I am also on the road to getting out of credit card debt, and your site is a great read when I’m in need of a little “I can do this” inspiration. Thanks!
$8k is like, nothing. You are doing so awesome! Just think of the better life you will be providing for that little man of yours. Plus, you will be enjoying it too – debtfree!
Hey my Michigan friend – we are looking to take a tiny vacate on our anniversary. Just an overnighter. I was looking into winery tours. There is one on the southwest corner of your state, but sadly, they are full on our anniversary 🙁
Too bad, cause it did 4 winery’s and a chocolate station. They pick you up at your hotel and drop you off after. It would have been so neat.
Anyway, since they are booked I am looking else where – Wisconsin, Illinois, even Iowa. DH wants Michigan, because of the states beauty and the lake. I guess he is a bit romantic.
Would you know of any?
congratulations!! that’s very, very awesome! I’ve got about $17k left, and can’t wait to get down that low! 😀
You are doing terrific – out of debt in no time! I also recently started tracking my minimum payments because it is motivating to me to watch them fall as the balances come down. Of course, I don’t change the total amount I’m paying on debt, but the gap between min. payments and income is growing wider!
You’re doing so well! Good luck paying down your debt!
From what I understand all your debt is on one single card now? I can’t wait to be down to just one card where the only minimum payment was just over $100 bucks. We have about two years to go before that will happen though.
Wow! What a DROP in your minimum payment!! Not only does it say a lot about how much debt can cost you, but it shows how far you’ve come and the benefits of tackling your problems head-on!
So is your minimum $134, or was that some extra, too?
I’ve ran across a ton of consumer financial blogs but this one is by far one of the best. Thanks for motivating all of us stay financially sane and keep our eyes on money bliss. Keep up the great writing and good luck in your efforts!
Amazing!
I can’t wait to be where you are right now. I can’t even imagine what it would feel like to be down to a $134 credit card payment.
Trisha, you truly are an inspiration!
It’s good to sometimes just pull up the financial stuff and browse it with no particular purpose. You notice things that way you wouldn’t otherwise have. One huge benefit of having things under control is there isn’t a huge stress dis-incentive to just perusing the situation.
Continued congratulations. Aren’t 0% cards great? but yeah, you have to absolutely, positively, always always always always keep up with the payments. The penalty is too much to conceive of otherwise. It’s the kind of penalty that makes you start looking for black market kidney buyers…
Jim – all of our debt is on one card right now. The rest of them are still open, and there is one that we use for everyday purchases since we stopped using our debit card. The rule is that we must be able to turn around and pay it off, although I usually end up paying the balance weekly. We are also enjoying earning a little bit from our credit card with cash back 😉
Danielle – the $134 was the minimum payment. We are still working on the savings account for a while.
Dedicated – I’ll send you an email tonight.
Thanks everyone!
Good catch, Trish!
Since you’re so close to finishing, here’s an idea for you to ponder for when you’re done: Slowly ramp up your mortgage payment. A very small monthly increase can add up quite dramatically to huge savings.
Just as an estimate, I’m completely guessing based on your profile that your home was financed for $35,500 on January 1, 2005 with a 30 year fixed at 6.25%, and that just the minimum was paid each month. The numbers surely vary from this, but I’ll use it as an example. Under that example, the current balance would be $33,964.87, very close to what is on your profile, and the monthly payment would be $218.58.
Did you know that in that example if you started in July increasing your monthly payment by just 50 cents each month ($219.08 in July, $219.58 in August, $220.08 in September, etc), that you would save $10,954.78 in interest over the life of the loan, and have the mortgage paid off almost 9 years early?
Odds are you would never even miss that $.50 per month, and if you did, you could always drop back to the minimum payment with no penalty….
Trish, I’ve been reading your adventure for well over a year now. Since you’ve made such outstanding progress, and also you’ve been in a funk lately, may I suggest you take a short holiday from debt repayment.
By all means keep making nice healthy payments, but reduce it and use the extra money during the summer to enjoy life a little more, beyond el cheapo things like fishing.
Maybe take a weeks vacation somewhere, or at least a few 2 or 3 day weekends where you aren’t scrimping all the time. Then starting in September, go back to attacking your debt with zeal again.
Mike – I wish our mortgage interest rate was that low! I guess that’s even more reason to pay more towards it. Thanks for the example. It really shows how little things add up.
Kevin – We will take a little break to go visit relatives this summer. We would also like to go on an overnight camping trip. We’ll see, though, how things go.
I still have individual credit cards with balances higher than that!
It’s so exciting to see your balance get smaller so quickly these days, you must be loving it!
I love reading success stories like yours Tricia, it motivates a lot of people, you have no idea! Keep up the great work 🙂 Nothing feels better than being debt free.
Boy I know that scary feeling of missing a payment that might jeopardize the 0% interest! I actually did it!! Felt like such an idiot!! I messed up and paid our first payment to our new 0% interest card a couple hours too late in the day and I was so upset! But happily they worked with me and lowered the rate right back down to 0%. Had to call back a second time, the first person was determined to keep the rate at the higher one. Whew.
That’s really awesome!! You are really getting it done. One of these days I will be in the same position, just have to keep plugging away.
My wife and I are working our way to $0 debt as well so we can be free to experience life rather than live it. Making a plan is the only way to go. Set monthly goals and budgets and stick to them. Give yourself as little move to live on as possible and find every way you can to save, save, save.