by Hope
I anticipate getting my first “big” paycheck towards the end of this week. Therefore, I am glad I asked about the credit card idea, mentioned my idea of prepaying my mortgage and so on. It will definitely be better for me to have a solid plan ahead of time versus deciding how to use it when it’s burning a hole in my hand.
These are the decisions I have made thus far for March:
- I am going to pay $1,515 to my mortgage. This is the remainder owed for March and then pay April’s payment in advance. This will put me on track to be one month ahead on my mortgage going forward. (And yes, I have confirmed that I can do this.)
- I must pay $1,756 to my insurance. I didn’t pay last month due to no income, but let them know and there is no penalty for being late as I made this arrangement with them. (Our insurance renews at the end of March and it has gone from $5,203 to $7,342 every six months. This is a huge jump. I’m planning to call to see if here is anything that can be done.)
- I will pay the minimum on all my credit card debt.
- I will put some money into some needed car maintenance. I’ve got an estimate for all the things that should be done. But haven’t decided what is a MUST. Total on that coming soon after I get some good advice.
- I will review and set aside anticipated taxes, etc.
Personal Debts
I have spoken with the two people who each loaned me $2,500 last fall. I will begin repaying them in April at $500 per month. They are both fine with that.
For the one that I hoped to pay off with a website project…To be clear, that is one of my brothers and he actually approached me a couple years ago about a complex web project. I did the research and gave him a quote for what he wants to do. It is a money making project for him. That quote was well above the loan amount. He mentioned the web project again when I asked about the loan. Fast forward to my call this week to let him know about my pay back plan; he does want to move forward with the web project, but he’s still not sure when. As a result, I am going to proceed with the payment plan and we will revisit his project when ready.
My dad understands that paying him back is not as high on the priority list with all my other debt, so for right now, I do not anticipate making any payments toward that loan.
I do not take these people or their generosity of loaning me the money for granted. I fully recognize how blessed I am to have had that resource. Not everyone does.
Credit Card Debt
I hear the BAD Community loud and clear on the idea of paying down the credit card debt across the board.
The results: Do not do it. Focus on one credit card at a time. And I believe the consensus was pay the highest interest debt first.
Most of my credit cards have approximately the same interest rate. So I’m floundering a bit between two cards to focus on. Let me share my thoughts and you help me decide:
- Sam’s Credit Card – Currently over the limit and requires approx. $50 payment each month. It does have the lowest balance (around $1,100) though and I believe I could pay it off in its entirety in April based on my forecast spreadsheet.
- Wander Credit Card – Requires approx. $75 payment each month and has the 3rd highest balance (around $1,700). This would take at least April and May to pay in full if I choose to focus on it.
The good thing about paying off the Wander card is that I am not tempted to use it at all. Same with the one I paid off this month. I’ve already disposed of the cards, do not have them connected to Apple Pay, etc. Literally very easy to forget they exist and close them out.
The Sam’s card has not been used in almost a year, and it’s been over the limit most of that time. It would be easy to pay off and feel really good. But I fear I would be tempted to use it as I still shop at Sam’s Club pretty regularly for things I buy in bulk (food and paper products) and gas savings.
In writing this, I think I need to pay enough to the Sam’s card to get it under the limit. But then focus on paying off the Wander card. Do you agree?
Hope is a creative, solutions-focused business manager helping clients grow their business and work more efficiently by leveraging expertise in project management, digital marketing, & tech solutions. She’s recently become an empty nester as her 5 foster/adoptive kids have spread their wings. She lives with her 5 dogs in a small town in NE Georgia and prefers the mountains to the beaches any day. She struggles with the travel bug and is doing her best to help each of her kids as their finish schooling and become independent (but it’s hard!) She has run her own consulting company for almost twenty years! Hope began sharing her journey with the BAD community in the Spring of 2015 and feels like she has finally in a place to really focus on making wise financial decisions.