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Another debt bites the dust. Amazon CC debt be gone!

Some of you may remember that this debt has been almost gone before…just a few months ago. And then I went a little spend happy and ran it back up. No more!

I’ve hesitated to cancel this account due to it being my second oldest credit account so I know closing it will adversely affect my credit score much more than the other cards that I’ve already closed. But just like then, I’ve decided that I do not care about my credit score. I have to remove even the temptation to use this car again.

This card will be closed. Once the payment is cleared and settled.

The total paid today is: $1,412. And it feels soooo good to have another account paid in full.

(Sidenote: the two cards that I’ve already paid and closed have emailed me almost weekly to get me to reinstate the cards. Is that normal? But I am not even tempted.)

What’s Next?

Based on my last debt update, my plan was to pay off my Frontier credit card next. And I figured it would take a couple of months because of my income and the balance. But now I have full time income. HOWEVER…

I’ve mentioned at least once, maybe a couple of times, that Princess must get her wisdom teeth out. And we did get a consult last month. The total for the surgery will be $4,010. I paid $400 of that at the time of consult. We have scheduled the surgery for next month (October, 2024) after her mid-terms.

So my plan is to pay the Frontier card in full at the beginning of October. Then I will have to turn around and use the card for the surgery. This will save me 1/2 month of interest accruing. And then I will pay it off again in its entirety again in November. And then cancel the card.

Is this a good plan, a good use of credit card at least temporarily? Or am I making a bad call with this plan?

Hope

Hope is a resourceful, solutions-driven online business manager with over two decades of experience helping clients streamline operations, manage projects, and grow their businesses through digital marketing and technology.

But life has a way of rewriting your plans.

A year ago, Hope made the decision to move in with her aging parents full time – a season she wouldn’t trade, even as it came with its own financial and emotional weight. Earlier this year, she lost her mother, and is now walking the tender, disorienting path of grief while learning what “forward” looks like from here.

Hope came to the Blogging Away Debt community in 2015 as a single mom raising five foster and adoptive children. She’s written through job changes, financial setbacks, and the bittersweet transition to an empty nest. Her kids are finding their footing in the world now – and so is she.

Rooted in faith and fueled by the same perseverance she’s brought to every hard season, Hope is ready to face her finances with fresh eyes and an honest pen. She believes that clarity, courage, and community can change the trajectory of anyone’s story including her own.

She lives in Austin, TX with her dad, loves adventures with her dog Addie, and is figuring out, one step at a time, what this next chapter is meant to be.

Paying Back Gymnast

by Hope

Last fall things got really, really tight. I had lost my dream corporate job in the summer of 2022. Then my contract job was a significant cut in pay. Then it ended versus becoming a full time position in February of 2023. And finally I had a 20 hour per week job beginning in March of 2023.

My finances were a mess and super, super tight. And it came to head last fall when I was at risk of not being able to pay our auto insurance along with Gymnast car payment and so on.

Some of you are probably familiar with this phase of my roller coaster of a life. And what I did…

The History

As with each of my kids, I had agreed to help Gymnast get on his feet post high school (or school) completion by paying some of his bills for 6 months. In his case, it was his car payment and auto insurance. He moved to Texas as soon as he turned 18 and that started the clock for the 6 months.

But I ran out of money and the ability to pay the bills about 2 months early. So I made the difficult call to let him know. I held out as long as I could. And probably waited too long. Because it did blindside him.

The Resolution

Thankfully, he had listened and was making fantastic financial decisions. And without question, he sent me the money not just to pay his car payment, but also to catch up and cover the entirety of the family auto insurance bill. He didn’t blink. He didn’t blame. He didn’t wait to be asked. He just did it.

I was beyond floored. And so proud. And I told him I would pay him back.

Fast Forward to Now

Gymnast has continued to refuse my offer to pay him back. And I know he’s been stressed over the heavy load that is his car payment and car insurance. (He has had 3 car wrecks which he’s covered as well.)

But now we’ve been able to refinance the car getting the interest rate down to a reasonable rate. And our insurance premium has dropped with this next renewal. And he has the lofty and from what I’ve seen very achievable goal of paying his car loan in full in the next 6 months. And I now have stable and solid full time income again.

So I’ve decided to HELP him in another way that will hopefully give him a bit of relief and the push to really meet his goal of paying off his car. I am going to pay his portion of the family auto insurance policy from August (yes, last month) through December. This is why the kid’s contribution was significantly less that budgeted last month.

The total of this will be just slightly more than the amount he covered last year so it’s just a different way of paying him back for something I had planned to cover. And hopefully…it will help him get that much closer to being completed debt free. With a nice and reliable car to carry him through these young adult years!