by Tricia
I ran some numbers today, and if I pay $1,100/month to our credit cards we will be debt free in December of 2008! That’s 5 months earlier than previously calculated before we shifted our debt around and lowered our interest rates. That’s pretty awesome and would make for a great Christmas present.
I ran the same scenaio, but changed the numbers around a little:
Pay $1,500/month – Debt free April 2008
Pay $1,700/month – Debt free February 2008
Pay $2,000/month – Debt free November 2007
I especially like the last option of being debt free because it’s only a little over a year away. But at $2,000/month I would need to make some extra income somehow. The highest we have ever been able to pay in a month (not counting tax return time) was $1,500.
Seeing the dates in front of me makes me really want to try.
My time is pretty much maxed, so obtaining a new job is not an option. I still have to ask for a raise at my one job (I’m a chicken when it comes to things like that *sigh*). I will obtain a raise for my full-time job if I take some coursework but I’m having a hard time sending off the funds to do it. I will get reimbursed when I finish though – I just hate parting with hundreds of dollars right now. Plus then I have to find time to study.
I could change my goal date of May 2009, but I’m not quite ready to do that yet. The scenarios I ran assume that I will be able to do another balance transfer if I need to. I have two low interest rate balance transfers that will expire in November (3.9%) and March (0%).
Gosh, I hope one of my other cards has a good balance transfer offer. Otherwise, I’m looking at 15%+ interest.
I try not to think about the looming 15%+ interest rate for it does somewhat depress me. It took a bit of shuffling to get all of our debts under 9.9%. In a way, I am just keeping my fingers crossed that I will be given offers at the right times. Otherwise, I will have to figure out plan B.
In the meantime, the biggest thing to do is to just keep paying as much as we can.