Blogging Away Debt

Ashley’s October 2015 Debt Update

I don’t know if I’ve ever been more excited to share a debt update with you guys! Check this out:

Place	Current Balance	APR	Last Payment Made	Last Payment Date	Original debt, March 2014
Capital One CC	-	17.9%	-	Paid off in March 2014	$413
Mattress Firm	-	0%	-	Paid off in May 2014	$1381
Wells Fargo CC	-	13.65%	-	Paid off in May 2014	$7697
BoA CC	-	7.24%	-	Paid off in June 2014	$2220
License Fees	-	2.5%	-	Paid off in April 2015	$5808
Navient - Federal Student Loan	$15692	6.55%-8.25%	$332	October	$17507
ACS Student Loans	$8633	6.55%	$20	October	$8215
Navient - Dept of Education student loans	$66279	6.55%	$636	October	$63254
PenFed Car Loan	$6951	2.49%	$3800	October	$24040
Balance Transfer student loan (Former Navient 1-01)	$3512	0% (through April 2016)	$700	October	$5937
Medical Bills	$5986	0%	$25	October	$9000
Totals	$107,053 (Sept balance = 112,171)		$5513		Starting Debt = $145,472

First, let’s have a moment of silence to appreciate and fully take in the mammoth-sized debt payment this month! $5513 was put toward debt this month!

This is one of the largest debt payment months we’ve ever had, only rivaled by a few months around summer 2014 where our income really skyrocketed for a minute (before crashing down for awhile in 2015. The joys of a variable income).

You’ll see 2 higher payments, specifically:

$3,800 went toward the car loan this month! This is insane!! We’ve had months this year where we’ve made less than this, total! We’re very thankful to have had a good month and be able to really knock the car loan debt in the mouth!
Over $1,500 went toward student loans this month! This is WAY higher than my monthly minimums. But because my minimum payments don’t even cover my interest I’ve been trying to pay extra so I can continue reducing the principal. Also, I made a large payment toward Navient loan 1-06 this month to pay it off in full (Note, this figure also includes my payment to the balance transfer loan, which was originally a student loan).

Perhaps equally as exciting as this month’s stellar payments, I had a realization as I made October’s debt table.

If we’re able to continue making our expected debt payments (which is really contingent upon hubs’ income the next couple months), we will officially dip below the $100,000-mark in December!

That means in December we will simultaneously be reaching 3 insane milestones:

We will officially pay off our car loan. This will make us consumer debt-freeeeeee!!!!!!
We will have reached out 2015 financial goal of paying $30,000 toward debt this year.
After nearly 2 hard years of chipping away at our debts, we will have finally rounded the corner and officially owe less than $100,000!!!!

I want to pinch myself! Only 2 months ago I was admitting defeat on my 2015 goals and now (eeek – fingers crossed!!!) we could be reporting some huge accomplishments in the next 2 months! How quickly the tide can change. I only hope and pray things remain on the ups!!

EF Refunding Update

by Matt Fildes

Hey everyone. I hope you are all having a great day.

On Friday, I gave a short update on where I stand on refunding my EF- I’m currently at $1,300 with my goal being over $2,000. There’s an item on the horizon that have me worried about keeping my EF any lower- I have a state inspection for my car on November 9th. After talking with the mechanic over the summer, he let me know that to pass inspection, I’m going to have to have a bunch of work done. In the range of $500-$1,000 of work. Depending on the cost, I’ll most likely just pull this money from my EF.

In the meantime, I did get a credit card to help me if an emergency arose. Thankfully, at this point, it hasn’t. I’ve owned credit cards in the past (those terrible mall store cards that give you 10-15% off when you sign up. Never used them but the one time. I’ve since cut the cards up, but the accounts are still open) but never a card with a sizable limit. Not only did I read many articles and see the ill effects of poor credit use for myself, but the cards I had in the past only had a limit of $100 and $150- not much in an emergency, hence why I never used them; they just weren’t worth the trouble. Anyway, I had a meeting with my bank a few weeks ago (the same meeting where the person inquired as to who Navient was), and since I could see and feel my EF dropping, I acquired about a card I could use to get me through any tough times while I built my EF back up. They sold me on the fact that the card is tied to my checking and savings accounts, which would make payments instantaneous, and I could pay off the card as soon as I bought something with it. I experimented by buying some gas to see if this were true, and it turns out that it takes a few days for the purchase to post. While it’s great my payments can be transferred from my accounts instantly, it doesn’t matter much when my purchases take a few days to appear. The card has a 1.75% cash back bonus, but I don’t intend on using it now or once my EF is back up.

This past week, I manged to seal the windows and doors I wanted to in hopes that this will help make the winter a little more bearable. I used the Duck Tape brand, which was fairly inexpensive.

I have 2 more weeks until I will begin paying down Sallie Mae 01- I can’t wait!