by Matt Fildes
Hey everybody,
I had quite an eventful weekend in which I didn’t spend much money other than gas. I spent $18 for a new cable to get my computer working (as I mentioned in my last post) and traveled to see my folks and to go to the Fleetwood Mac concert with my dad. The tickets were already bought and paid for back in November (my mother’s Christmas present to him) which was awesome. Whenever I go to see them, I always end up eating leftovers, in my attempt to save money, which works in everyone’s favor. I get to eat and they get rid of food that would probably have gotten thrown out.
So, really, other than the new cable and gas, I didn’t end up spending much.
Quick update on the juicer I bought last week- a couple of readers have mentioned that I return it. I’ve already used it now 3-4 times. I bought it from Bed, Bath and Beyond; do they except returns on used items? If they do, I’ll see if I can’t dig up the receipt and return it once I’m back from Florida.
Here’s my up to date debt totals. I added a new row at the bottom which shows the totals of each column (by bottom, I mean on the 2nd page. I guess these tables on the blog don’t like going more than 10 rows per page):
| Loan Name | Interest Rate | Original Balance- May '09 | Current Balance | Total Paid Off |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sallie Mae 01 | 5.25 | $27,837.24 | $24,462.48 | $3,374.76 |
| Sallie Mae 02 | 4.75 | $22,197.02 | $19,189.15 | $3,007.87 |
| Sallie Mae 03 | 7.75 | $20,692.10 | $655.99 | $20,036.11 |
| Sallie Mae 04 | 5.75 | $10,350.18 | $7,723.61 | $2,226.57 |
| Sallie Mae 05 | 5.25 | $6,096.03 | $5,356.99 | $739.04 |
| Sallie Mae 06 & 07 | 4.75 | $6,415.09 | $0.00 | $6,415.09 |
| Sallie Mae- DOE 01 | 5.25 | $5,000.00 | $0.00 | $5,000.00 |
| Sallie Mae- DOE 02 | 5.25 | $3,000.00 | $0.00 | $3,000.00 |
| AES | 6.8 | $9,000.00 | $0.00 | $9,000.00 |
| TOTALS | $110,587.66 | $57,338.22 | $53,249.44 |
The last week of the month is my least favorite week. This is the week that I pay my mortgage (Current Balance: $70,036.16), car insurance and YMCA membership. So, after I make these payments, it leaves little to pay on my debt, but I still managed a small payment of $82.32 on the smallest one.
Here’s my ending January and starting February budgets:
A couple of changes happening here: 1.) my mortgage payment went down. I believe this is due to my estimated escrow being too high- Well’s Fargo has been adjusting it yearly since I bought my house 2.) Sallie Mae has decreased my monthly payment. They tend to do this bimonthly as I make additional payments. 3.) Time Warner increased my internet payment by $10. I’ll be calling them tonight to see if this can’t be lowered, seeing that I’ve been a customer for 4 years now.
Here’s my current slush fund balance:
Slush Fund= $2,577.57 (I added $6.15 since last update to zero out my account)
I want to touch briefly on a spreadsheet I’ve been keeping for a couple of years now:
These totals are the daily, monthly and yearly totals of the interest that I pay for each of loans. When I first started it, it was truly eye opening to see that I paid what amounted to 20% of my gross income for what’s essentially the luxury of owing somebody money. At my current pay ($60k/year) I have to work 45 min per day just to pay the accrued interest that day. And to think- it used to be 2 hrs! Insane. It’s not super accurate by any means, but it gives a pretty good picture of what interest costs in dollars. Looking at this continues to give me motivation everyday. It’s so crazy to think I could have an extra $5,300 in my pocket just by not having any debt! Does anyone else track interest payments like this? If not, what keeps, or kept you motivated while paying off debt?
