by Hope
Lessons I learned the last two months as I’ve started receiving income again:
- Paying everything at the beginning of the month can leave you struggling at the end of the month.
- Even with money coming in regularly, it feels much better to have a buffer in your checking account and at least a small emergency fund.
- After a year in “starvation” mode, even a little splurge right now feels too much.
Overall, April has been a great month financially. (You can see last month’s debt update here.)
| Debt Description | October, 2023 Total | Interest Rate | Minimum Payment | Current Total | Payoff Date (Est) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CC - Sams | $1,106 | 29.99% | $0 | $0 | April, 2024 |
| CC - Amazon | $1,497 | 29.99% | $53 | $1,462 | May, 2024 |
| CC - Wander | $1,630 | 29.24% | $75 | $1,605 | June, 2024 |
| Personal Loan #1 | $2,500 | 0% | $500 (beg April) | $1,500 | June, 2024 |
| Personal Loan #2 | $2,500 | 0% | $500 (beg April) | $2,000 | June, 2024 |
| CC - Frontier | $3,857 | 29.99% | $131 | $3,566 | |
| Dad - New Furnace | $2,600 | 0% | $500 (beg June or July) | $2,600 | |
| CC - USAA | $5,000 | 19.15% | $135 | $4,996 | |
| Car Loan | $19,581 | 12.69% | Gymnast Pays | $16,623 | |
| Student Loans | $22,121 | 2.875% | In Deferrment | $22,505 | |
| CC - Apple** | $500 | Paid off every month | $0 | ||
| CC - AMEX | $894 | 29.24% | $0 | $0 | |
| Total | $61,186 | $1,622 | $56,857 |
Updates
The Sam’s Club card is paid in full. Woot, woot! But I am not going to close it. The kids and I use that membership very regularly for food and gas. The girls and I even got our eyes examined there this past month – only $67 for an eye exam. (If we buy our glasses there, we get 20% off. Princess has already taken advantage of this. I’m holding off at least one more month before spending that money.)
I have rearranged the table (again) to show the order I am focusing on the debt. With my current forecast, here are the next anticipated payoff dates:
- Amazon CC – May, 2024
- Personal Loan #1 – June, 2024
- Personal Loan #2 – June, 2024
- Wander CC – June, 2024
I’ve not yet purchased a lawn mower. Still dreading that completely. Thankfully, Beauty’s boyfriend graciously volunteered to cut our grass last week, buying me a few more weeks. I will have to address the need in May for sure. I did purchase a edger/trimmer thing. It ran me $131 and is electric. The downside is that it will only run 25 minutes per battery charge. The upside is it’s the same brand as all my other tools so I will have 3 interchangeable batteries so can get the yard done with quick battery changes. At least in theory! So I can start doing some of the yard with that.
Moving along the right direction steadily. I am working 3-4 12 hour days weekly between my two jobs. And loving every minute of it.
