Well, here's the deal. I have been paying more than the minimum on all of my credit cards. But Pay It Down! (see book list, right side of this page) says put all that extra money on the card with the highest interest. It makes sense if you think about it.
The first step in reducing credit card debt is to see if you can get the card company to lower the interest. The book includes a script I can use when talking to the representative. It says, though, to have another card offer in front of me (because the script starts by saying X company is offering me Y interest...). If I get an offer for a card in the mail I check out the terms and if they are favorable (in comparison to the high-interest card) I can use that as the alternative card. If not, I can go to BankRate.com (one of my fave places) to hunt down another card that's good for balance transfers.
I don't have an offer in front of me. I've been too quick to shred those. So I went to BankRate.com and used their program for finding the best card for a balance transfer. I got three results. My next step is to apply for one of these three. That's today's goal, folks.
Showing posts with label Chatzky. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Chatzky. Show all posts
Friday, February 2, 2007
Thursday, February 1, 2007
Not very organized
What did I do today to further my goal to be debt-free? That is, to be free of credit card debt. Not a lot. I paid an overdue car insurance premium plus made a couple of credit card payments. One of which is my highest-interest card.
I already developed a list of all of my credit cards with their balances, monthly payments, and interest rates, so I know which card has the highest rate of interest. I have, in fact, been working to cut that baby back, over several months. What this program says to do, though, is to take the ten bucks a day that I find by cutting expenses here and there (the book - see Pay It Down! - on the right - offers many ways to go at this) and put it right into that one credit card account, on top of the minimum payment. I recklessly did just that, before I have sifted through and found the cuts I need to make to pay for it.
Below my list of credit cards, on the same Excel sheet, I listed other regular payments. Yesterday I also went back to Quicken, downloaded transactions from my primary bank account, and started in categorizing each transaction. I've got a way to go, but it feels good because I know that if I stick to this, and go back to writing down every cash expenditure and entering those as well, I will really know where it is ALL going. There's just no substitute for knowing.
I already developed a list of all of my credit cards with their balances, monthly payments, and interest rates, so I know which card has the highest rate of interest. I have, in fact, been working to cut that baby back, over several months. What this program says to do, though, is to take the ten bucks a day that I find by cutting expenses here and there (the book - see Pay It Down! - on the right - offers many ways to go at this) and put it right into that one credit card account, on top of the minimum payment. I recklessly did just that, before I have sifted through and found the cuts I need to make to pay for it.
Below my list of credit cards, on the same Excel sheet, I listed other regular payments. Yesterday I also went back to Quicken, downloaded transactions from my primary bank account, and started in categorizing each transaction. I've got a way to go, but it feels good because I know that if I stick to this, and go back to writing down every cash expenditure and entering those as well, I will really know where it is ALL going. There's just no substitute for knowing.
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
A Way Out?
Like most of the middle class in the U.S., I am in debt. I have a credit card debt of over $11,000, and a car loan that is about the same. And yet I am in the midst of trying to get a loan to replace my mobile home (with another one on the same space), and when I get that loan (I feel fairly sure I will) I will have a huge new payment to make each month. Can I do it? I am sure the lender wonders the same thing, and is perusing how I spend my money and pay my bills.
I created this blog to track my progress, and offer suggestions to others in the same boat, in getting off that debt horse. My first plan is to follow Jean Chatzky's Pay it Down! program (see link at right). It is likely that this little book is really all I will need to get on track, because it not only offers a detailed program for getting out of debt but also offers a lot of help for those times when we face really bad financial times. But I expect to draw upon a ton of other resources along the way. Many of these are in the book. Others I will no doubt discover.
I created this blog to track my progress, and offer suggestions to others in the same boat, in getting off that debt horse. My first plan is to follow Jean Chatzky's Pay it Down! program (see link at right). It is likely that this little book is really all I will need to get on track, because it not only offers a detailed program for getting out of debt but also offers a lot of help for those times when we face really bad financial times. But I expect to draw upon a ton of other resources along the way. Many of these are in the book. Others I will no doubt discover.
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