I have been reading up on the "snowball" effect related to reducing debt. That is pretty much how I plan on doing it but I've been rather haphazard. There were many times I could have paid off the gap card but applied larger sums to the two big cards because their high balances make me nervous. So, in the spirit of the approaching winter solstice I will set up a "snowball" budget. Here it is if anyone is interested. (It just REALLY helps me to write it down)
Gap: 50.00
Newegg: 50.00
Capital one: 100.00
Lowes: 175.00
Chase: 235.00
Bank of America: 250.00
Any extra money will go to the gap card. November and December are super tight for me because I played catchup this month and December is Christmas so savings will be minimal. BUT, I believe in January I will be able to pay gap in full so then I will transfer that balance to Newegg. By the time I get to Bank of America, I will be applying a minimum of 860.00 per month.
Wow. And these are all minimum amounts that I can easily pay. It still leaves me with breathing room in the budget. That means extra money will be applied to these accounts. How long will it take me to pay these in full? Not sure but in the next 12 months I hope to make a HEAVY dent in them.
I feel like I can breathe a little better. The last several weeks I have been suffering from a lot of stomach pain. I assumed I had gallbladder problems or an ulcer. The last few days since I have tackled this budget I have noticed the stomach aches are going away. I also have noticed I have more energy. My house still needs some organizing but I feel like I have cleared out a ton of mental clutter and anxiety that was torturing my brain daily- I am in the process of organizing my brain.
I still have debt but now I have a plan and, to steal from Robert Frost --that has made all the difference.,
Here is the poem in full:
TWO roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth; 5
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same, 10
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back. 15
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference. 20
How I will pay off my credit cards
November 8th, 2008 at 08:15 pm
November 8th, 2008 at 08:32 pm 1226176330
November 8th, 2008 at 08:46 pm 1226177163
Sounds like a great plann to me - I waivered too with paying off my one card completely. But it will be gone on the 14th. I tend to worry too easily about the bigger picture. I have learned to take it one day at a time, and now I will concentrate on the next smallest debt which is pretty big at $4,300. But this too will be paid off at some point in the future. I have a hard time balancing the debt that there is and the other things that have to be taken care of. I struggle to find a happy median! BUT you have a plan now and can always modify it as time goes on! GOOD FOR YOU!
November 8th, 2008 at 08:48 pm 1226177322
November 8th, 2008 at 08:57 pm 1226177861
November 9th, 2008 at 02:07 am 1226196466
I have full faith in you that you will achieve your goals...
November 9th, 2008 at 01:36 pm 1226237791