Debt roundup #2

March was the first month of tracking spending. But it was a bad month for that as I had out of town visitors 2 weekends out of the month, which really threw a wrench in the whole budget thing.

Debt totals, March 31:

• Car loan = $12,856.82
• Student loans = $154,202.03
• Credit cards = $29,317.62

Total debt = $196,376.47

So, it's not completely bad as some progress was made, just not what I had hoped for. April should be better as

1. there are no scheduled out of town guests
2. I have put a once-a-week limit on dining out
3. I have 2 restuarant gift gards from MyPoints, so I will only be paying for dining out 2 times this month
4. I have some WalMart gift cards from MyPoints that I will use for groceries. It's only $20, but it's something.
5. I'm focused on alternative streams of income like eBay and Associated Content
6. I'm looking for a higher paying job, but going to wrork overtime until I can find one
7. I'm going to try to use food in the pantry before going to the grocery store

I'm contemplating stopping paying on my car loan for the time being - since they don't like when you pay more than the payment they have my next due date as July. I'm thinking of doing this because the interest rate is 10% and I have a credit card that Chase just recently raised to 29.99%, so I'm thinking I could put the money towards it until July. I'm hesitant though because it would not be enough to pay off that Chase card so I'm not sure it's worth it. I guess I could figure up the interest charges and see. If anyone knows of a good online calculator for credit card interest calculation please let me know! thanks :)