Still in Debt After All These Years

You know what's funny in a tragic way? You start a blog about getting out of debt and along the way you actually end up getting your debt down and you stop blogging because you do not really have anything else to say on the matter. Then, fast forward a few years and you're almost right back where you started. Back in debt. The balances and creditors are different but everything else is the same.

Well, that is where I am at right now. Exactly. Sure, I am back in debt. However, my income amount per month has risen, so while I have debt again it is not as debilitating as it once was. So, what does that mean for me?

It means that I am back on the wagon of paying down my debt as quickly as humanly possible. However, it does not mean that I am doing the Dave Ramsey rice and beans and beans and rice meals. No reason to get poor nutrition just because you are trying to be in super beast debt pay down mode. Besides, fresh veggies can be just as cheap and a lot better for you than rice.

thoughts on starting a business

I would like to make a crapload of money this year. That way I can pay off all of the stupid debt that I am in. I think a good way to make a crapload of money is by starting a business. The question is what type of business.

It seems that the easiest way to make money thru a business is to resell things. You know, buy stuff wholesale and then re-sell it for profit. Of course, what do you choose? What sells best? or more appropriately, what has the least risk?

Back-to-school is not that serious

I keep seeing ads for laptops and whatnot for "back-to-school" and it really blows my mind. Whatever happened to back to school shopping consisting of the following list:

• no. 2 pencils
• loose leaf paper or notebooks
• new backpack (if needed)
  
• extra erasers
• pencil case (if needed)
• lunch bag (if needed)
• 2 pair of jeans, a pair of shoes and a few shirts
• protractor, ruler or any other items on a list from school
  

Okay, so this is what my school shopping list used to look like when I was younger. See how simple and so not costly that list is. The crazy part is that I usually didn't really need the clothes but my mom really liked for me to "look nice" on those first few days. Apparently the impression I made by the way I dressed was important to her. Seems kinda silly now.

When I was in 8th grade I got an "expensive" backpack - an Eastpack. I got it because it had a lifetime warranty and my mom didn't wanna be buying me any more backpacks. I'm 29 and I still use that backpack. I even went through a period in school when I wanted a new backpack real bad and tried to break that one - it didn't work.

Notice the lack of "technology'" items. Yes, technology wasn't a big deal when I was younger, but it was by the time I was in high school. But the shopping list pretty much never changed. And honestly, the list above is all kids really need.

When I have kids, they are so gonna hate me for not giving them a laptop for kindergarten.

Stupid money mistake strikes again

I have a history of making stupid money mistakes. Usually it's not transferring money from ING to the checking account in time for the auto debit of a bill. Those are expensive mistakes that I thought I was past.

I was wrong.

I got a $52 late fee for my apartment rent. See, I thought I had 5 days to pay it at the beginning of the month. I paid it on the 4th. Last month I did the same, and the same before that. This is the first late fee I've gotten. I was really mad when I found out about the late fee.

I looked at my lease. It says I only have 3 days. I guess I should be thankful that this is the first time I've gotten the late fee!

extra money update

Sold something on ebay, which earned me $19.22 after all their fees, which is a small amount but every little bit helps.

Job update - started new job this week, but it doesn't pay all the bills. Basically, I just took it until I find one that does pay the bills. Meanwhile, I'm also looking for a nights/weekends job so that I can really attack this debt stuff hardcore. So not fun, but I'm telling myself that it will all be worth it when I don't have to have a job that pays a certain amount just to cover bills.

Money and jobs

Luckily I scored a job from my interviews this week. Not so luckily it pays about half as much as I want/need/am worth. However, I am taking it since I currently do not have a job since I just moved. I'm looking at it as providing me with some sense of security while allowing me to be picky when searching for THE job. Thankfully it is a job where there is supposed to be a lot of overtime available. So, that will help a bit. I think I will also look for another night job for a while as well. I'll just have to see how the OT is, as it would be more worth my while to get massive amounts of time & a half.

Without any overtime or another job, working 40 hours a week gets me a little over $2000/month after taxes, but my bills excede that by about $1300/month. I just got my MBA, so I'm really looking for something that pays well. I've also had some business ideas that I plan on working on, but that takes time. and capital. However, most of the ideas I've had are low start-up costs. The way I figure it, if you throw enough at the wall, something has gotta stick. My other half responded to this thought with the point that shit also sticks to walls. Oy.

In other mon-ay news, I've also made some more sales on eBay, which brings my net total to about $530.

Credit card companies say "I'm sorry"

I found an interesting article in the Washington Post where credit card companies are having to testify in Congress about their sneaky tactics. Apparently there was a many months long investigation regarding this stuff, with the following conclusion:

"Clearly, some companies have stepped over the line," the subcommittee's ranking
Republican, Sen. Norm Coleman of Minnesota

Uh, it took an investigation to come to this conclusion. Must be nice to not have to worry about having to use credit cards for this or that like most people. :)

The article did mention that Citibank has said they will do away with the wicked "universal default" clause...too bad none of my cards are Citibank ones.

When will you be debt free?

Found a nifty little debt payoff calculator over at CNNMoney.com, and by nifty I mean scary.
By no means do I plan to pay only the minimum on my credit cards, but I put in my credit card debt and asked it to show me the info on if I only paid the minimum and here's what it told me:

Your plan summary
• By making minimum payments only, it will take you 68 years and 7 months to pay off your credit cards.
• Based on your current combined balance of $27,578.52, you will pay a total of $56,597.06 in interest.

Yikes. Next I asked it to tell me how much I'd have to pay a month to pay the credit cards off in 2.5 years. The answer - $1077. Currently I pay out about $630 in minimum payments. Ah, lots of work to be done.

ebay - we have a love/hate relationship

In an effort to de-clutter my life and make some cash I've posted some things on eBay. I love eBay in the respect that it is an easy way for me to unload my crap and it's also a great way to find cds of non-American artists (like Laura Pausini). But I hate, hate, hate the actually selling part of selling stuff on eBay. It never fails, when I put something (like a jacket) on eBay with a starting price of $0.99 that I get a gazillion emails from people wanting me to measure this and that for them. Um, hello, $0.99. Oy vey. Don't get me wrong, I understand not wanting to spend money on something that won't fit, but if the auction says that the item is still in stores then get thee to the store and try it on in the size offered.

In other news, I am up about $475 from my eBay sales. All from selling an old laptop. I plan on banking it for living expenses until I find a job. If I can land a job soon, then I can put it towards my highest interest rate card, woo hoo!

A step forward, then a stumble back

Yesterday I took some of my tax refund and paid off my smallest credit card balance. I plan on banking the rest to live on until I find a job. Thankfully, that should not be too long as I got 2 calls today for interviews.

Sadly, I also got some of those hospital bills in the mail today. One is $71, one is $135, one is $404 and the other is $897. There should be a few more coming in at around $300 total also.

Upromise pays you in cash?

Holy crap, I just read over at Consumerism Commentary that you can get UPromise to send you a check for your balance instead of transferring to a student loan or putting it into a college savings program. This is great as my student loans are my lowest interest rate items so I could really use that balance to pay down the higher rate items!

Debt Roundup #1

When I looked up my credit card and car loan debt a few days ago and discovered that it was under $50,000 for 2 people I thought it wasn't too bad. Then I looked up the student loan info. Two undergrad degrees + one MBA = hella debt. So, it's worse than I thought, but not impossible. It just might take a bit longer than I'd hoped.

Current total debt:

• Car loan = $12,897.43
• Credit cards = $30,466.74
• Student loans = $154,346.77
• Total debt = $197,710.94

Actually, I know that there are some recent hospital bills, of which I will have to pay 20%, so this total is almost accurate. I suspect I'll get those bills in the mail by the end of the month and be able to update accordingly.

According to my calculations, I am currently paying out about $1865/month in minimum payments. Ouch. That needs to stop. My highest interest rate is a Chase card that just got raised to 29.99%, current balance is $2973.

In other news, I submitted an idea for a t-shirt I had to T-shirtHell.com and if they pick it up and sell at least 10 shirts I get $200, which would pay off my lowest balance credit card ($154.64).

Plan of attack - pay off the lowest balance first to free up an extra $15/month to apply towards the highest interest rate debt. Then focus on getting it paid off.

Getting things in order

As depressing as it might be, I've begun gathering up totals for my debt. Not counting student loans, here's what I'm looking at so far:

• Car loan balance = $12,888.56
• Total credit card balances = $30,356.85

Ouch. That's a total of $43,245.41...without student loans! Curse those credit card tables at college. And those credit card applications that fell out of every freaking overpriced textbook I had to buy.

Next step, add up all the student loan debt, look at interest rates for all bills individually as well as minimum payments. Then - devise a plan. Oh, a find a new job.