by Hope
Things are still pretty dire. I am still significantly behind on several “four walls” bills. So there are debt payments that are just not getting paid.
Figured I would get that out of the way, so you wouldn’t wonder why some of these debt numbers are going up!
| Debt Description | October, 2023 Total | Interest Rate | Minimum Payment | Paid This Month | Current Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Personal Loan #1 | $2,500 | 0% | 6 months to pay | $2,500 | |
| Personal Loan #2 | $2,500 | 0% | 6 months to pay | $2,500 | |
| CC - AMEX | $894 | 29.24% | $93 | $954 | |
| CC - Wander | $1,630 | 29.24% | $124 | $1,834 | |
| CC - USAA | $5,000 | 19.15% | $135 | $131 | $5,190 |
| CC - Amazon | $1,497 | 29.99% | $53 | $55 | $1,519 |
| CC - Sams | $1,106 | *29.99% | *$40 | $40 | $1,113 |
| CC - Frontier | $3,857 | 29.99% | $338 | $170 | $3,994 |
| Car Loan | $19,581 | 12.69% | $500 | $563 | $19,581 |
| Student Loans | $22,121 | 2.875% | $306 | Deferred until Dec, 2023 | $22,186 |
| CC - Apple** | $500 | $500 | $497 | ||
| Total | $61,186 | $61,868 |
A couple of notes:
*The website to get my statement and these details was not available so these are estimates.
**I pay this CC off every month and reuse. This and the USAA CC will be left open. But the goal is to pay off and close all other lines of credit.
Catching Up
On the flip side of that, I have contracted out enough work to pay the bills through the end of January. Most of these are one off projects. My regular monthly intake has increased from the $2,200 per month from my part time job to around $2,700. (I will need to allocate some of this additional income to self-employment taxes.)
I am hoping to be caught up with everything by mid-December. This really depends on how timely I will receive payments for these projects. And I’m hoping to resume saving with the $200 from my part time job. I will definitely feel more comfortable when I have some sort of emergency fund again.
I continue to literally pound the pavement on a daily basis. Hitting up and few brick and mortar stores and introducing myself and dropping off a flyer details my service offerings from web design to social media management and everything in between.
Hope is a creative, solutions-focused business manager helping clients grow their business and work more efficiently by leveraging expertise in project management, digital marketing, & tech solutions. She’s recently become an empty nester as her 5 foster/adoptive kids have spread their wings. She lives with her 3 dogs in a small town in NE Georgia and prefers the mountains to the beaches any day. She struggles with the travel bug and is doing her best to help each of her kids as their finish schooling and become independent (but it’s hard!) She has run her own consulting company for almost twenty years! Hope began sharing her journey with the BAD community in the Spring of 2015 and feels like she has finally in a place to really focus on making wise financial decisions.
I assume gymnast is making or sending you the monthly payment for his car, so that’s kind of “sorted”. You might consider adding in any bills you’re behind on and paying just enough to not get utilities turned off. Also, am I missing your mortgage? Are you prioritizing keeping that paid as your first priority? Are taxes/insurance escrowed into that payment or separate?
Yes, he is, started this past month when he sent me the $1,800 to catch up the insurance and cover his car payment.
I hadn’t thought of putting the utilities and such that I am behind. TBH, I hope to catch them up before next month’s update, but if not, I will include them as they stand at that time.
I have an update on my mortgage scheduled within the week. But the quick update is that I am two months behind as of today. But tomorrow, I will pay one of those months. Getting paid for client work will determine when I can catch all the way up. But lender is happy with my plan right now. Phew! And yes, taxes and insurance are covered with my mortgage payment.
Fingers crossed that your Christmas gift to yourself this year is to be caught up on house payments!
Yes! 100% agree.
Is there a reason you are paying more than the minimum for the car? Since then you are also not paying some minimums fully.
Gymnast began paying it last month and there was a late charge. Since it is still in my name, I’ve left it for now. But assuming all goes well with him sending the money every month, I will remove it from my list in the new year.
As long as the car is financed under your name it belongs on your debt list.
It’s too late now but that’s an incredibly high monthly payment for a young man Gymnast’s age. Now that he’s living in a different area, could he sell it and rely on public transportation for awhile? I started my young adult ife in a similar financial situation and I wish someone had guided me differently.
True. Part of the reason it’s so high is because of the short term.
And yes, if he decides to sell it, I will support that decision. It truly is his call in how he wants to proceed with it at this point.
The idea when I first bought it was that he was going to be going to school 2 hours away and living at home so a reliable car was needed. Since that plan didn’t come to fruition…well, now it’s his to decide how he wants to proceed.
Thanks for answering, I thought this was a newer purchase and didn’t realize you had bought it awhile ago when G planned to stay in your area for school.
Sorry if you answered this previously but where did all the credit cards come from? If I remember correctly you lost your corporate job about a year ago but you had an emergency fund to fall back on and you’ve been working part time..what was purchased with all of these cards? About $14k in addition to $5k in personal loans plus the money from selling the hot tub?
Yes, it’s been 1 year and 4 months since my corporate job ended suddenly. As my EF dried up, I applied for CCs to fill the gap. They’ve covered food, bills, etc.