by Hope
It is time for another debt update. But I’m really excited about the one to come in January. You will notice that other than eliminating my Amazon debt, very little has changed in my debt load since my last update. Per my Plan #1, my goal is to pay off the computers by the end of the year. I’ve been paying the very minimum required on all debts in order to meet that goal. I’m still on track but it is going to be VERY, VERY close.
(as of 10/14/17) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Car | $9,314 | 7.00% | $308 |
| Credit Card | $4,475 | 17.00% | $36 |
| Summer Camp (2018) | $3,375 | 0.00% | $0 |
| Student Loans | $34,349 | 2.88% | $307 |
| Computer Equipment | $2,713 | 22.90% | $84 |
| Taxes (State) | $5,800 | 0.00% | $100 |
| Self Lender | $970 | 10.57% | $97 |
| Collections 1 (Medical) | $618 | ||
| Collections 2 (Apartment) | $499 | ||
| Collections 3 (Ex-husband) | $6,260 | 6.25% | $246 |
| Amazon | $0 | 26.99% | $0 |
| Total | $66,273 | $1,178 |
Meeting My Deadline for Plan #1
To make it happen, I have stopped paying on the kids’ summer camp. We’ve also continued to mostly eat through out pantry which means other than canned veggies we are down to almost nothing in our kitchen. The kids are not too thrilled with me right now.
Today I will surprise them by restocking our kitchen in preparation for Christmas. They are going to be thrilled. We’ve had a white board going with a grocery list of all their wants and needs. I’m hoping I can get everything for right at $150. And if we can make it to the end of the year with those groceries…that will be $200 spent this month on groceries and an extra $400 towards my end of year goal.
We won’t be able to do this again because we really have cleaned the pantry shelves, but it is has really helped this fall with paying off some debt and getting ahead on other things.
Next Steps, New Year
I will review my overall financial plan after the new year. I’ve had some more changes on the job front, but I’m not ready to publish them. I’ll have a better idea after January on how my income is going to look.
It’s stressful, but I’m making good headway in picking up odd jobs and at least part time stand alone clients.
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.
Your budget largely looks like you are holding your own. You haven’t accrued major debt since the last update but it seems like the numbers haven’t gone down much either. I’m pulling for you on getting that computer debt paid off. It’ll free up $84 you can use elsewhere.
Have you visited a site called Life as Mom? She also has a site called Good Cheap Eats and she does pantry challenges semi regularly to keep her food budget down.
Hope, sorry if I’ve missed it, but where did the ex-husband debt come from? Doesn’t that belong to him? Why is it sitting against you? Is there anything that can be done to make your ex husband pay it if it’s his debt?
I’m crossing my fingers that your job situation works out for the best, since that’ll be key for any of your 2018 planning. If I were in your shoes, I would be very hesitant to pay anything but minimum payments until you have some clarity there.