P.S.

I decided to do a little math (yay for math!), and I figured out that if I paid $1606 a month, I could get rid of all of my consumer debt (including that part I owe my mom) by November. If I work hard, I just might be able to do it, and then I'd be able to say I elminated all my consumer debt in one year!

Wish me luck :)

Wow!

Well I made my mid-month extra payment, and the urge to hold on to some money and blow it on stuff was really strong. I don't know why - it's not like there are holidays coming up or plans or anything. Maybe just an urge to spoil myself. But I shook it off, and made a big big payment instead. And it worked out really awesomely! Because when I filled in all the updated information for this month (balances, savings, retirement, etc.), my total net worth (less school loans) was actually POSITIVE!

I know it seems like it should have been positive all along, and of course it should have, but it wasn't. And now it is :)

Total debt paid update: $12,429.24

Pay your bills, pay your bills...

So the little automated reminder went off today, time to pay my bills. I get out my handy, dandy bill-payin' chart and do one of my favorite things which is check all the card accounts I recently paid off to make sure they are still at zero[1]. Well anyway after I did that, I only had two bills to pay! Isn't that exciting?! That's not to say I only have two bills, i.e., total - there are a couple things like my school loans that come out after the next paycheck - but only two credit card bills to pay. Hooray! I paid the minimum on the one that's locked at 2.99% for life (the lowest one), and dumped all my bill-payin' money onto the other one. Not a big huge payment, but every little bit helps, and I left enough in my account to cover my school loan payment (just in case it goes through before payday) so when I get the bigger check on the 15th I'll get to make another (and hopefully bigger) dent in Next Goal Credit Card(TM). I must say it feels pretty cool to be down to just two little numbers between me and the absence of consumer debt![3]

[1] This might sound kind of anal retentive. And it is. But it's also just paranoia that I had some minuscule balance left during part of the last billing cycle and they'll have charged me like three cents interest for it and I won't notice and end up with late fees, bad credit, and the assault of several credit card company employees on my hands[2].

[2] This is just a joke, officer.

[3] Or do school loans count as consumer debt? Oh well, I'm not counting them!