The Ugly Truth – Day 523

Debts

• Personal Loan: -$15,000
• Credit Card 1: -$6000
• Credit Card 2: -$7100
• Credit Card 3: (transferred to Card 4)
• Credit Card 4: -$15,888
• Credit Card 5: (paid in full)
• Credit Card 6: (paid in full)
• Credit Card 7: (paid in full)
• Credit Card 8: -$4,435

Savings

• Emergency Fund: +$2,000
• Car Fund (Maintenance & Registration): +$0
• Short Term Goal Fund: +$0
• Home Deposit Fund ($60,000 Goal): +$0
• UK Tour Fund ($5,000 Goal): +$0
  

Total: -$48,423
Debt reduced from last Dec 2008: +$3010
Debt reduced from Sep 2007: +$8,349

I've cracked the $50,000 barrier at last - hurrah! I’m also on track for reducing my debt by at least $12,000 in 2009.

I've sacrificed my short term goal fund as part of this result though, the bed can wait a couple of months, but I really want to make a dent on that personal loan this year. Same for the home deposit fund, I do want to start building that from this month month though as the interest rates are just so low now.

I’m also going to roll Card 2 onto Card 3 this month, the interest rates are pretty much the same, so for simplicity and one less payment each month (even though it will be larger of course) it’s worth it.

I've been throwing everything I have at my personal loan at the moment as it’s got the highest interest rate, but I’m also considering a switch to paying a percentage of each debt each month, I can currently afford 4% of the current balances, and still save money for my other goals.

Decisions decisions…

Roll on payday.

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The Ugly Truth – Day 458

Debts

• Personal Loan: -$19,136
• Credit Card 1: -$5,681
• Credit Card 2: -$6,147
• Credit Card 3: (transferred to Card 4)
• Credit Card 4: -$15,719
• Credit Card 5: (paid in full)
• Credit Card 6: (paid in full)
• Credit Card 7: (paid in full)
• Credit Card 8: -$4,750

Savings

• Emergency Fund: +$2,000
• Car Fund (Maintenance & Registration): +0
• Short Term Goal Fund: +$1,250 (Current goal is new bedroom furniture)
• Home Deposit Fund ($60,000 Goal): +$1,000
• UK Tour Fund ($10,000 Goal): +$1250

Total: -$51,433
Debt reduced from last month: +$321
Debt reduced from Sep 2007: +$5,339

Another tiny change downward this month, as I had to get the car serviced and it cost heaps, plus pay the NRMA membership.

I need to make more of a dent in those balances down though, it’s driving me mad.

I’ll be tracking my spending more tightly over the next few months to see where it’s all going.

I did manage to add another $250 to my travel fund and also my short term goal fund though so that’s cool.

My goal for this month is to finally crack through the $50K barrier, it’s been far too long coming.

Roll on payday.

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The Ugly Truth – Day 428

Debts

• Personal Loan: -$19,877
• Credit Card 1: -$5,412
• Credit Card 2: -$5,485 ($5,000 transferred to Card 8)
• Credit Card 3: (transferred to Card 4)
• Credit Card 4: -$16,105
• Credit Card 5: (paid in full)
• Credit Card 6: (paid in full)
• Credit Card 7: (paid in full)
• Credit Card 8: -$4,875

Savings

• Emergency Fund: +$2,000
• Car Fund (Maintenance & Registration): +250
• Short Term Goal Fund: +$1,000 (Current goal is new bedroom furniture)
• Home Deposit Fund ($60,000 Goal): +$1,000
• UK Tour Fund ($10,000 Goal): +$750

Total: -$51,754
Debt reduced from last month: +$615
Debt reduced from Sep 2007: +$5,018

Not a huge change this month, but I’m OK with that as I had a lots of bills come in that needed to be paid, I managed to pay them without dipping into my emergency fund, and factoring in the monthly interest I’m paying it’s still a win to have the total go down.

Not all the balance transfers had been processed as of today, I’m still waiting on the balance of Credit Card 1 to go over to Credit Card 2, and then I’ll have my new snowball in place.

My personal loan is now under $20,000 which is great, and now I’ll be throwing $1,000 at it every month from now on (it’s got the highest interest rate of all of my debts), that should see larger debt reductions each month ongoing.

My focus card is now Card 2, so any extra snowball or snowflake money will be going on to that card from now on.

I also managed to add another $250 to my travel fund, as I’m looking to go in May 2009; I really need to get cracking on building up that fund now. Especially considering the exchange rate, Aussie dollars to pounds Sterling is never a pretty exchange, but it’s even worse at the moment.

Roll on payday.

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The Ugly Truth – Day 405

Debts

• Personal Loan: -$20,320
• Credit Card 1: -$6,223
• Credit Card 2: -$9,938
• Credit Card 3: -$5,125
• Credit Card 4: -$10,763
• Credit Card 5: (paid in full)
• Credit Card 6: (paid in full)
• Credit Card 7: (paid in full)

Savings

• Emergency Fund: +$2,000
• Car Fund (Maintenance & Registration): +$125
• Short Term Goal Fund: +$1,135 (Current goal is new bedroom furniture)
• Home Deposit Fund ($60,000 Goal): +$1,000
• UK Tour Fund ($10,000 Goal): +$500

Total: -$52,369
Debt reduced from last month: -$665
Debt reduced from Sep 2007: +$4,403

Ouch, that’s not good is it? I've gone backwards $665 debtwise this month, due to overspending on Credit Card 2. I did have some things I had to buy, but had no idea I’d spent that much. I’ll have to go through my statement & find out where it’s all gone to.

I also spent a week in Canberra looking after my nephew, so there were extra petrol costs & added expenses from enjoying myself and taking him places.

It may also have something to do with completing my update 9 days later than usual; my accounts have accrued their new interest for the month already I’m thinking? Not to worry though, it’s onward & upward from here.

I need to send off my balance transfer to move the balance from Credit Card 3 to Credit Card 4, which has a lower interest rate. I also got another Credit Card with a $5000 limit & 6.99% for the life of balance transfers, so will be moving as much as possible from Credit Card 2 to it as soon as I can.

I was actually hoping to get under the $50,000 mark this month, I’ll have to wait until at least the November update now. I expect that to be a better news story, as my personal loan will also drop below $20,000, which is another of my 2008 financial goals achieved.

Roll on payday.

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The Ugly Truth - Day 367

The Ugly Truth

Debts

• Personal Loan: -$20,750
• Credit Card 1: -$6,287
• Credit Card 2: -$8,382
• Credit Card 3: -$5,297
• Credit Card 4: -$10,988
• Credit Card 5: (paid in full)
• Credit Card 6: (paid in full)
• Credit Card 7: (paid in full)

Savings

• Emergency Fund: +$2,012
• Car Fund (Maintenance & Registration): +$1
• Short Term Goal Fund: +$1,006 (Current goal is new bedroom furniture)
• Home Deposit Fund ($60,000 Goal): +$1,000
• UK Tour Fund ($10,000 Goal): +$500

Total: -$51,704
Debt reduced from last month: +$1,318
Debt reduced from Sep 2007: +$5,068

Not a bad month all up, a smidge over $1300 of my debt reduced. Had a few expenses here and there, I did find myself spending a lot more freely than I have over the last few months though, lunches and dinners out, bought a couple of trashy novels and things like that, which showed in my lack of Goal & Travel fund increases. I need to tighten back up on this.

The limit increase has come through on Credit Card 4, so I’ll arrange to have the balance of Credit Card 3 transferred over to it as soon as they can. I’d like to see if I can get Card 1 & 2 combined somehow too, to reduce the total number of cards I still have and the number of monthly bills I’m actually paying.

Goals for September:

• Get Personal loan under $20,000
• Get total credit card debt under $30,000

This means I’ll hit the major milestone of my debt being under $50,000, which will be a great feeling!

This also marks the end of my first year of my blog & debt reduction plan, which I’ll post about separately.

Roll on payday.

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The Ugly Truth – Day 336

The Ugly Truth

Debts

• Personal Loan: -$21,173
• Credit Card 1: -$6,704
• Credit Card 2: -$8,482
• Credit Card 3: -$5,466
• Credit Card 4: -$11,197
• Credit Card 5: (paid in full)
• Credit Card 6: (paid in full) - Hurrah!
• Credit Card 7: (paid in full)

Savings

• Emergency Fund: +$2,012
• Car Fund (Maintenance & Registration): +$1
• Short Term Goal Fund: +$1,006 (Current goal is new bedroom furniture)
• Home Deposit Fund ($60,000 Goal): +$1,000
• UK Tour Fund ($10,000 Goal): +$500

Total: -$53,022 – nearly under $52K!
Debt reduced from last month: +$1,412
Debt reduced from Sep 2007: +$3,750

Not a bad month all up, a smidge over $1400 of my debt reduced. Had a few expenses here and there, including getting my car serviced, nothing major to speak of though.

Paid off credit card number 6, which was a great feeling. That meant the UK Tour Fund didn't see any love this month though, maybe next month I’ll be able to add something.

My pay increase kicked in; as did the tax cuts we were given as part of the last Federal budget, so that’s made a nice change to my take home pay.

A couple of my credit cards increased their interest rates yet again, in fact Card Number 3 jumped 2% in one go! Lucky that’s my focus card now, and I’m still confident I’ll be able to have it paid off entirely by December 31.

That means I’ll hit 4 out of 5 of the 2008 financial goals I’d set myself, which I’m more than OK with.

Roll on payday.

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The Ugly Truth - Day 305

The Ugly Truth

Debts

• Personal Loan: -$21,600
• Credit Card 1: -$6,680
• Credit Card 2: -$8,657
• Credit Card 3: -$5,597
• Credit Card 4: -$11,000
• Credit Card 5: (paid in full)
• Credit Card 6: -$900 So close!
• Credit Card 7: (paid in full)

Savings

• Emergency Fund: +$2,010 – Sorted!
• Car Fund (Maintenance & Registration): +$252
• Short Term Goal Fund: +$1,004 (Current goal is new bedroom furniture)
• Home Deposit Fund ($60,000 Goal): +$1,004
• UK Tour Fund ($10,000 Goal): +$502
  

Total: -$54,434
Debt reduced from last month: +$3,646 – check it out!
Debt reduced from Sep 2007: +$2,338 – YAY!

Now you may not have noticed but there’s a dramatic change to my numbers this month, in more ways than one. Who doesn't love an annual bonus?

First, I'm back under $56,772 (the amount of debt I had when I started this blog). Woohoo!

Second, and more importantly (to me anyway), I’m no longer reporting my debt total by including my Emergency, Car and Short Term goal amounts in the final number, and it’s still less than when I started, plus there’s money in the bank! If I did run the numbers using the old way, the numbers would look even better still, but wouldn't be clearly outlining my situation.

I have $4,772 in available cash should I need it, but it’s all allocated for a purpose (other than the emergency fund of course), so I don’t think it will be going anywhere other than where it’s supposed to.

I’m really re-energised about improving my finances after making such a dent this month, my next target is that pesky $900 on Credit Card 6, I want it gone by August 1. I did waver about making a double payment on my personal loan this month, but it’s got the highest interest rate so felt it was worth waiting the extra month to pay off Credit Card 6.

Roll on payday – and my payrise!

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The Ugly Truth – Day 276

The Ugly Truth

• Personal Loan: -$22,750
• Credit Card 1: -$7,000
• Credit Card 2: -$9134
• Credit Card 3: -$5,970
• Credit Card 4: -$11,351
• Credit Card 5: (paid in full)
• Credit Card 6: -$3,860
• Credit Card 7: (paid in full)
• Emergency Fund: +$1,508
• Goal Fund: +$351
• Car Fund (Maintenance & Registration): +$126
  

Total: -$58,080
Debt reduced from last month: +721
Debt reduced from Sep 2007: -$1,308

May was an expensive month.

I had car registration, pink slip and green slip to pay, which came to just under $1000 – that included the two new front tyres required to get my pink slip, which wiped out my Car Fund and then some. I’m determined to prepare better for these expenses for next year so I’m adding $125 to the car fund each month to cover those expenses next year, plus servicing and my NRMA membership as required. I just want to have the cash on hand as the expenses come in throughout the year.

I've also added a Goal Fund to have money to buy those bigger ticket items as they come in, I really need a new bed for example, so that has to be saved up for, not charged to a card.

Still knocked a smidge over $700 off the total of my debts though, the seemingly ever increasing interest rates on my cards are killing me! Looks like my prediction of being back under my original debt of $56,772 by June was accurate though.

Roll on payday.

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The Ugly Truth – Day 244

The Ugly Truth

• Personal Loan: -$23,200
• Credit Card 1: -$7,242
• Credit Card 2: -$8,895 (what the!)
• Credit Card 3: -$5,999
• Credit Card 4: -$11,242
• Credit Card 5: (paid in full)
• Credit Card 6: -$3,923
• Credit Card 7: (paid in full)
• Emergency Fund: +$1,200
• Car Fund (Maintenance & Registration): +$500

Total: -$58,801
Debt reduced from last month: +405
Debt reduced from Sep 2007: -$2,029

April was another up and down month. A couple of unexpected major expenses that I put on a card blew out my otherwise good progress.

It turns out the moving company hadn't charged me, so that was $450 I wasn't expecting, and then my ancient vacuum cleaner blew up the week before my rental inspection, so I decided to invest in a decent one that will last me a while and was on special for $449. I just couldn't bear to use my emergency fund now I’d got it back to over $1000, and even added $200 to it this month.

Mistake?

I'm under $59,000 at least which I'm happy about, so still some downwards activity overall.

I've got rego, pink slip and green slip to pay this month, so it’s going to be a stretch but I think I’ll be OK.

Roll on payday.

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The Ugly Truth - Day 214

The Ugly Truth

• Personal Loan: -$23,560
• Credit Card 1: -$7,421
• Credit Card 2: -$7,842
• Credit Card 3: -$6,311
• Credit Card 4: -$11,310
• Credit Card 5: (paid in full)
• Credit Card 6: -$4,068
• Credit Card 7: (paid in full)
• Emergency Fund: +$1,006
• Car Fund (Maintenance & Registration): +$300

Total: -$59,206
Debt reduced from last month: +$798
Debt reduced from Sep 2007: -$2,434

March was a bit of an up and down month. No big cheques to speed things along unfortunately, but downward progress is still being made. At least I'm now back under $60,000 which I'm really happy about.

Now to get my debts back under my starting debt figure of $56,772. I expect to have it back to that amount no later than June 2008.

I've got my Emergency Fund back up to $1,000 after using it for car repairs earlier this year, which is great news. I'm going to continue building it to $2,000 as I feel more comfortable with that amount set aside.

I've even got another $300 set aside for registration and my pink slip that are coming up in May.

I've increased my pre-tax personal superannuation (retirement) contributions to 3% and increased the ongoing monthly payment on my loan to $700, as it’s now the highest interest debt I have, and the interest rate increased yet again last week, unbelievable!

Roll on payday.

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The Ugly Truth – Day 186

The Ugly Truth

• Personal Loan - $23910
• Credit Card 1 - $7444
• Credit Card 2 - $7333
• Credit Card 3 - $6288
• Credit Card 4 - $11382
• Credit Card 5 - (paid in full)
• Credit Card 6 - $4148
• Credit Card 7 – paid in full!
• Emergency Fund - $501

Total = $60,004
Debt reduced from last month = $1832
Debt reduced from Sep 2007 = $3232

I can’t believe I've been at this for 6 months now. It’s gone so quickly, but I've also learnt so much.

February turned out much better than the last two months, as I've settled into a routine at my new place, work got busy (but fun and challenging) and some money rolled in!

I got a nice stack of dividend cheques, which helped right at the end of February, plus I also finally got my bond money back from my old place, which will cover upcoming car expenses over the next few months.

The best news is I paid off Credit Card number 7 last month. Other than that, it doesn't feel like I've made any progress when I look at the numbers; as I’m still over $3000 worse off than when I started! Erk.

I can’t believe I was only $5 dollars off dropping back below $60,000. I know I could have just paid the extra $5 before I posted this and made a big deal of the drop, but if I can’t be honest with myself, I’m not changing any habits. It's also a really easy win for March!

I feel really different about my money now, and I'm very aware of how conscious I am about my spending and debt reducing habits these days. I think it bodes well for the future, my future in particular.

That has to count for something doesn't it?

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The Ugly Truth – Day 95

The Ugly Truth

• Personal Loan - $24187
• Credit Card 1 - $7125
• Credit Card 2 - $7293
• Credit Card 3 - $6318
• Credit Card 4 - $12033
• Credit Card 5 - (paid in full)
• Credit Card 6 - $3998
• Credit Card 7 - $882
• Emergency Fund - $0
• Savings - $0

Total = $61,836
Debt reduced from last month = -$5969
Debt reduced from Sep 2007 = -$5064

I’m really feeling two steps forward, three steps back at the moment.

December and January were incredibly costly with the moving costs topping out at over $5000 once I factored in bond/rent (I essentially paid 12 weeks rent in January and the rent on my old place); plus the car repairs at $730 destroying my fledgling emergency fund and debt snowball for January. Credit card #4 was also a bit of a shock to be honest, I didn't think I'd used it as much as I obviously have. Ouch

I haven’t got my bond back as yet from my old place, which doesn’t help my numbers of course, I’m expecting it in the next two weeks which will make a decent impact for next month.

February has been decreed ‘Frugal February’ for me, I’m determined to get my numbers down as much as possible. I really want to get Card #7 cleared, the interest rate is 18.75%. I wasn’t able to get its entire balance transferred over to Card #1 as they can only transfer up to 95%.

Roll on payday.

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Taking Advantage Of 0% Interest To Get A Jump On 2008

I decided to consolidate two of my credit cards (1 and 7 on my ugly truth list) into one today to take advantage of a reduced ongoing interest rate on card 1 (down 2% to 9.95%) and 0% for 6 months (then 9.95% ongoing) for card 7 (currently 18.75%) once they’re both together.

The new balance will be just under $7500 combined and will mean I only have 5 open credit cards instead of the original 7 I started with in September.

Card 7 is currently my focus card that also receives any snowball payments, which I’ll now combine with the fixed minimum payment I've been paying on card 1 ongoing. This should help speed the repayments along when combined with the lower ongoing interest rate and the interest free period on the balance transfer, which will get paid off first.

Card 1 would have been the next card on my snowball plan anyway, so it makes sense to me to take advantage of this offer.

The other interesting thing I found out was that as long as there’s a 0% offer running on the new card and I have enough available credit on it, I can transfer future balances onto it without having to set up a new account, and start another 6 months at 0% on that new balance. Something to ponder once I've got this first lot paid off!

My stretch goal is to have the entire $7500 paid off by the end of May 2008.

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The Ugly Truth – Day 95

The Ugly Truth

• Personal Loan - $23123
• Credit Card 1 - $4950
• Credit Card2 - $7499
• Credit Card 3 - $6398
• Credit Card 4 - $7429 (work expenses to be reimbursed off this one this week)
• Credit Card 5 - (paid in full)
• Credit Card 6 - $3925
• Credit Card 7 - $2993
• Emergency Fund - $450
• Savings - $0

Total = $55,867
Debt reduced from last month = $1090
Debt reduced from Sep 2007 = $905

November undid the mess of October, but finding out I have to move before the end of January 2008 meant less to snowball onto debts as I’ll need it for moving costs. I’m still in front though at the moment, which is great news.

I switch to monthly pay from December 1, so this will be a true test of my budgeting powers, especially with double rent to be paid for at least some time when I find a new place.

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The Ugly Truth – Day 62

The Ugly Truth

• Personal Loan - $23622
• Credit Card 1 - $4993
• Credit Card2 - $7685
• Credit Card 3 - $6496
• Credit Card 4 - $7094
• Credit Card 5 - (paid in full)
• Credit Card 6 - $4024
• Credit Card 7 - $3043
• Emergency Fund - $0
• Savings - $0
  

Total = $56,957
Debt reduced from last month = $1023 going backwards…
Debt reduced from Sep 2007 = $185 higher than when I started

As expected, October was a complete shocker. I’m actually in more debt than when I kicked things off in September.

I’m looking forward to this month being a lot more productive and making some decent impact on my debts, with serious snowballing to be done. I have two weeks worth of rent to add first thing tomorrow, plus I've got expense claims coming through as well.

I’m confident this won’t happen again. I won’t let it.

The Ugly Truth - Day 31

The Ugly Truth

• Personal Loan - $23,868
• Credit Card 1 - $4934
• Credit Card2 - $7268
• Credit Card 3 - $5461
• Credit Card 4 - $7120
• Credit Card 5 - $0 (paid off in full!)
• Credit Card 6 - $4113 (oops, went up $113)
• Credit Card 7 - $3170 (oops, went up $170)
• Emergency Fund - $0
• Savings - $0
  

Total = $55,934
Debt reduced from last month = $788
Debt reduced from Sep 2007 = $788

I didn't actually use my cards this month, they were charges from August that came across after the 1st September, so it was a surprise, but not something I'd done this month.

Big Win Number 1

I have to say I’m pretty chuffed with myself. I paid off my first credit card today, woohoo

Credit Card 5 - $0 Paid in Full 21/09/2007

It was both my lowest balance and my highest interest rate, so regardless which snowball method you follow it’s all good. It was even one of those pesky store cards.

So the $345 that I was paying every two weeks on that one will now roll onto the next focus card, Credit Card 7.

Day 1 - The ugly truth, and a plan

It's really struck me lately just how much debt I've managed to acquire over the last few years.

The Ugly Truth

• Personal Loan - $24,105
• Credit Card 1 - $4947
• Credit Card2 - $7317
• Credit Card 3 - $5499
• Credit Card 4 - $7177
• Credit Card 5 - $677
• Credit Card 6 - $4000
• Credit Card 7 - $3000
• Emergency Fund - $0
• Savings - $0

Total = $56,722

Yes 7, count them 7 credit cards! What was I thinking? No wonder I'm 38, in a well paying job and don't have a home of my own. As today is the first day of Spring here in Australia, what better time to 'spring clean' my finances, and put that debt on a diet once and for all.

The Plan

• I'm running with the snowball method of paying off my debts, from smallest balance to highest, as I know myself well enough to realise I need the gratification. I've managed to find an extra $700+ in the budget for the snowball per month, by actually creating a budget!
• I'm keeping the current minimum balances fixed at this month's amount on the debts ongoing, maintaining those payments even as balances go down.
• I've set up automatic payments to come out each pay day on each of the debts.
• I've taken the cards out of my wallet
• I've set up $100 a pay transfer to start building my emergency fund.

Based on the snowball calculator I used, I should have eliminated 6 of the 7 credit cards by my 40th birthday in May 2009, and completely debt free by May 2010.

Now, to work the plan in reality.