My first focus ... FINANCES
My finances are out of control. I make a good salary but I have a lot of credit card debt. I owe over $35,000 in credit card debt, by myself. Hubs has his own debt.
Don't misunderstand. I haven't been doing everything wrong.
I put money away in a Christmas Club account each payday. My kid's birthday is at the beginning of December to I use the money for her birthday present, for her birthday party, to pay off her dance classes, for Christmas presents, and then for something for me. It's money I don't miss because I do it every payday. So far this year, with my Christmas Club money, I have paid off the kid's dance company fees, dance class, and, hopefully, her costume fees.
I max out my contribution to my 401K to the level my employer will match. This means that 6% of my salary is moved to 401K. At 49, I have $150,000 in my 401K which isn't much in the long term but, once my cards are paid off, I will start and IRA.
I take advantage of our Healthcare Flexible Savings Account (HFSA). This is different from a Health Savings Account (HSA) in that I don't need a high deductible medical plan. I use this for everything from co-pays to sunscreen. It keeps me from having to fork over cash for a doctor's appointment.
I have moved all of the automated payments that were going to my credit cards. They are now being paid out of my checking account so that is one less worry.
Now to the credit cards ...
Hubs and I separated checking accounts and credit cards 7 years ago. I still can't believe it's been that long. Hubs is a gambler. I am a shopper. They didn't mix very well. I blamed him for not having any money in the checking account. He blamed me for our credit card balances being so high. It was a rough go at first but it has worked out over time.
Well, I have worked on paying off my cards and then I started charging them up again and back and forth it went. Well, looking at the fact that my kid will be out of high school in 6 years and retirement is less than 20 years away, I realized I couldn't keep this up if I thought I would be able to retire at any point in my lifetime.
I have developed a plan for paying them off. At maximum, I will be paid off by the end of 2019. That is so much better than I expected. $1800 a month to pay them off.
I am horrible about getting the money out of my checking account. I don't spend it but I don't send it out either. To combat that character flaw, I have set up automatic payments from my checking account to send half of the monthly payment every paycheck. Since I get paid every other week, I will also be able to send an extra payment each year. It's not much but it's something. Plus, any additional money I can bring in will go straight to the cards.
I filed our taxes late this year after an extension. I am waiting on the federal refund to come in so I can pay off Credit Card #1, a department store card. That should be paid off this month.
The day after Thanksgiving, my employer gives us a bonus. It is usually around the amount of one paycheck. That will get turned around to pay off Credit Card #2. I expect Credit Card #2 to be paid off by Summer 2017.
The problem is that I have this plan and I know how long all of this will take and, yet, I can't stand that it is going to take as long. I have always paid off my loans a little bit early because I get tired of making that payment. Once I have a plan, I like to run full speed ahead and this is more like a really slow crawl. I update my Quicken files multiple times during the day in hopes of something miraculously showing up. It hasn't so far. Boo!
I am looking for any opportunities to make extra cash in hopes of paying my debt off sooner. I am trying to teach myself web and mobile programming languages so I can do freelance work. I have applied for a couple of legitimate work-from-home positions and hope that I am selected for one. I already work 40+ hours a week but Economics 101 says I need to either reduce spending or increase income. I am trying to do both.
This is the first change I am making in my life. There are more to come. Stay tuned.
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