A new credit card goal...

[Laney]

I'm super motivated to get rid of our credit card and I am finding myself frustrated by the size of our snowball (it is what it is). We can't do much about the size of our snowball on a monthly basis everything that can go towards debt is but I want to challenge myself to find as much extra as I possibly can to put on our smallest debt.

I'd like to decrease our smallest debt by $1600 by August 5th. Clearing $1600 takes 5 months off that CC and 4 months off our total debt free date.

Here I go $1600 by August 5th.

[JDPudge]

:cheer: :cheer:

Go Laney, Go!

[Laney]

I made an extra $100 payment this afternoon. :clap:

So now I have $1500 to my goal.


I need to check and see if the CC has any rules about how many payments (online - I'm thinking may be limited) they'll take in a month. I'm also working on ways to bring in "extra" to attack it with.
- I'm planning to apply my paychecks to the debt (we've used it to build our $1000 Emer Fund and now that it is in place I can redirect them).
- I'm going to start getting some stuff listed on Ebay and try to bring some in that way.

[Saralynn]

Whoohooo! You're going to do it, Nancy!

You inspire me. :)

[Laney]

Whoohooo! You're going to do it, Nancy!

You inspire me. :)

I'm just ready to be done with all this mess. I've played with it long enough.

[love3c]

That's great!!!

[Laney]

The statement closed so my official change since starting the challenge is down $103.11.

I made a small payment this morning from some clothes sold, I'll make a payment from my paycheck Tues & I'll make the month's regular payment on the 12th.

I also have some clothes listed on Ebay now and as soon as they sell I'll make a payment for that too.

Goal $1600 Gone

$1496.89 left to go

[love3c]

:woohoo:

[Laney]

Made another extra payment today. $140 from birthday, anniversary money & $50 leftover from the A/C withdrawal (just put it on debt instead of back in our down payment fund).

I'll do another payment before the end of the week (my paycheck & some ebay sales). Our snowball payment will be made on the 16th (that is where it falls in the budget).

Goal $1600 Gone

$1352.36 left to go

[love3c]

Keep working it, Laney! :cheer:

[Laney]

Scheduled the payment for my paycheck & ebay sales. :clap:

Goal $1600 Gone

$1177.36 to go

[love3c]

Scheduled the payment for my paycheck & ebay sales. :clap:

Goal $1600 Gone

$1177.36 to go

You are doing great. Does it feel good or does it feel too slow for you??

[JDPudge]

WOW!! You are getting SO close to getting it under $1,000! That's a HUGE milestone!

WTG!

[Laney]

You are doing great. Does it feel good or does it feel too slow for you??

It feels too slow but I am trying to remind myself that I am doing a good job of pulling together money that for whatever reason wouldn't have gone towards paying it down. I definately do better when I set a specific goal and then make myself be accountable to someone. I figured that out when we did the 9 week challenge last year.

Y'all get to be my accountabity partners because we don't really talk about our debt struggles with "real" people. :lol:

[Laney]

WOW!! You are getting SO close to getting it under $1,000! That's a HUGE milestone!

WTG!

I know I got excited when I did the math. I went to my bedroom to count change and listed some more stuff on Ebay. It definately motivates me to go try to scrape together more to put down on it.

[Laney]

In the interest of full disclosure & accountability, my trip with my friend was booked on this credit card. I'll pay it off in 2 payments (my part next week - CC requires 3 days between online payments and I already have an extra scheduled payment for Sat & her part when she sends her check).

I won't be counting the payments to pay for the trip as part of the $1600 gone. It is just our preference to cover internet bookings by CC and then pay it off with the saved for the trip.

[Laney]

I sold some gold today. It ended up being enough to cover my portion of the trip. :clap:
I think I can schedule another payment on the CC for Wed.

So far I've found that this card limits payments to 1 payment every 3 days but I haven't found out yet if they accept a limited # of payments in a month. Discover card will only take 4 online payments a month (this is a different card).

[JDPudge]

:cheer: :cheer:

[StillJulie]

way to go!

[love3c]

I sold some gold today. It ended up being enough to cover my portion of the trip. :clap:
I think I can schedule another payment on the CC for Wed.

So far I've found that this card limits payments to 1 payment every 3 days but I haven't found out yet if they accept a limited # of payments in a month. Discover card will only take 4 online payments a month (this is a different card).

That's great!!!

[Laney]

I got 16 things listed on Ebay this morning, took some stuff to a consignment shop yesterday and I have more stuff sorted to go (probably on Tuesday) all money will be slower coming in but hopefully it will come in and all of it will go on the CC.

[Laney]

I made our regular payment. I'm waiting to schedule a payment for some stuff sold on ebay. I'll get the money for my friend's half of the condo & my paycheck this week so once I get back and get all the numbers together I should be well under where I was when I put the condo for the "friend getaway" on the card. :clap:

[mdebbie]

:cheer:

you're getting so close!

[khbmom]

:clap: Yay! You really encourage me with these posts! We're working on paying off debt, too.

[love3c]

doing great. Laney!!

[Laney]

I made the payment today for a little more than the last half of the payment for the condo (my friend gave me her half of the money at the beach). AND finally we are down again.

Today is actual feeling like a huge progress day. Between the extra payment I made on this credit card and our regular monthly payment on another card we went below a big milestone number in total debt. The extra payment on this credit card that I am focusing on also put it into a new set of numbers. :clap:

I forgot how to do percentages again so if someone wants to give me another tutorial I'll run the percentages again but I'm pretty sure we have hit or gone over the 40% gone mark.

$1600 Gone Goal

$962.42 to go

I can't put my next paychecks towards the goal because I forgot about tags coming up in July. I'll put 2 checks towards the tags so we don't use savings for them.

[Laney]

I forgot that I had some Ebay money in paypal so I'll get that transferred over and get a payment made with that money too. :clap:

[StillJulie]

:cheer:

[love3c]

great job!!

You are right at 40% (39.84 or something like that)

[Laney]

great job!!

You are right at 40% (39.84 or something like that)

I think we are at 40% on total debt gone too. :clap:

[Janet]

That is great!

[Laney]

I got a $50 payment scheduled for the ebay sales. I also listed another 9 auctions so hopefully that will bring in more money to put down on the card.

As soon as I meet this goal I'm going to set another ridiculously optimistic goal.

[Nannynise]

You are doing great.

Denise

[JDPudge]

:cheer: :cheer:

[Laney]

I made another small payment of $25 from some ebay sales today.

$1600 Gone Goal

$899.89 to go

Almost halfway to my goal with about 5 weeks left. I'll need to avg. $180 a week to meet the goal so I need to buckle down.

[love3c]

I made another small payment of $25 from some ebay sales today.

$1600 Gone Goal

$899.89 to go

Almost halfway to my goal with about 5 weeks left. I'll need to avg. $180 a week to meet the goal so I need to buckle down.

That's a huge goal!! Prayers that the Lord really blesses your effort!!

[JDPudge]

ALMOST 2/3 GONE!!!

:cheer: :cheer: :cheer: :cheer:

[Laney]

I got a shop at home rebate so I made a small payment on the CC for that. Might seem silly to some to make several small payments ($20-$40) but I've tried allowing small amounts to just build up and make one larger payment but the money ends up getting "lost" or becoming extra money that we can spend. Its working now to make a deposit of "extra" money and then scheduling a smaller payment.

$30 payment from Shop At Home

$1600 Gone Goal

$869.89 to go

Ofcourse under the recent setback :rollingeyes: catergory dh told me (after he drove the van for several days in afternoon thunderstorms) that we could no longer put off buying tires for van. He found a good deal and is having them put on this morning. I'm going to just try to "cash flow" them but I haven't looked at his paycheck vs. the bills yet for this week so its likely to come from savings or atleast some portion from savings. Then savings will have to be built back up so that will limit the extra that I can pay down. July isn't usually such a bad month. I'll just focus on the positives because I think this might be the first time we've ever paid for tires in cash!

[Laney]

Dh got a check from WC for the recent thumb infection (covers mileage to & from the from dr 3 times & an antiB we paid for) so I used it to make an extra paymenton the CC & I also scheduled our regular payment for the month. I'm not doing as good a job building savings back up but I'm hoping that I can fix that with overtime on dh's check this week & my paycheck. We were able to pay for the tires on the van and only needed to use about $50 from savings for that.

$1600 Gone Goal

$464.89 to go

$464.89 until I hit my goal. I have not quite 4 full weeks left. I did bring the average that I need to pay a week down to $117.

[StillJulie]

Doing great!

[JDPudge]

WOW!!! WOW!!!

Laney, I'm so impressed!!

You are nearly 3/4 done with your GOAL!!

:cheer: :cheer: :cheer:

:praise:

[mdebbie]

WOWWWWWW!!!

Laney I am totally impressed. You are almost there.

:cheer:

You can do it, just keep swimming, just keep swimming :wink:

[Laney]

I've actually been a little surprised at the progress. When I set the goal I did set it to be a higher than I thought I could hit. Being almost there with a little less than a month left is very encouraging!!

With the emotional boost that this goal has been I am already thinking ahead to my next optimistic goal. :clap: I'll definately keep up with my next goal here too. The accountability has been good.

[iglow81]

Your doing great!! I am hoping to clear about $2300 by the end of the month, but we have some more car repairs to get through before I can do that. Hopefully they aren't too expensive.

I'm excited about your progress! Keep up the good work!

[Laney]

Just making a couple of notes for myself while I decide on the next goal. It'll run from Aug 5 to Oct 31 - 12 weeks (and a couple of days). My current goal will last based on the dates I set just short of 11 weeks.

[love3c]

Just making a couple of notes for myself while I decide on the next goal. It'll run from Aug 5 to Oct 31 - 12 weeks (and a couple of days). My current goal will last based on the dates I set just short of 11 weeks.

Love it!!

So proud of how hard y'all are working on this! You have done a great job.

[Laney]

Made another $50 payment on the CC. We are still trying to save to finish up for vacation & make sure the money for tags is there so I haven't been able to pay as much as I wanted to but dh's check had a little extra and wanted something extra to go on the CC so I made an extra $50.

$1600 Gone by Aug 5th

$414.89 to Go

[MaeinTX]

:cheer:

[Laney]

I was trying to post this as a praise but I keep getting a forbidden message when I try so I'll just add it here.

My hours at work have been increased from 10 a week to 15 a week. We've been using my checks from work to pay down on our debt so the extra hours will give us another good boost!

[JDPudge]

:praise:

:cheer: :cheer:

[Laney]

I made a small payment but most of it was eaten up when the month closed and the interest charges were added but down is down.

$1600 Gone by Aug 5th

$406.67 to Go

I've got 8 days left to make my goal. $400 is a lot of extra to come up with in 8 days but I'm looking maybe I can make it happen. I'm hoping to get some ebay auctions going in the next couple of days.

[love3c]

I made a small payment but most of it was eaten up when the month closed and the interest charges were added but down is down.

$1600 Gone by Aug 5th

$406.67 to Go

I've got 8 days left to make my goal. $400 is a lot of extra to come up with in 8 days but I'm looking maybe I can make it happen. I'm hoping to get some ebay auctions going in the next couple of days.

You are doing great with this!! :cheer:

[JDPudge]

:cheer: :cheer: :cheer:

You are 75% towards your goal!!!

[Laney]

We got an expense check in the mail today (to cover expenses for a Conference next weekend) and it was a little more than I expected it to be. I'm hoping that I'll be able to apply about half of the check to this CC (the other half is to pay for the 2 nights in the hotel - the check is specifically for the cost of 2 nights in the hotel, 10 meals & mileage to & from).

So I'll hopefully make a payment with some of that money once I determine what we can get away with spending out of our regular budget on the conference trip (gas will probably come out of the regular budget and meals too).

[Laney]

I figured out how to deal with the expense check today (took the amount to pay for the hotel and scheduled a payment to the CC we'll for the room) and took the money allotted for gas & food (we'll take care of food & gas from our regular budget) and used it to schedule a payment to the CC.

$1600 Gone by Aug 5th

$180.17 to Go

I am actually $158.69 from the number I really wanted to hit but then my goal would have had to be $1578.52 and that was too much of an off the wall number for a goal number so I rounded up. :lol: I'm running out of time to hit the goal by Aug 5 but I'll keep going until I hit it shouldn't take long but I'm ready to start counting down on my next goal and its a little more ambitious.

[love3c]

I figured out how to deal with the expense check today (took the amount to pay for the hotel and scheduled a payment to the CC we'll for the room) and took the money allotted for gas & food (we'll take care of food & gas from our regular budget) and used it to schedule a payment to the CC.

$1600 Gone by Aug 5th

$180.17 to Go

I am actually $158.69 from the number I really wanted to hit but then my goal would have had to be $1578.52 and that was too much of an off the wall number for a goal number so I rounded up. :lol: I'm running out of time to hit the goal by Aug 5 but I'll keep going until I hit it shouldn't take long but I'm ready to start counting down on my next goal and its a little more ambitious.


I hope you and your dh are just amazed at how the Lord is making this all happen through your dedication and stewardship. I'm know I'm in awe of the three of you!!! :clap:

[Laney]

I hope you and your dh are just amazed at how the Lord is making this all happen through your dedication and stewardship. I'm know I'm in awe of the three of you!!! :clap:

God told you to post that didn't He? :wink: I had actually gotten a little discouraged today because I felt like we were making huge progress and I looked at some of my month to month numbers and it didn't look we had made "enough" progress there. And then you posted that....

It made me go back and look at the progress we've made and truly without God's blessing this the progress wouldn't have even been possible. The last three months we have paid between 48% - 53% of dh's take home pay every month towards debt reduction and we also put tires on the van, paid for our car tags, paid our life ins. & paid for our vacation. I have struggled some with discouragment over the size of the "shovel" we have to dig out of our hole with but this whole challenge of mine has served the purpose to truly remind me that really it doesn't matter how much money we have to work with if we are being faithful to what God has told us to do He'll make it work.

[love3c]

God told you to post that didn't He? :wink: I had actually gotten a little discouraged today because I felt like we were making huge progress and I looked at some of my month to month numbers and it didn't look we had made "enough" progress there. And then you posted that....

It made me go back and look at the progress we've made and truly without God's blessing this the progress wouldn't have even been possible. The last three months we have paid between 48% - 53% of dh's take home pay every month towards debt reduction and we also put tires on the van, paid for our car tags, paid our life ins. & paid for our vacation. I have struggled some with discouragment over the size of the "shovel" we have to dig out of our hole with but this whole challenge of mine has served the purpose to truly remind me that really it doesn't matter how much money we have to work with if we are being faithful to what God has told us to do He'll make it work.

:hug:

[Laney]

Tomorrow is the end date of my little challenge but I am going to keep going until I hit the $1600 mark. I won't hit the goal tomorrow . I thought about just pulling the money out of savings to hit the goal but that would just put us behind in the coming months when car ins & house ins come up. I am hopeful that I'll hit the goal next week once ebay auctions end (all the min bids together = a little more than I need to hit the - totally a coincidence too).

So I heaven't hit my goal and I won't by tomorrow but I'm hoping I'll hit it by next week. I'm ready to reveal my next goal and start working on it. I still need to decide on an end date for the next goal I'm afraid that the obvious end for the next goal won't be as much of a challenge as I'd like. (We seem to do better when the goal is a little unrealistic because it forces us to be more focused and work harder and it feels like God blesses our efforts a little more towards this goal when we push the limits a little more to reach it.

So $1600 Goal and I am at $1419.83.

[love3c]

Tomorrow is the end date of my little challenge but I am going to keep going until I hit the $1600 mark. I won't hit the goal tomorrow . I thought about just pulling the money out of savings to hit the goal but that would just put us behind in the coming months when car ins & house ins come up. I am hopeful that I'll hit the goal next week once ebay auctions end (all the min bids together = a little more than I need to hit the - totally a coincidence too).

So I heaven't hit my goal and I won't by tomorrow but I'm hoping I'll hit it by next week. I'm ready to reveal my next goal and start working on it. I still need to decide on an end date for the next goal I'm afraid that the obvious end for the next goal won't be as much of a challenge as I'd like. (We seem to do better when the goal is a little unrealistic because it forces us to be more focused and work harder and it feels like God blesses our efforts a little more towards this goal when we push the limits a little more to reach it.

So $1600 Goal and I am at $1419.83.


Great job!!

I can't wait to hear of you next goal.

[JDPudge]

WOW!!! That's nearly 90% in what I think was an INCREDIBLE goal in the first place!!! You have done an AWESOME JOB!!

:cheer: :cheer:

[Laney]

I guess you have all noticed that its been 2 weeks since I've made any progress. We have just been at a standstill. Back to school stuff, soccer registration, dh had a shirt work week so there has been no extra at all. In fact it has felt like we have had 5x as much going out as we have coming in. :thud: Today is our regular bill day (we were only able to what had to be done last week because dh's check was for half of his normal check) so as soon as I get the bills done I'll hit my goal only a couple of weeks late.

I'll reveal my next goal (but I'll admit after looking at the coming months I am not as hopeful as I was a few weeks ago- I'm just feeling a little beat and discouraged) as soon as I can post that this one is complete. I'll probably just keep it going on the same thread.

[Laney]

And DONE


$1600 Gone by Aug 5th

$1655.61 Gone as of this afternoon

I hit my goal not by the date I'd set but I hit it anyway and that is what I am focusing on.

:party: :party: :party:

[love3c]

And DONE


$1600 Gone by Aug 5th

$1655.61 Gone as of this afternoon

I hit my goal not by the date I'd set but I hit it anyway and that is what I am focusing on.

:party: :party: :party:

Yay!!!!

:thewave: :woohoo:

[thebeckery]

Great job, Laney!

[Laney]

The last goal took right at 3 months and we paid off a little over $1600 in that time so I decided to stick with 3 months but our new goal will require a harder push.

The new goal will be to completely pay off this card. Completely! I'll also be closing the account once its paid off (we aren't anti credit card and we aren't shooting for a 0 credit score but this is one of our newer accounts and doesn't have any great benefits that our older accounts don't have so this one will be gone) so when I complete this goal I'll even post a picture of the shredded credit card for your viewing pleasure. :lol:

I'm starting officially today August 18th so I'll be shooting for Nov. 18th as the end date.

Transparency time (because now I have to tell you how much we owe on it even after paying off $1600 :blush:)

As of right now we owe $1922.90 and I plan to be completely rid of it by Nov 18th.

Same plan as the last goal. Find every extra penny and apply it to this debt. We'll have extra challenges because Sept & Oct are car, house & life insurance months. We also have some dental & pediatrician bills coming up.

Here we go!

$1922.90 by Nov 18th

[love3c]

The last goal took right at 3 months and we paid off a little over $1600 in that time so I decided to stick with 3 months but our new goal will require a harder push.

The new goal will be to completely pay off this card. Completely! I'll also be closing the account once its paid off (we aren't anti credit card and we aren't shooting for a 0 credit score but this is one of our newer accounts and doesn't have any great benefits that our older accounts don't have so this one will be gone) so when I complete this goal I'll even post a picture of the shredded credit card for your viewing pleasure. :lol:

I'm starting officially today August 18th so I'll be shooting for Nov. 18th as the end date.

Transparency time (because now I have to tell you how much we owe on it even after paying off $1600 :blush:)

As of right now we owe $1922.90 and I plan to be completely rid of it by Nov 18th.

Same plan as the last goal. Find every extra penny and apply it to this debt. We'll have extra challenges because Sept & Oct are car, house & life insurance months. We also have some dental & pediatrician bills coming up.

Here we go!

$1922.90 by Nov 18th

You'll do great!! Go-Laney Go!!!

:cheer:

[JDPudge]

Just keep looking forward to calling them and closing the card!!

Late fall is a tough time ALL around... especially with BTS expenses to be paid off AND Christ-mas coming up... but you know what... just look towards your goal!!

[Laney]

$1922.90 by Nov 18th

I went by the consignment shop today & some ebay money and came up with a $50 payment. I think the closing date for the month is tomorrow so the total will probably change when they add interest charges for the month but the closer I get to the goal the more those will go down. I'm also hoping with the closing date my rewards will update and I'll have enough for a $50 credit on the account.

New total $1872.90

[JDPudge]

:cheer: :cheer:

Good for you for paying them immediately. CC's accumulate interest daily... so every daily balance reduction reduces the interest accrual.

[love3c]

$1922.90 by Nov 18th

I went by the consignment shop today & some ebay money and came up with a $50 payment. I think the closing date for the month is tomorrow so the total will probably change when they add interest charges for the month but the closer I get to the goal the more those will go down. I'm also hoping with the closing date my rewards will update and I'll have enough for a $50 credit on the account.

New total $1872.90

That would be awesome for the extra $50!!

[mdebbie]

I know I am late chiming in but WTG Laney!!!!! And you can do it!!!!!!

:dance2: :clap: :cheer:

[Laney]

I guess you all noticed I stopped posting our progress and that would be because we stopped making any. :thud: Finally now 2 weeks from our goal date we are moving forward again.

$1922.90 by Nov 18th

New total $1637.07