The target is set on my ECSI Loan

Spending for the day
Rite Aid-Energy Drinks (4) -$8.95

Before you say anything I know that energy drinks are bad for me and I should have planned it better to have bought them at the Commissary at a lower rate...but I was desperate this morning. Anyway I really am trying to do better when it comes to this whole frugal/save money thing. For dinner today I made some turkey and cheese sandwiches. I have the bad habit of not using all of my lunch meat or bread before it goes bad or I just toss it. See everyone, I really am trying. :) I also decided that I am the type of person that needs to see results. As much as I know that it is smarter to pay off debts with the highest interest first I need the mental satisfaction of seeing a loan wiped out completely to motivate me. My plan is to go after my Perkins ECSI loan. The original loan amount was $1,800.00 with a 5% interest rate. It went into repayment only a couple months ago. The current balance of the loan is $1468.63. If I can snowball payments towards this loan I can get it paid off in 3-4 months. That would free up the money to focus more on my credit card. Yes, my credit card has the highest interest but I think that I need something to jump start me and push me in the right direction. I'll let you all know how it goes. I just need to focus and do this for me. I know that the debt didn't get here over night- thank you 4 years of college lol- but I can get it to go away faster than the "suggested amount of time" The nice thing about loans though-is that besides the couple extra dollars in interest you can't charge anything to them and so the balance will only continue to go down. I have money in my account to make a payment right now towards this loan but I am going to be smart and wait until pay day. I still like having the financial security in my checking/savings account.

Current Account Balance

Debt

Principal

Payoff

Fixed

Current

Interest

Months

Last Payment

Last Check

Defer/ Post

Campus

Fund

Amount

Balance

Paid

Amount

Payment

Due

Rate

Delinquent

Date

Amount

Number

Date

Type

40

PER24A

$1,800.00

$1,468.43

$331.57

$1,468.43

$40.00

$0.00

5.000 %

0

6/18/2012

$100.00

Echeck

Totals:

$1,800.00

$1,468.43

$331.57

$1,468.43

$40.00

$0.00

It's a start...

I went grocery shopping on Sunday but I didn't go overboard. Nine times out of ten I don't go shopping for a long time, out of pure laziness, and then I overfill my cart with food. I'm the only one eating the food obviously so I don't eat everything before it goes bad. I'm making it my goal to eat what I have before buying more food. Well...obviously within reason. I'm not going to wait to go to the store until I have absolutely nothing in the fridge or cabinets. lol.
Taking my credit card out of my wallet has been the best move that I have made to date. I really have to think about the things I buy and if I really need it. I made a $438.75 payment to my Discover Card today.  This will bring the card down to 3,500. In the past I would make large payments to my card and by the end of the next month I would be right back where I started. If I can't use my card I can't add any additional charges to it. You would think that I would have figured that out sooner. I graduated college with honors and I have an Honors Paralegal Certificate...you would think that I'd realize that you can't use something if you don't have it with you. I guess it was a mental barrier or something. Anyways, I am excited that I made a big payment-I just need to keep getting it lower and lower.

My husband only has 538 left on his card. I am really tempted to pay the rest of it off this month in order to have one less bill to pay. We could definitely do it. I'll have to ask him and see what he thinks. I got a comment saying that I should tell my husband about how high my credit card debt is and I agree with her. Thanks for the comment by the way! :) However, I won't say anything until he gets back. The thing about deployments is-when something bad happens-you don't tell the person. When you are worried about something-you don't tell the person. Soldiers need to focus solely on their mission and keep their head in the game during deployment. You don't want to say anything that will distract them and put them in danger. It's just how it is. Ask any military spouse and they will tell you the same thing. Hopefully by the time he gets home in a couple more months from now I will have made some extra progress on my card. Ok well I need to get the laundry into the dryer and get ready to work out tonight. Hope everyone else is having a good Tuesday. How are you doing with your goals and getting your debt paid off?

I feel like I'm living a lie.

Well it has been almost 5 months since my husband has been gone. Time flies I suppose. Jointly our financial situation is fantastic. We have saved a TON of money for the wedding that we are having when he returns from deployment. On an individual level-it's another story. Some background-we have a joint account and all of the money that he makes goes into it. I basically have just been using it to pay all of the bills we get monthly and usually groceries as well, although I am horrible with actually going to the store-so I usually only go once a month or so and do a big stock up on groceries. I have a bank account with a different bank and right now I'm the only authorized user on it, although I would have no qualms with adding him onto it. My paychecks from work go in there. I use that money to pay my student loans, credit card bill, and any needs/ wants/ and going out with friends during the month. I have a hard time with spending my husband's money because 1) it is only benefiting me and 2) we are saving up for the wedding. Also, I have been footing the bill on a lot of expenses like care packages and items that my husband needs/wants over there. I also got put in charge of his FRG and we don't have a treasurer so guess who has been footing the bill on everything for the organization. I have probably already spent over 300-400 dollars on the group. Don't worry I'm keeping the receipts to hopefully get reimbursed. Anyway, long story short-I have racked up my credit card debt to a lot higher than what it was when my husband left. As our finances are still kind of separate he has never asked to see my credit card bill as I am the one that pays it. At one point last year I had it down to 700 dollars and then Christmas came, and then the care packages started, etc. etc. etc. But I'm not here to make excuses. I have almost 4,000.00 on my card but yet I was having trouble with stopping the spending. I do know that I have been shopping more (consignment or not) it is still shopping and it is still spending money that I could be putting towards paying off my credit card. So I decided to take the first step by taking my credit card out of my wallet. I am banning myself from using my card. Hopefully I will have the self control that it takes.

Hopefully this is a step in the right direction. I have to realize that as a military wife we can be told that our husband has to pick up and move at any moment. That means losing my job and having to look for another. Meanwhile the student loans would still need to be paid as well as my credit card. I don't know how I would be able to allow my husband to pay those bills for me. If anything I want to have more money in savings to be safe. My husband has 500 of debt to his name. I have over 50,000 with my student loans and my 4,000 in credit card debt. I need my ass kicked into getting into financial shape.