Step one to getting rid of debt
July 17th, 2007 by LuLuGal
Getting on the road to being out of debt is not easy. It is a long and time consuming process but in the end it is well worth the effort. I started off the process of eliminating my debt by first making a list of all the credit debt I have. I also have automobile debt but since that is such a whopping amount and the interest is low (er than some of my credit cards) I decided not to include it my debt calculations. This does not mean that I am ignoring my loan, just that I am focusing on paying off the credit card debt more aggressively.
The thing I did was to get out all of my credit cards and list the amounts I owe on each of them. I also listed the interest rate that each card and next to that I posted the amount I was sending in each month as a payment on that card. I figured that by doing this I would get a visual of the debt burden on each card and I would be able to manage my cards better.
I created a spreadsheet that I edited every time I made a payment or (gasp!) charged something to the card. I was able to see the balances increase or decrease every time I did this and having the image made it seem more real to me. I also found a site with a debt repayment calculator that gives you an estimate of when you will be out of debt. It runs along a premise similar to the spreadsheet I created but it was using more complex methods of computation than I was. I was not pleased to see the date that the software gave as the expected date of my debt redemption.
Listing all of my credit card debt and making a picture I could readily see was an eye opener for me but it was still only the first step in my goal of getting rid of my debt. Come back soon for the next step in what I did to get rid of my debt.
By the way I am still working on getting rid of my debt….I am not out of debt yet…..soon I will be.
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Posted in Daily life, Finances |
July 20th, 2007 at 8:03 am
You go girl! Organization and visuals, most helpful!
July 20th, 2007 at 2:48 pm
I find visual aids extremely helpful as well. Good work and good luck!
July 25th, 2007 at 9:36 am
While the expected date for being debt free might not look good, just keep a slow steady progression. The tortoise beats the hare every time. Too bad it’s not near as quick to get out of debt as it is to get in
Mine looks overwhelming too, so you’re not alone. Wanna race?
July 25th, 2007 at 11:48 am
Hey having a race would be a bit more motivating but right now I am not working so this can’t happen. If I do get a job (fingers crossed for next week) then it’s ON!!!!
I did something similar with another blogger when I was posting my daily income and expenses….it was wild.
July 25th, 2007 at 2:01 pm
hehe, I was just kidding. Have enough stress in my life without throwing in a race.
August 5th, 2007 at 11:30 am
Good luck being debt free is the best way to save money
August 7th, 2007 at 8:48 am
Great First Step! can’t wait to read how the rest of them go! Listing your debts really helps in discovering how much you owe and seeing that list slowly get shorter and shorter is so satisfying! Best of luck with eliminating your debt!
August 9th, 2007 at 9:36 am
I am glad you liked the first step I took. The rest are coming up so you might want to check the postings again.
March 4th, 2008 at 6:32 am
Great First Step! can’t wait to read how the rest of them go!