I can't believe it, but it looks like I have hit another goal that I set in August. I had hoped to get the credit card debt to under $26k and after looking at this month's numbers, that goal has been achieved! I usually use the current month's statements (before any payments) for the monthly overview, but decided to factor in last week's extra payments this time. (I was too excited to see how that $1,000 payment would affect things!) Anyway, I was very pleased to see that goal achieved.

I don't have my most recent car loan info in front of me and my student loan #2 info is "temporarily unavailable" online, so I just kept the balances from last month. What does this mean? It means my total debt is, in actuality, even less that what appears below. Oh how nice that is!

Current Debt: September 2008

Student loan #1: $2,372

Student loan #2: $1,575

Bank of America #1: $10,281 (Paid $1,000 towards it last week!)

Bank of America #2: $10,084

0% Bank of America #3: $4,579

Chase #1: $269 (Paid off last week!)

Chase #2: $11 (Paid off this month!)

0% Citi: $2,020

Target: $445 (Paid off last week!)

Overdraft: $2,509 (Paid off last week!)

401K Loan 1: $862 (Pay off 07/31/2009)
401K Loan 2: $4,128 (Pay off 07/16/2011)

Car loan: $15,944


DEBT TOTALS

Credit cards & Overdraft: $25,964 after last week's payments!
Student Loans: $3,947
401K Loans: $4,990
Car Loan: $15,944

THE BIG DEBT TOTAL: $50,828

Well, this is how we've used our bonus so far...

1. Paid off our overdraft - $2500 (we can now check off that goal!)
2. Paid off Chase - $269
3. Paid off Target - $242
4. Extra payment to Bank of America 1 - $1000
5. Charitable contribution

Out of our paycheck we made the following payments...

1. Citicard - $40 (minimum + $10)
2. Bank of America #3 - $65 (0%, minimum + $20)

I still have a cushion in the budget of about $500 which I'll put towards credit cards and savings if it's still available at the end of the pay period. We have a few car issues to find out about before I use it for debt payments, I really don't want to overdraft again.

Today is a happy day!

Well, my husband's paycheck was direct deposited into our bank account today and it didn't contain his new raise. I'm disappointed; we thought it would start this pay period, but I guess we'll have to wait two more weeks. It would have been nice to have it start today since my mom is coming to visit tomorrow and I'm having baby #2 next week. Actually, perhaps those things will help us save a little bit of money since we won't be going out too much once the baby comes. I'll keep my fingers crossed.

I know I can't really complain, a raise is a raise and I'm grateful. I'm just excited to send more money to pay down our debt. As it is the following is set to go out on the 2nd of Sept.:

Bank of America: $200 (min. $184)
Bank of America: $200 (min. $183, this will get it below $10k balance!)
Chase: $12 (this will pay it off)
Car Payment: $334 (min. only)

Here's our current status for August; not the best. We had a few unexpected expenses that threw off our budget and left us with about $1500 more debt. Luckily yesterday we got our homeowner's insurance refund check in the mail and I have sent a third payment to Target this month ($165) and an extra $100 payment to overdraft.

I'm also bummed to see that my husband's 401k lost approximately $257 this month. I know this is one area that I need to learn more about; I sure don't like to see it going down!

Current Debt: August 2008

Student Loan #1
% V, Outstanding: $2,435

Student Loan #2
4.3% V, Outstanding: $1,575

Bank of America
10.24% V, Outstanding: $10,390

Bank of America
9.90% V, Outstanding: $10,211

Bank of America
0% to 03/2009, Outstanding: $4,635

Chase
15.43% V, Outstanding: $261

Chase
10.99%, Outstanding: $10

Citi
0% to 07/2009, Outstanding: $2,060

Target
22%, Outstanding: $445

Overdraft
18.00% V, Outstanding: $1,365

401K
Loan 1, Outstanding: $937 (Pay off 07/31/2009)
Loan 2, Outstanding: $4,233 (Pay off 07/16/2011)

Car Loan
9.90%, Outstanding: $15,944



DEBT TOTALS
Credit cards & Overdraft: $29,377
Student Loans: $4,010
401K Loans: $5,170
Car Loan: $15,944


THE BIG DEBT TOTAL: $54,501

Total Savings: $0
Total Retirement: $46,750

Yesterday I paid the following:

Bank of America: $210 (min. $190)
Chase: $65 (min. $42)
Chase: $60 (min. $41)
0% Bank of America: $56 (min. $46)
0% Citi: $40 (min $30)

We got a credit from Verizon and changed our car insurance coverage so we were under budget for both of these expenses. I'm putting the difference towards a second Target card payment on Monday.

Target: $189 (second payment this month)

I've heard that paying an extra $10-20 above the minimum can make a big difference in paying off credit cards so this is the strategy I'm taking. I'm focusing on the highest interest to pay off first, but everything else will get an additional $10-20 as well.

Happy Weekend Everyone!