Now’s my turn to tell you about my finances.
Savings
Savings #1 $2,283.38
Savings #2 $5,051.12
Savings#3 $1,478.32
Savings#4 $2,501.69
HSA $1,035.95
Total $12,350.46
Debt
Capital 1 CC $1065.82 @ 3.99% Fixed for life of balance
BOA CC $2,175.36 @12.74% adjustable
Citi CC $183.73 @29.99% Adj. (but who am I kidding)
Macy’s $292.69 @23.99 Adj.
Limited $97.12 @24.99 Adj
Medical Bills $2354.00 @0%
Old Cell’s $254.00 @0%
Total $6,432.72
Hopefully I’ll be able to update these monthly. I’ve been aiming for reducing my debt while increasing my savings. I paid off my car last year and although I have been putting that money away in savings for my car repair/replacement fund every month since September 2010, I haven’t been monitoring it closely. From now I’ll just make it my part of my emergency fund and starting with today’s paycheck I will commit my first $300 monthly installment. I could back track but I’m too lazy to do the math since I just spent nearly $1000 to have it fixed last month.
Some might ask why I just don’t take my savings and pay off my debt. I wish it were that simple. I work for a non-profit and although I’ve never missed a paycheck, in this environment sometimes you get paid and sometimes you don’t. I once had to wait three months and got paid over $5000 in back payroll while waiting for a huge invoice to come in. It hasn’t been that bad in a long time (thank You Jesus) but I think you can understand now.
The four savings accounts are two online only accounts and two accounts linked to my two checking accounts. I’m working on building these balances currently at $1,478.32 and $2,501.69 to $2500 a piece to avoid fees on the checking accounts. Before my banks started charging fees I barely kept $500 in them. Just some quick money in case of a tiny emergency. Like my version of a “pay day loan” to tide me over till I got paid and yes, I did pay myself a $10 penalty for lost interest for doing so despite the fact that I’m earning less than $5 in interest on each account right now. I’m also working on building my HSA to $1500 to avoid the $3.95 monthly fee.
So there you have it! Everything out there on the dance floor…including my heart for it is in this as well. I look forward to chronicling my progress.
My Finances on the Table
July 23rd, 2011 at 06:44 pm
July 23rd, 2011 at 07:00 pm 1311447615
Can you close one checking account to reduce the amount of cash you need to have earning almost no interest? Is there a specific reason you need two? If you do need two, can you have two at one bank so that you can have just one $2500 savings account, and move the other to an online account?
I understand about wanting to keep savings on hand, but some of those debts are small with astronomical interest rates! I wouldn't want to pay 20+% interest, I would pay Citi, Macy's, and Limited in full. That will take $573.54.
Do you have any retirement savings? If not, it is time to start.
July 23rd, 2011 at 07:44 pm 1311450293
July 23rd, 2011 at 09:32 pm 1311456765
Take the cash out of savings and knock out anything with a 20+ % interest rate!! Use the money you were paying towards those debts and repay your savings.
The other thing is that if your are paying any bank fees, I would find a bank with a free account. There are too many free accounts out there to be paying the bank for the privilege of using YOUR money.
That's my 2 cents.
July 24th, 2011 at 12:41 am 1311468107
July 24th, 2011 at 01:44 pm 1311515052
July 24th, 2011 at 08:35 pm 1311539733