I figured out how to pay off some of this debt

And let me tell you, I am not happy about it. I have a cd that is maturing at the beginning of this month. Actually it matures in about a week. I'm going to use all of the proceeds and pay off a secured loan that I took to get work done on my car. I had figured that I would have some of that money paid back by now but things haven't worked out as planned.

Anyway, there will be several hundred dollars left after that loan is paid off. I plan on taking that money and paying one of my credit cards off. The plus side is that debt won't be hanging over my head any longer. The bad part is that I won't have the savings to fall back on.

Now I have to figure out where I'm going to get this money from. I do not feel comfortable not having a savings account. Especially since my credit union will let me take secured loans against the money. That way I can pay off a debt but keep my cash all while paying a low interest rate.

Oh well it's time to get on my savings grind.

I still don't have a clue about getting this debt paid off

I wrote at the beginning of the month that I needed nearly $100 dollars to retire my smallest credit cards by the end of the year. I stand by that except I still have no idea where to get the money from.

I was trying to come up with a plan but I haven't figured anything out. I mean my budget is already so tight that I don't think I can cut anything else. So that leaves coming up with more money every month. I really don't want to get a second job but I think that may be in my future.

Honestly as long as it's cold outside I do not plan on working another job. So that means I have until the end of April or beginning of May to find something. That also means that I'll have to readjust that number and I'll need more than $100 to get all 3 of those cards paid off. But I'll burn that bridge once I come to it.

Where am I gonna get a extra hundred bucks per month?

Ugh. I have no idea. $100 extra per month is what it would take to have 3 of my credit cards paid by the end of the year.

I did say extra. I just want to make sure that people understand that I'm making my regular payments but I want to pay extra to get the cards paid off by the end of the year. Right now I need about $17 for one card and $73 for another which is $90. But since I didn't send anything extra for January, that's where I get the round $100.

I've been battling the flu for almost the entire month of January and this early part of February so I don't see a second job in my immediate future. Especially since I've already missed so many days from my main job.

I hope to figure something out by the end of the month. I want this debt gone!

I'm going to snowflake my bills away

I have 2 credit card bills that just won't seem to go away. Minimum payments are not helping even though the balances are pretty low. I've decided to just snowflake them away. Since I can make as many payments as I want to every month, I'll just send whatever extra money I get when I get it.

Usually I save between $5-20 dollars from my lunch money. If I bring my lunch every day and stick to my plan, I save the top amount. Random purchases, especially snacks, brings me closer to the lower amount. Whatever is left once the pay period is over will be evenly split between my savings account and my credit cards.

I would love to have these two paid off by July and get started on my larger bill. Unfortunately I have a lot of debt to snowflake away. But as long as I stick to my plans, I should be ok.

I'm looking for a 2nd job

I have 3 credit cards with a balance. One is a little over $2K. The other 2 are less significantly less. One is about $250 and the other is about $450. I want both of those cards paid off by the end of next year. Taking interest into account, I need to pay an extra $15 on both cards. That's not considering the payments that I have to make on my largest card.

I'm not sure where I'm going to get the extra money so a second job may be in my future. I'm not looking forward to getting another job but it may be a necessity. I'll wait until October to make a final decision though.

The reason I won't graduate

I alluded to the fact that I won't graduate this year the other day. I've tried very hard to make it happen but it won't be a reality. There are a few reasons but I'll just mention the main ones.

They all revolve around money. I think the economy is headed for a recession. Although I think my job would be fairly stable, you just never know. I'm sure the people at Bear Stearns never thought that they value of their company would decline by 90%. The stock is now trading at less than $2.00 per share, which is almost pink-sheet status. They've also announced that they're laying off 7,000 people. That's a whole lotta people that will be out of work.

The only way for me to graduate in December is to spend all of my emergency fund and available cash. I would also have to charge 1 class. I would get reimbursed for 2 of those classes. But that money would go towards paying off the credit card, then paying school fees each semester. Books aren't even in the equation at this point.

With the way that everything surrounding the economy is going right now, I don't think it would be wise to have little to no cash. I can wait until May (or August) of next year to graduate. I won't be happy about it, but that's life!

I need money to pay for school

I didn't do well in my class this semester. I needed a C to get tuition reimbursement but I didn't get it. The class was harder than I expected it to be. Since I won't get tuition reimbursement, I have to come up with the money to pay for school. I may have to fill out Credit Card Applications because I certainly don't have the cash to pay for it. I can compare cards to try to get the card with the best rewards or cash back but at this point it doesn't even matter. As long as I can pay for school, that's all that matters.

Nothing but junk mail

I was looking forward to getting the mail today. I'm expecting a check to come in and instead I get all of this junk mail. There were several credit card offers in there. I have bad credit right now that I'm working on improving.

Having bad credit is a pain because you can't get things like home loans or auto loans. If you do get someone to give you a loan, you will get outrageous rates. For instance a car loan. Most places will give you a car loan but you might pay over 40% during the life of the loan in interest.

That's why it's always in your best interest to compare rates. Even if you have bad credit, there is someone out there who is willing to compete for your business. All you have to do is show them that you're responsible and you've moved past whatever caused you to get the bad credit in the first place.

Bills by text

I just got a text message while I was at work. I was all happy because I thought it was a friend of mine. Instead it was one of my credit cards letting me know that my bill was due. I'm happy for the reminder but I just wish it was something better than a bill.

I'm considering switching credit card companies because I've found some better deals out there. The new company offers bills, statements and payments by text. But they also have a 0% on balance transfers for 13 months. I could use that money to pay for school, and use tuition reimbursement to pay it off.

Hmm, then I could take the money I would have used for school and spend it on something else.

I may have found my new bank

I've been researching banks to invest in. I think I may have found one. As soon as I went to the website the first thing I noticed was that there is a 6.49% interest rates on deposits. The rate is guaranteed for one year.

That's not the only thing that got my attention though. There is also a deal where you can earn rewards on your purchases made with your credit cards. For example, there is a travel card with travel rewards points. I love to travel so that would be awesome for me.

Of course I need to read the fine print and decide which would be the right accounts for me. It's looking promising though.

I didn't get the credit card

I found out yesterday. I was a little sad but not really. I wasn't really expecting to get the card. Especially once I saw that it was a Platinum card. They usually have tighter requirements than other cards.

I have a credit card and a personal loan that I'm paying on. I'll just pay them on time and build my credit back up slowly. Maybe I'll apply again in 6 months to a year just to see if my credit has improved.

Testing the credit waters

My credit is not the best right now. My credit score is really low and I've been trying to raise it up slowly. I applied for a credit card last week to see how far I've come. About a year ago, I would have gotten a automatic rejection. I guess the fact that they're going to actually review my credit is a plus.

When I was looking for a credit card to apply for, I went to a website where I could search through the different types of cards offered. You can get cards specifically for rewards, cash back or even a Small Business Credit Card. I even saw cards for people like me with bad to average credit. The card I applied for has no annual fee and a average interest rate.

I guess I'll get a answer one way or another some time next week.

Tuition is due soon

I wish I could pay for my tuition with a credit card. Right now the school drafts the money out of my checking account every month for 4 months. Let me tell you, that's a long four months. I want to put the money on a credit card and stretch the payments out a couple of more months. So I've been doing research for a online credit card company. I've found several that are right up my alley. One has no fee and offers rewards. I like to get rewarded for my purchases. That's a definite bonus. Getting paid to shop and buy things you would have anyway.

Now why would I want to stretch the payments out longer? I can pay the payment within 30 days and not pay any interest at all. Add to that the fact that I get tuition reimbursement and that means that I'll take less money out of each paycheck to put towards school. More money in my pocket makes me a happy girl.

Having bad credit sucks

I already talked about my mom and her credit card. I just found out that she was considering getting a credit card balance transfer to pay off her debt. I thought that was good until she told me what kind of interest rate she was getting. It was something outrageous line 22.9%. For a credit card that's not unusual, but a balance transfer? You can usually get 0%-3.9%. She has bad credit so that makes a big difference. You can't really be too picky with the rates you since the banks don't really have to compete for your business. They know they have you between a rock and a hard place. Most people with bad credit are really in a bind and will do anything to get the money.

You really can't blame the banks though. That's how they make their money. If everyone had good credit, the interest rates would always be low. I just feel bad for my mom because she lost her job and went delinquent on 2 credit cards. Instead of working with the companies, she tried to charge the cards off. She owed too much money and the credit card companies were not going to let that go. In the past year, she paid the accounts off, but she still has to deal with the low credit rating for the next few years. We've talked about it and she's decided not to get the card. I told her when I come home the next time, we'll look online and compare rates and fees before she applies for any more credit.

My mom and her credit card

I just found out that my mom got one of those awful high interest credit cards. To add insult to injury they have both an annual fee and a monthly maintenance fee. Ugh. I wish she would have talked to me first. There are some great Credit Cards out there, but this bank definitely does not offer one. Her bank specializes strictly in cards for people with bad credit.

I told her that that's no reason to get robbed blind by the credit card company. She can apply for a secured credit card. That's where your balance is determined by how much you have in their banks' savings account. Most legitimate companies will release your deposit after one year and give you a unsecured card.

Either way I think it's a great way to rebuild credit. After all, most people don't qualify for 0% or low interest rate cards. But that doesn't matter that people should be raked over the coals either.

Do you get paid to shop?

In any way shape or form. I'm not talking about mystery shopping or anything like that. I mean cash back from credit cards, debit cards or from websites.

My answer to that is yes. I don't get paid with my credit card. I don't even use that thing that much. I do get points from my debit card. I can then turn those points into gift cards. I'll probably use it for Target, I love that store.

I also earn money back from a shopping website. I use fatwallet, but there are plenty of other sites like it. When you earn your first $5 in cash back, they give you a bonus $5. I have about $76 in that account right now. The bulk of that money was a $15 bonus from my laptop purchase, and $20 cash back when I signed up for Verizon internet.

I don't make the mistake of chasing cash back. If I earn it fine, but if not oh well. Right now, I have no plans on what to do with my cash back. I plan on letting it accrue until I get $100. I'll probably use that money to shop some more.

Paying down my debt

I've paid down some debt recently, but I really need to pay more. I have a student loan, a credit card and a personal loan.

I'm trying to pay the credit card off first. Luckily it has a super low balance. The sole purpose for it is to help build my credit rating back up. I use it mostly for school and personal expenses. I don't pay my tuition with the card because the school charges a fee for every transaction. I use an e-check for that. The only school-related expenses are my books. Those suckers cost a fortune.

My personal expenses are put on the card because I don't always know my checking acct balance right off the top of my head so it's easier to put it on the credit card. I don't do that very often though. Usually just once or twice a month at Walmart or Target.

Hopefully I'll get a promotion or a raise soon and I can pay my debt faster.

School Is Getting Expensive

It's getting harder and harder to find the money to pay for school and my regular expenses. I've been charging my books and some personal expenses on my credit card. The interest rate is outrageous and it made me start looking for something else.

I found the Mint Credit Card. First of all, it's a neat idea. They cut off a corner of the credit card to give it a unique shape. That definitely makes it an attention grabber and conversation piece. But that's not even close to being the best part. The best part is that I can get 0% interest through December. That's awesome. Plus there's 0% for balance transfers also through December, but if you let them debit the money straight from your account, it extends through August 2008.

I'm applying for this card right now. Especially since it has no annual fee. I have to save money any way I can.