Finally, I’m getting some real traction.
In the last 30 days, I’ve reduced my debt load by $5,702.39. That represents a reduction of 11.6% in one month’s time.
I paid off the Wells Fargo Personal Line of Credit, as well as my American Express business credit card.
I’m now down to only three loan balances: my Prosper loan, my USAA credit card, and my van loan from Honda Financial Services.
Which makes my life a lot easier.
Fewer balances means fewer payments and due dates to think about.
And, currently, I make payments to all three debtors electronically. There are no paper statements involved.
Here’s a picture showing my progress…
I expect that when I report in September, I will have cracked the $40K mark on my march to zero.
I certainly hope so.
In case you’re interested, the interest rates on my outstanding debt are as follows:
- Prosper Loan – 11%
- USAA Credit Card – 4.9%
- Honda Financial Services – 4.9%
I don’t know if it’s worth it, but I’m considering taking advantage of a zero percent offer to further reduce the interest I’m paying.
If I did this, I’m fairly confident I could pay off the debt before the zero interest period expires.
Your thoughts?
Should I get yet another card… or simply stay the course?
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Hey, terrific job! That must feel great!
As for the interest…I’d be delighted with your interest rates (well, maybe “delighted” is too strong a word, really…) — but if you can qualify for a 0%, why not? Check the transfer charges, those can be a killer. We transferred part of our smaller cc to a 0% interest (yay! We were paying 30% on that card!), and had to pay about $80 in fees – nothing compared to the interest that card sucked from us, though.
Dude, that’s awesome! Congratulations, man. You are well on your way to freedom. Seriously, being debt free is the best feeling.
Kris – Thank you! It does feel great. My goal is to pay off everything but the van loan by this coming spring.
I’ve been getting 0% offers from Discover, so I might take them up on it.
Ben – Thank you! I can’t wait until I’m debt free. Then I can finally be a lazy copywriter. ;-)
Great Job! I am curious….How did you pay off that much in one month? Or am I missing something?
LJ
LJ – I’m self-employed. Some months I make less; other months I make more.
During the months I make more, I’m able to pay off debt quicker.
I also pay taxes annually instead of quarterly. So sometimes I use “tax money” to pay off debt during the year.
This puts me in a pinch come January (if I don’t have enough cash when taxes are due), so I’m trying to plan better this year.
hey congrats…..life is so much easier debt free…..i can attest to that :) your lucky to be able to pay it off that fast….we never had that kind of disposable income…slow and steady and stay on course was our motto……
Thanks, Alyce.
When I had a job, I never had my income either.
And, actually, the first couple years of my business were up and down. One month during my first year in business I went into debt an extra $5K!
This last year/18 months has been much better in that respect. At least I’ve been moving in the right direction.
One thing I know for sure: I don’t write my check and nobody else does either… God does.
And God is good! :-)
Yeah- I would go with the 0% balance transfer offer if you can do it with no fees (or lower than what you’ll pay in interest if you don’t transfer).
Congratulations!
Ryan,
Please take a look at my blog. I would love any input from you.
Thanks,
DLD
Hey Ryan, great progress here!
I have a question: Are you planning to take the credit card with 0% interest to pay the 11% loan?
If no, what are your plans? your answer will be helpful for me.
I would use the 0% offer to either pay off the Prosper loan… or possibly pay off a portion of both the Prosper loan and the USAA loan.
(I would make up the difference on the Prosper loan with my own money.)
Ryan
Great job paying off that much at one time Ryan. That must feel great!
I’ve self employed also, and have found the unpredictable cash flow does complicate things. I have some credit card debt to pay off and had gotten into trouble by making huge payments — say $1,000 or more– to a card one month, when I had the cash, but then the next month things would be tighter and I’d have trouble making even the minimin payments.
So recently I’ve made a budget. I took my yearly income from last year, minus taxes, and divided it by 12, and that gave me what I have to spend each month. I make my debt payments according to that, and will snowball each payment as I get one card paid off. It is giving me piece of mind.
Good luck with your quest!
Ang – Thanks for the encouragement. Yes, it does feel great. The closer I get to being debt-free, the more peace I feel in my life. You can’t put a price on inner peace!
Smart what you did… breaking down your income so you know how much you have to spend each month.
Ryan
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