Okay it’s not quite the end of the month but it’s time to be honest and refocus. Even though I don’t spend a lot of money… a lot of money is spent, if that makes sense.
Last month my total debt was  $23,983, divided 3 different ways:
Car: $20,775
Dental Credit: $1,809
Credit Card: $1,399
UNFORTUNATELY, I didn’t factor in the fact that I’d JUST paid for maintenance on my car with my credit card. So as you’ll see in the following numbers, my credit card balance actually increased.
As of May 25, 2015, this is what those numbers look like
Car: $20,426 (-1.68%)
Dental Credit:Â $1,627 (-10.06%)
Credit Card: $1,668 (+19.23%)
My overall debt ($23,721) is -1.09% from last month.
It’s been a HUGE mental struggle, and here’s why.. the problems I encountered in my first month of debt repayment.
- I often buy things for my programs at church and then later get reimbursed. It makes it hard to feel like I’m not out spending money all the time. I currently have a pile of receipts on my desk and I plan to use the reimbursement check to put towards my debt.
- IÂ buy other people’s coffee. I’d made a goal for May to limit my coffee budget to $80, which is all fine and good until I realize how often I pick up other people’s coffee. I never knew if that counted towards my coffee or not. So then I kind of stopped caring.
- Sometimes I forget to take cash out. I do the very best when I am only spending cash – that way I can basically only spend what I see. Which is a great idea if I remember to actually take cash out. All it takes is one swipe of my card to make me feel discouraged.
Check out my May Goals here and read about this new journey to pay off my debt that I’ve embarked on.
I’m going to try and build a solid foundation for this month so I’m making things even more simple:
June Goals.
- $150 towards Dental Credit
- CASH ONLY (unless it includes reimbursement purchases, gas or coffee for other people)
- Drop my overall debt by 1.5%
