June Financial Update

Debt Reduction

As of my June update I have paid off $10,719 of my credit card debt which puts me at 40% paid. I anticipate hitting the 50% mark with my August update which will be one month sooner than I had originally estimated! I'm trying to be aggressive with paying off my higher interest credit card. Starting August I will have less money to send to it (see below) so I'd like to send as much as I can now. I had money left over from my vacation that ideally should have been returned to the "Scuba Fund". However I decided it was better to apply it to a card with 11% interest rather than sitting in a savings account earning 2%. So, I sent in $400 last week. Tonight I was able to send in another $400 and after 2 more deposits clear, I'll be able to send in another $480! My July update is gonna rock.

Chase is Evil

Like many out there, I received notice that my minimum payment for my Chase card is increasing from 2% to 5% beginning with the August payment. UGH. I can afford the increased payment but it means I have less money to send to my other, higher interest credit card. I called today to find out if they had an opt out option where I could close the account and freeze the minimum payment at the current 2%. Nope. Hmm, how surprising that Chase is unwilling to work with it's customers. I've only had this same experience...let's see...every single time I've called them. The "representative" actually had the nerve to say that "they (she kept saying 'they' instead of 'we') were just trying to get these accounts paid off sooner." Umm, what? Are you kidding me? They really want me to pay off my debt so they can no longer collect on interest? Right.

Anywho, the kicker is, I really hate Chase and I really want to pay off my debt so I can close the damn account and tell Chase to screw themselves. Paying 2.5 times more each month than I am now will certainly help, but the fact is, I have another credit card out there that is earning twice as much interest as my Chase card. I need to be sending my money to the other card. I guess I should be happy that they haven't increased my interest rate as well (yet.)

Oh, and apparently in the spirit of "just trying to get these accounts paid off sooner" Chase just increased my credit limit by $4000. Nice.

Goals for July

Keep track of all spending for the month. I start off well the first week or so and then stop. This month I'm going to track it all.

Stick to my budget. Again, I start off ok and then slack off.

20 $0 Spend Days. 2/20 so far!

Garage sale. This one is a done deal. It's planned for the 24th and 25th. Now I need to make sure I get going and prepare for it.

Sell on eBay. I still have items to sell that I'm not going to bother trying to sell at the garage sale.

Current credit card debt: $15,798