Anyone that reads this blog knows that I’m trying to get out of debt. A few months ago we redid our life insurance which allowed us to get some premiums refunded to us. That money went to pay off one of my credit cards, which was such a great feeling. If that hadn’t happened then I probably would have looked into ways to Consolidate debt. I’ve gone the Debt consolidation route before – but with bad results. Yes, I’m one of those people who would get the loan and then rather than avoid using the credit cards I’d load them up again. But that was a long time ago – I’m much more fiscally responsible now. As of now I’m down to one credit card, and am trying to figure out the best and quickest way to pay that off so that I can officially have NO CREDIT CARD DEBT and experience some nice Debt relief that allows our family to have some breathing room for the inevitability of life expenses (such as our broken HVAC that will cost $3,000 to replace – but that’s another story for another day).
And at the same time as I want to get out of debt, I’m also hoping that Denis and I can create a healthy emergency savings account. I read so many stories of people being able to pay off debt AND save money at the same time – but while I would think it would be better to be super-aggressive in getting rid of debt, what with the interest that is added each month, I also think having the emergency savings would come in handy for those times when an expensive emergency comes along, whether it’s a broken HVAC or unexpected medical cost that isn’t covered by insurance.
Fortunately, since I’ve only got one credit card left to pay off, I’m not in need of Debt help at the moment. I’m so lucky in that regard since I know there are a lot of people out there who probably DO need to get some advice and assistance right now.
So I think that for now I’ll concentrate on paying off my credit card as quickly as possible and do things to lower my monthly expenses in order to achieve savings that way. Turning off the lights when I’m not in the room (I’m bad about that). Only running the A/C if I really need it (that’s a tough one because I HATE being hot). Continuing to shop for the biggest discounts I can find at the grocery store. Those are small things, but can have a big impact on our monthly bills. And I’m sure with little effort I can find other ways as well.
With any luck by lower my monthly expenses and aggressively paying off my credit card I can be debt free by the time CootieBoy starts kindergarten next fall. THAT would be amazing. Hard to do, but amazing nonetheless.
Wish me luck!
