A new year, a new start

There’s nothing like a new year to wipe the slate clean and start anew with a fresh attitude and can-do spirit. If you check my status, it’s easy to see that I fell off the wagon as 2008 came to a close. I stopped tracking my credit card balances and lost sight of my goals, and the results speak for themselves–up $723 since I last tracked my balances in September. But it’s a new year, and I’m committing myself to really focusing on making some progress with my debt. I officially am resolving to:

1. Track my balances every month.
2. Put away all of my credit cards except for one bank card for emergencies.
3. Get more involved with Debtors Anonymous. (Fell off the wagon with this too because of the holidays and the weather!)

I really would like to pay off $10,000 this year. It will be tough, but I am expecting a raise (I recently got a promotion) and my car will be paid off in June. I know I can do this if I really put my mind to it!

Hope, and I’m not just talking about Obama!

I just got back from my third DA meeting tonight. During the meeting, some of the other members shared some of their stories and they were so inspiring… I’m so glad I made the 30 minute drive to the meeting! One person I found particularly inspiring shared that she had been in debt to the tune of $67,000 when she started DA–some of the debt was credit cards, some health bills and some back taxes. Wow, I cannot even imagine! Today, 1.5 years later, she’s paid off $27K. Incredible!! These stories came at the right time. I spent the good part of my long weekend traveling to Chicago to meet with an admissions person at Northwestern to learn about a graduate program I’m interested in. The cost of the 15-month program is A LOT, and the thought of getting out of debt and then being able to afford this program is overwhelming. The stories I heard tonight remind me that I really can get out of debt and work toward my dreams–that is what DA is all about! The first step is to stop incurring more debt. One day at a time.

Spending as a compulsion

Wow, I am way behind in blogging! I hope to get caught up in the next week or so–I need to post October and November results. Watch for those!

When it comes to my credit card elimination plan, the most significant step I have taken in the past couple of months is looking into Debtors Anonymous. I decided that I really needed external help several weeks ago after I found myself in Target, not wanting to leave until I found something “fun” to buy on top of the cleaning supplies, toiletries, etc. I was just sort of wandering the store aimlessly looking for that one thing that would get the adrenoline pumping. I didn’t NEED anything, I hadn’t seen anything that had caught my attention while shopping for the necessities. But there I was, wasting my time, looking for the one thing that would satisfy this craving in me. All of a sudden, I stopped and realized that this was SICK, I wasn’t just shopping, I was being COMPELLED to buy something I didn’t need. And I was able to get to the checkout and get out of there. So anyway, that is when I decided I needed to check out Debtors Anonymous.

I’ve been to just two meetings so far. The first meeting was about five weeks ago, and the second meeting was last Tuesday. I had never been to a 12-step meeting before, but I introduced myself in the obligatory way, “Hello, my name is Credit Card Hell Girl, and I’m a chronic debtor and compulsive spender.” Looking around, I was expecting to see a bunch of women dressed to the nines and drowning in credit card debt from their shopping sprees. I was surprised to find mostly middle aged women, all pretty average fashion-wise. (LOL!) From that first meeting, I gathered that some of them had hoarding tendencies, others just made bad money decisions and still others have been chronically underemployed. “Sobriety” for members of Debtors Anonymous is no longer using credit cards–not too surprising. I believe after you have attended five meetings, you meet with a “pressure relief group” that helps you set up a monthly budget, etc. Eventually, you are assigned a sponsor, just like in AA. I guess what I learned at that first meeting was kind of scary (i.e, do I really want to be “sober”?), because it took me about a month to make it back to the second meeting. But I’ve decided I need to do this. I know I have issues that need to be dealt with. Regulars in the group told me that the program really works. Tuesday evenings, you’ll know where I’ll be. In the meantime, I am writing down every penny that I spend.

Recession, anyone?

I have been really struggling to keep my head above water ever since my roommate moved out. The bills keep coming in… dentist, car repair, mulch, etc. Gas is hovering around $4/gallon again, and everything else seems more and more expensive too. Ugh! I did decide to bundle my phone service with my cable provider, so that will save me about $40 a month. I need to figure out how to make more money and cut what I spend, so I will be devoting some time to figuring that out this weekend. I have tons of stuff I could be selling on eBay–collectibles and such–I need to get cracking! When is the economy going to start looking better??

Life, and revising my budget

I’ve been thinking a lot about my future lately, and I’m worried. I’m worried that life is going to pass me by and I won’t have experienced and accomplished the things that I really want to do. Like living in Europe for at least six months or moving to a new city or going to grad school. I feel like I’m stagnating. A friend from high school emailed me recently (we haven’t really talked since graduating) and she wants to know what I’ve been up to for the past 20 years! And I feel like I really have nothing interesting to tell her. I graduated from college, moved here and I’ve worked at various jobs, slowly moving up the ladder. Really, that’s about it. I’m not unhappy, just feeling a bit discontented. And I don’t think I can really do anything about my situation until I get my debt paid off. So here are some ideas on things I can cut out of my budget so I can put more money toward the debt:

• Discontinue cable. I’ve gotten used to having it and DVR. It would be hard to part with, but I’ve done without it before. I can do it again. Savings: $70/month
• Get rid of my land line. I’m not totally sold on going with just a mobile phone, but I can at least try it. Savings: $55/month
• Cancel my dial-up. I’ve never gotten around to this because of the pain of moving to a new email address. Savings: $23/month
• Cancel my gym membership and join the gym at work. Savings: $10/month
• Move to a pay-as-you-go mobile phone plan. Savings: Probably about $30/month. This would be more desirable than cancelling the land line, I think.
• Cancel paid parking at work. Savings: $40/month. Actually, we’re moving to a new building with free parking next month!

This weekend, I’m going to work on moving my email account with my broadband provider and contemplate the other changes. Any other ideas?

6-month mark!

I just realized as I was updating my status today that as of the end of June, I’ve reached the 6-month mark with this blog experiment. So, drumroll please, my debt has been reduced by a total of $4,317.40 since July. Not terribly bad; I wish I were a little further along, but at least I’m heading in the right direction! That total represents a monthly average debt reduction of $719.57. My roommate is moving out at the end of July, so that will force me to really watch my budget going forward. That means no more clothing spending sprees (yes, I’ve had several relapses. But as I recently learned, relapse is part of recovery. Hee hee!). I’m getting down to business! In fact, I just decided that my goal for the end of the year is to be down $10,000. If I really put my mind to it, I can do it!

Confession time

Well, I don’t think I’m going to make my May goal of getting my balances under $20K (although I should be pretty close). I have a confession to make… I fell off the wagon. As you can see from my Current Status page, I have paid off most of my department store credit cards. And well, I figured it wouldn’t hurt to make a couple of purchases on some of those cards as long as I pay them off again when they come due. So I charged about $40 to my Macy’s card and about $40 to my Kohl’s charge (my sister’s bad influence). I charged a few things to my JCrew card too and was astounded when I received my bill a few days ago–$412!! And another confession–I charged a few things to my Banana card too. It will be interesting to see where I end up for May. Anyway, I am recommitting myself to this project. I MUST GET MY CREDIT CARDS PAID OFF!! Zero balances equal freedom. I have to keep the big picture in mind and not let my little wants get in the way. OK, I feel better.

Never retire?

OK, I confess, I never read that book on retirement that my sister gave me for Christmas a few years ago. But since I’m focusing on my finances this year, I decided to give the book, The New Retirementality, a glance. And I’m glad I did because I love the premise behind it, which basically boils down to a few points:

• Does it really make sense to slog away at a job you hate for decades, trying to save enough money so you can finally quit when you’re too old to really enjoy yourself?
• Most of us want to work at something we find fulfilling, but we want to do it on our own terms and be more autonomous.
• If you love what you do, you will want to do it for the rest of your life (and you may find new passions along the way), maybe not full time, but in some capacity.

I haven’t gotten too far into the book yet, but what I’ve read so far is very thought-provoking. I’ll be reporting back!

A look back at April

Still making good progress–one more card (Macy’s) paid off! That means I’m down to the big five. I’m still paying hefty interest-$238.71 in April, but that’s down from $255.26 in March. The big payment to Sears made a little bit of difference! Overall, I paid my debt down by $735.73 in April. Baby steps! My goal for May is to get my total under $20K. The prospect of shopping for spring clothes is so alluring though–I am trying to resist. And I just got back from my rescheduled Florida vacation (the one we tried to go on in February). I was a little stretched for cash and I was afraid that I would overdraw my checking account, so I ended up using my Keybank card to pay for two meals. Not horrible, but I don’t want to slip any further.

The end of the shopping spree

While reading my current issue of Newsweek, I came across this article, “The End of the Shopping Spree, RIP.” Predictably, with the downturn in the economy, I’m not the only one cutting back on expenses. In fact, several chain retailers have announced that they will be closing stores across the country—the effect is that far-reaching.

 

So how did we as a nation go from rampant consumerism to where we are today? The rise of consumerism in the ‘80s can be attributed to easy credit, rising home values, the ubiquitousness of credit cards (how many do you have?), and the false sense of security the thriving economy brought to us all. I think, too, that my generation (Gen X) is addicted to instant gratification—when I want something, I want it now! (My parents taught me right, though–doled out a weekly allowance, taught the value of a dollar, worked hard, saved and retired in their mid-50s. I’m not sure what happened to me!) You can see what that attitude did to my personal debt load. Ugh.

 

And look where we are now–in the midst of war, record-breaking gas prices, downward spiraling home values, jobs outsourced to other countries and foreclosures. It’s a scary time. And a wake up call for all of us.

 

Maybe this downturn in the economy is a good lesson for us. Maybe it’ll take us back to the values of our grandparents—those who lived through the Depression and learned to make do, recycle, and save on a regular basis, no matter how small the amount. You think?