Week Four-And another one....credit card list

This somewhat ties in with my last post.... Make a list of all of your credit cards. I would love to say that I have only one, but unfortunately I have many.... I made a list of all of my cards, the balance, the date due, and the interest rate. Put them in order. Some prefer to pay off lower balance first so that they can see the results more quickly. I personally prefer to pay the highest interest first. So my highest interest is a store card that I owe about $900 on. The minimum payment for that card is about $25 but I am paying $100 every month instead...sometimes more if I am able. This should be paid off in about 10 months if I am able to pay a little extra on the $100. I will then take that $100 and add it to the payment of my next highest interest card. I hope to have my debt cut in half by March of next year. I will let you know how that goes!

Week Three- A bit late....Make a bill list...

Oops! I missed a week! So this week I will add two things to my 26 weeks. The first is to make a list of bills, what they cost and how much they are. Only do the minimum payments on this list. Decide which debt you want to pay off first and after checking all available money by writing out your budget, take any left over amount and add it to the debt you want to pay first. Here is an example...these are not my actual bills, but it looks something like this....

Bills
House payment    $980 (PC2)
Car Payment       $395(PC1)
Electric               $145 (PC1)
Cable/Phone/Internet  $155 (PC1)
Water             $65 (PC1)
Insurance        $90(PC 1)
Alarm       $45 (OI)
CC 1        $75 (OI)
CC2          $50 (OI)
CC3         $90 (OI)

Income
Pay check 1      $1350 (PC1)
Pay Check  2    $1400 (PC 2)
Other Income   $500 (OI)
  PC 1 Had about $500 left after bills
  PC 2 Has about $420 left after bills
  OI has about $240 left after bills

We spend about $150-$200 per two weeks on food. We also need about $100 per two weeks for gas for the car. In the end there is about $300 after all expenses and bills extra which can be applied to a credit card. It is not until you make a list of what you are actually spending that you realize that there is a little extra to put toward debts. The little things add up quickly, so if you eliminate them from your day, you will have your debt paid off much more quickly! If this does not motivate you, use the minimum payment calculator that Credit card companies provide on their websites and you are sure to be motivated!