💸 The Debt Diaries: September 2017
Welcome to the third round of The Debt Diaries! Below is what our debt has looked like in the month since my last update. Spoiler alert: it is underwhelming, to say the least.
💳 Debt Overview
Visa Credit Card
Starting Balance: $5,485.94
Payments: –$150.00
Interest: +$50.20
Expenditures: +125.00 (unexpected vet visit)
Ending Balance: $5,511.14
Debt Increased: +25.20
PayPal Credit
Starting Balance: $4,215.48
Payments: –$30.00
Interest: +$9.36
Ending Balance: $4,194.84
Debt Reduced: –$20.64
Personal Loan (from parents)
Starting Balance: $70.00
Payments: –$0.00
Interest: +$0.00
Ending Balance: $0.00
Debt Reduced: –$0.00
Personal Loan (bank - funeral expenses)
Starting Balance: $911.21
Payments: –$50.00
Interest: +$11.57
Ending Balance: $872.78
Debt Reduced: –$38.43
📊 Grand Total Snapshot
Current Total: $10,648.76
💸 Where the Payments Went
Total Paid: $230.00
Went to Interest: $71.13 (+expenditures of $125.00)
Went to Principal (Actual Debt Reduction): $33.87
✅ Wins This Month
- Covered Jerry’s unexpected car repair without using credit.
- Still managed to reduce debt, even if only slightly.
⚠️ What I Struggled With
- Adoption and vet costs for Ruffles led to putting $125 on the credit card.
- Overspent on vendor wax melts and paid mostly minimums on debts.
💠Real Talk
This month was ROUGH from the very beginning. We had to repair Jerry’s car much sooner than expected and were unprepared. We hadn’t saved enough money since we weren’t planning on doing car work until November-ish. Luckily, we were able to cover it without using the credit card, but it meant the budget for the rest of the month was tight and left little to no wiggle room.
Money was also tight because of Ruffles! We had to pay an adoption fee, buy a lot of things for her to bring her home, and also take her to the vet unexpectedly when she got sick. Luckily, we had $40 in our vet sinking fund, so we put that towards the bill of $165.00. Unluckily, we had to put the remaining $125.00 on the credit card. We haven’t used it in months and I wanted to keep that momentum going, so while I’m disappointed, this was an “emergency,” and I think that is what credit cards should be used for… not books or clothes, like I’ve used it for in the past.
We basically paid minimums (and maybe a tiny bit extra) on all the debts above, which I hate doing, but sometimes you do what you gotta do. I also spent too much on wax melts, which I know I shouldn’t have done, but I recently discovered vendor wax and it’s fun and addicting. Need to rein that in! On the positive side, I didn’t buy any new clothes or any new books, so there’s a small win. Sigh.
While I am saying that in general it was a bad month, I guess I need to realize that ultimately, the debt still went down. No, it didn’t go down much, but the operative word is down instead of up. Can’t be doing TOO badly when your debt is still decreasing, no matter how small.
October looks to be another tight month, but November’s budget is looking better. There are a lot of events in October that we’re doing for fall/Halloween that cost money, and as mentioned, we are still trying to play catch up a bit with the expenses from September. Also… there’s some wax melts that I’m wanting to buy. I KNOW I shouldn’t, but I am trying to be responsible about the purchases at least, and not put them on the credit card.
That’s all for now! See ya next month with hopefully a better update.
No comments