I put my paycheck from my PT job into the EF, so it is now just over $6,300. Once it reaches $8,000 I think I will split the PT job income 50/50 between EF and the new $11,000 personal loan. I'd like to have that loan paid off in 12 months if all goes well.

I went down to sign for my loan at the credit union today. I asked to see my credit score since I haven't pulled ours in a couple years, and my Experian score is 813 which is excellent. I expected it to be high 700s or low 800s so no surprises which is a good thing.

I just got done setting up the transfers to the 2 cards this loan will pay off. I sent a little extra to cover interest accrued so we'll see how close I was in figuring the payoff amounts. I can't wait to see zero balances on them both!

On the other hand, I am resetting my ticker to the new loan amount- $11,000 so no more "paid in full" on my debt ticker. Alas, soon it will read "paid in full" again so I am not going to be sad about it. I am just really happy to have a plan and some extra income to make the debt payoffs go faster & faster.

I am heading to the credit union right now to pay my loan in full. This payment will now be rolled into my next debt, but I am still not sure which debt it will be.

I am going to request another personal loan at the CU so that I can consolidate 2 CC's - CC#1 is $6800 at 12.99% and CC#2 is $4200 at 9.17%. (We will still have one CC with a largish balance that is a fixed promo rate of between 3-5% which I am just praying will not change.) The CU's best personal loan rate right now is 7% which I should qualify for with my credit score, so that is better than 9% and 13%, but I still wish it were lower. Then again, beggars can't be choosers, eh?

My DH and I both got "change in terms" letters from Capital One yesterday which made us think it would be wise to move most of our CC debt to a fixed loan. It certainly looks like CC companies plan on raising interest rates into the stratosphere over the next few years. I would think that we are both excellent customers in the eyes of the CCs - have kept a large revolving balance over a period of many years and have been paying slightly more than the minimum each month but I guess that's why we received these notices since they think they've got us pretty well stuck...fortunately they are wrong and we are paying off debt rapidly these days and we do have options.

Hubby's notice says that, as of January 2010, his rate will be jumping from 9.17% to prime plus 14.65% (which would be equal to 17.9% right now, so it basically DOUBLES the current interest rate) and my account (which is at a zero balance and I do not use) says it will be changing to the same terms as of April 2010. Given these drastic changes, it certainly looks like the perfect time to be moving these accounts to a fixed rate loan at the CU.

I am just really relieved that we are in a good financial position right now and are on our way to being CC debt-free.

I received a paycheck in the mail yesterday afternoon from the 1 day/week job that I no longer work at. Apparently my very last day was not accounted for on my previous paycheck from them and I never noticed. I was happy to have this extra money to deposit in the bank. I split it between EF and my personal loan that will be paid off with my FT paycheck on the 13th.

New EF balance: $5,822
Personal Loan: $230.10

Okay, I am in the market for a great CC. I am really not interested in a new account, but my 0% offer on the FIA card ended last month and is now at 12.99% which is way too high. I asked at my credit union and their lowest rate on personal loans is 7% which I think is exorbitant considering the lending rate right now is around 0% for banks and credit unions and my current personal loan with them is at 6%. I was really disappointed. Anyway, I was just over at www.creditcards.com comparing transfer offers, but thought you all might have some great suggestions to help me narrow things down.

My credit is excellent. Although I have not pulled my scores for about a year they should continue to be in the 780-800 range. I was just thinking that if I could find a card with a nice transfer offer plus a great all-around card I would keep it as my one card after everything is paid off.

I'd love to take into consideration all of your suggestions if you have a card you think is pretty great, but I am leaning toward a "rewards" card of some type since I do not currently have one and if I'm going to keep it later on I'd rather use it to get rewards in return...preferably cash since I can't think of anything we would want all the time otherwise. But, again, I'd love to hear all opinions.

Okay, I decided to use the Federal refund to pad my "freedom account" (a Mary Hunt, Debt-proof Living idea where all money for intermittant but expected expenses is kept). We've got loads of different categories to save for in there such as my DD's summer camp, car repairs/oil changes, gifts, etc. So that big chunk makes me feel much more in control of those expenses and ready for when they come due.

The state refund was about 1/3 of the federal and I split it like so:
10% fun money - 5% for me and 5% for hubby
10% charity - split between 6 different places we give to
40% EF
40% debt - this brings this debt down to just under $284 and should be paid off with my next paycheck!!! WooHoo!

It is exciting to see such nice progress and feel a little bit more secure in our future finances.

Thank you all again for the advice on what action I should take on which debt to pay off first (post of 7/13).

I have decided to put all extra money toward the personal loan that is at 6%. I like the fact that it is not revolving debt so once it is gone it is really gone. While we are not using the CC at all and have not been for a long time there is still the possibility hanging there.

The other factor that decided me was that I also realized that if I can get that personal loan paid off by January 2009, I can always get my credit union to grant me another personal loan to transfer the balance that remains on the CC which is currently at 0% through the beginning of February 2009.

So, I will keep the ticker running on the 0% CC, but I will be adding one for the Personal Loan since that will now be my new GOAL. The personal loan is not due to be paid off until the end of 2010, so I am hoping to pay this off 2 years early. *fingers crossed*

I would really appreciate feedback from all of you. I know there are many more financially savvy individuals here than practically anywhere else, so I know I'll get great thoughts and suggestions from you all.

I have been putting all extra money toward the CC you see to the left which is at 0% until February 2009. I was hoping to have the entire balance paid off by the time it returns to a higher rate. At this point I am not sure if that will happen or not. Right now I have about $600 to put toward my goal, but I am holding on to it until I get some advice from you guys.

Now that I am half way to the 0% offer's conclusion and have only paid about 25% of the balance off, I am wondering if I should change my plan. I am thinking maybe I should put all the extra money I was putting toward the 0% card instead toward the debt with the smallest balance (a personal bank loan) - $3300 at 6%, or to the one with the highest interest rate (another CC) - $4600 at 10.51%.

We are trying to pay down our debt now by throwing all extra money toward it, then save for a down payment on a home. I would love to be able to buy a home within the next year while prices are still down, but right now our debt/credit limit ratio on the CCs is still very high at 38.6% (down from 41.2% in January) and our minimum monthly payments are high at about 27.5% of our monthly gross income.

If we pay off the bank loan we would lower our monthly payments to 24.3% of our gross, and if we pay off the 10.51% CC it would be about 25%.

We've never bought a home before or shopped for a mortgage but I think those are things they look at during the mortgage process. Do any of you who know about mortgages and home-buying have any insights for us?

Any and all thoughts are welcome!

I received a check in the mail Friday for $64.00 for doing my decoy mail* assignments for the Winter quarter (Dec07-Feb08). They are catching up after falling behind on payments, so that is why I have received 2 checks so close together. I am only paid 4 times a year by them and now I am all caught up so I don't expect another payment for 2-3 months or so. Anyway, this is "extra" money so it is all going toward paying down my goal CC.

New Balance 0% CC: $7,416.70

*See my 6/15 post for an explanation of what this is.

The ones place and change from my paycheck today is $8.14, so this will be sent to the 0% CC.

New Balance: $7,480.70

In other good news, I worked some extra hours the last few weeks so I will be able to put an additional $125 toward this CC this month. My payment of $175 is automatically send from my checking account on the first of the month, so on July 1st it will be $300 instead of $175. I will update the balance from that transaction after it is officially made on July 1st. Don't want to count my chickens before they're hatched and all...but I am excited that I am making headway.

I received my Fall check from the decoy mail* place yesterday for $71.50 and I also received a refund from overpayment to my Capital One card for $0.06 (yes, it cost way more to print and mail the check than the actual check is worth...another reason credit card companies are renowned for their idiocy).

New Balance on 0% CC: $7,488.84

*A mail decoy is someone who gets mail delivered to them under "strange" names and records when it was delivered and in what condition. I am paid a small fee for each piece I enter.

Boy, where does the time go?! It is already more than a week into the month and I have not reconciled my ING interest yet. I am usually right on top of that because I put that earned interest toward the Goal CC and that makes me happy.

I earned $16.12 in interest for the month of May which will be going to pay down that evil CC you see to the left. WooHoo!

New Balance on Goal CC: $7,560.40

I received a paycheck this week and the dollars place plus change will continue to go to the 0% Goal CC, $9.65 this week.

I also forgot to post that I put $4.56 from my paycheck 2 weeks ago toward the Goal CC.

My automatic monthly payment of $175 also went through this week.

Total new balance on the 0% CC: $7,576.52

I love being picked to try out new products, and while I can't give away any specifics since I crossed my heart and promised Pinecone I would never divulge the information, I can say that I really enjoyed this product and hope to see it in stores soon...with a few of my recommended tweaks of course!

$5 Pinecone check to the Goal CC -
New Balance: $7,765.73

I got paid today, so $2.93 goes to the 0% CC.

New Balance on Goal CC: $7,767.79

Received $20 from MySurvey and $5 from Pinecone Research this week so I am putting an extra $25 toward the 0% CC.

New Balance on Goal CC: $7,770.72

Also, bad news: I paid $3.39/gal for gasoline at BJ's (cheapest place around)- up from $2.99 a month ago!

Good news: I got 36.1 miles to the gallon on my last tank of gas.

I have several sub-accounts over at ING that earn interest, but I only allow the EF to accrue it's own interest. The other accounts I transfer the interest every month over to the current goal so, $13.02 in interest going to the 0% credit card this month.

The regular monthly payment of $175 went through the other day and I had $5 leftover in the YNAB budget last month to add, so I owe under $8k on this debt now! Hooray!!!

New Balance on 0%CC: $7,999.36

I got paid on Thursday, and continue to take the ones place and change and put it toward the goal. This check was funny because there was no change. It was an even dollar amount which is really unusual. Anyway, $3.00 toward the evil CC debt.

I found $172.80 in the budget for the 0% CC. I have been skimming money from some of my other categories that I feel are okay with a little less. I hope I'm right. I'm also looking forward to my next paycheck this week and putting even more toward this goal. I really want this debt GONE! I need to move on and be able to buy a house, and that can't happen until this is paid off.

We actually have more debt after this is paid, but it will be a really good chunk gone. I'm not sure what the next goal will be (paying off more debt or saving for a down payment), but nothing can happen until this goal is met so I am trying to get there as fast as humanly possible.

New CC Balance: $8,195.38

I am feeling a little bit better since my last post. Thank you again to all who posted support and encouragement for me! I truly appreciate it.

I received a check in the mail yesterday for some side work I do as a mail decoy - $58.50 for 3 months of work so not a lot but a nice little "extra". I took that money along with $40 I had leftover from my "allowance" last paycheck, $54 I cut from our budget this month and the interest earned on my ING checking account last month and made a payment to the 0% CC - a total extra payment of $153.82 that will go through tomorrow.

Updated 0% Credit Card Total = $8,368.18