Anonymous said…

KC I am ashamed of you, look at all your debt!!! pay some of it down, Kenny Chesney will be there next year… for now pay your bills.. and do you really have to go to the wedding ? come on ! its just a wedding… 4 hours of food and drinks and boring traditions.. just stay home and have them send you a copy of the video.

Yes, I realize that in order to achieve any goal – especially one as important and daunting as escaping major debt – you have to make sacrifices. Maybe I shouldn’t have gone to the concert, maybe I shouldn’t have gone to the wedding. But really, I can’t go about this goal by punishing myself, my friends and my family. Yes, I have to do a MUCH better job of living within my means, but going to that concert was the highlight of my girlfriend’s year so I don’t regret it. And getting married is a monumental event in someone’s life and I feel honored to have been made a part of it.

Jay said…

You want to get out of debt and you still have a credit card you are using? HA! You aren’t serious about this yet.

CUT IT UP and close the account.

You’ll never get out of debt while you still have one and keep charging to it.

I agree. As of this morning I shredded my remaining credit cards – all eight of them (3 mastercards, 2 visas, 2 amex, and a discover). It’s clear to me that I have an impulse buying problem. So here’s my plan:

Now without credit I will have to seriously consider whether I what I want to spend my $200 per pay check spending allocation on in order to make the money last. I have an emergency fund of about $1,200 – not even one paycheck, but it’s still growing and hopefully I won’t have to tap into it anytime soon. As for Christmas spending, I’ve been putting some money aside every month to prepare. If I ever feel that I need to use a credit card for something I can contact the company saying that I need a replacement card. This will give me 7-10 days, while I wait for it to be delivered, to decide whether I really need to use it and if there is another – better – way to get it done.

Thanks for the comments! Whether it’s support or critique it shows that people care and I really appreciate it.

First the missed Citi Payment. Then the 2nd half payment for Kenny Chesney tickets (yes, it’s out…I’m a country music convert – I will either gain or lose an audience for this. Ha!). And to top it all off, I still haven’t found an “affordable” flight to the west coast for my friend’s wedding in late August. Flights have been in the $400 area for about a week or so now and I’m beginning to think that’s where it will stay until after the wedding.

Oh well. I think the lesson learned this month is that sometimes you just have to say, ‘okay – minor setback’ and then just push forward. August is not only another month with 2 more paychecks, but I’ll be receiving my security deposit from my soon-to-be-former landlord.