So, as I’ve always mentioned, I’m not claiming to know the answers to getting out of debt – this is evidenced by my attempts at climbing out of debt and the failure I encountered.

In fact, as I type that I see how debt is like the Greek myth of Sisyphus who’s punishment from Zeus (for trying to be on the same level as the gods – Sisyphus was mortal) was that he roll a huge rock up a steep hill, but before he reached the top of the hill, the rock always escaped him and he had to begin again.

Not that money makes gods of people, but you can’t deny that having money – true money, not available credit – is a powerful thing. And they say that to err is human and what is now more human (or a bigger error) than credit card debt. As ‘humans’ we pretend to be on the same level as those with money – spending borrowed money in an effort to keep up or show ‘purchasing power’. However, we are then only punished with having to fight a seemingly endless battle with that debt. Pushing the rock up the mountain only to lose our grip and watch it roll all the way down again.

…too deep? Eh – it’s late, whatever.

Anyway, so I was reading a few bankrate articles on improving your credit score and I seemed to either have lost site of the fact that an important factor is keeping the cards around 30% spent in order to not lose any points on my credit score (some articles say around 50% is okay). After doing the math this evening, the 6 remaining credit card balances that I am dealing with are 97%, 93%, 89%, 83%, 78%, and 34%.

Not good.

A while ago I read Dave Ramsey’s Total Money Makeover (on sale now for $10 on his site…wink.) and, honestly, I wasn’t overly impressed. It seemed like 200 or so pages which could basically be summed up with the sentence “Just pay it off”. However, maybe I read it wrong since Mr. Ramsey seems to be doing fine (yes…he does accept credit cards…another wink) and has a fairly large fan base. I don’t know – I just feel that debt is more a mental thing than anything. If paying it off were that easy – everyone would do it and no one would need advice, support or…ahem…a blog. But it’s not easy, it’s really hard and I think most books don’t address that. Anyhow…

Mr. Ramsey says to pay down your debt with the lowest balance first – and the term he uses to describe how to approach this debt pay-down is “gazelle intensity”. While, being from Boston, the metaphor to me is a little odd – I do understand what he’s saying and have decided to give it a try.

Those of you that have been reading a long know that I’m not a great budgeter and prefer to set up automatic systems as a way to dummy-proof things. So I’m going to refer to a basic budget that I had been piecing together and max out payments to the lowest percentage debt and work my way up to the top. With the help of an expected (knock on wood) Christmas bonus from the new job – I plan to have the first debt (34%) gone by the end of December. The next debt, with the help of another small and expected windfall in the form of a tax refund should help me eliminate yet another debt by February depending on when I receive my W2.

It’s exciting to think of this new plan and to actually watch chunks of debt go away – but I know that regardless of the plan, the amount that I have to work with (my paycheck) doesn’t change and that it will take time, perseverance and some of that mental toughness that no one writes about…well…except for a blogger or two.

I may not make as much as Britney Spears does in a month – reportedly $737,000 – but by the time we’re both old and gray, I may be in better financial shape than my former, repeat former dream girl.

It’s strange – I feel good now that I’m back tracking my net worth and beginning to write blog entries again, but I also feel frustrated to be almost starting out again. At least that’s what I feel like in terms of the credit card debt – but at least now I have the beginnings of an emergency fund.

Some of the numbers between this month and last are slightly inaccurate since my October update was created a little late – so this month’s update doesn’t count some payments that will go through soon. But those will be reflected in next month’s review.

Sorry for the delay – due to the new pay check schedule most bills of mine are now getting paid during the first month of the week. So I wanted to wait for some of the checks to cash before tallying up this month’s net worth.

Like I said in my last post, July/August hasn’t been the best of times. But, I never expected this stuff to be easy, nor did I truly expect my net worth line (located on the right hand column) to skyrocket straight up month-after-month. It would have been nice, but not realistic.

The main thing is that these past few months have served as a wakeup call and reinvigorated my desire to pay down this debt. I want to have the freedom to buy a home – maybe some rental properties. I don’t know really – but basically the key word/phrase is that I want freedom.

July has been hot, humid and steamy which has made it uncomfortable. But this July has also made my finances uncomfortable. (…stretch?).

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.

So, I signed up as a “Haircut Model” for this salon nearby where I work – and they gave me a call and would like me to come in tomorrow.

It’s going to cost me $15, but I’m hoping I come out with a $50 haircut. I have to honestly say I’m a little nervous though – I hope they don’t say something like, “KC, thanks for being a Haircut Guinea Pig…today we’re practicing the buzzcut“.

I’ll let you know how it turns out tomorrow. But in the meantime, it’s nice to know that I just saved about $30 or so on what I usually pay for a haircut (yes, a lot I know, but seriously worth it considering the kind of cut I used to get prior – world of difference).

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UPDATE: Haircut came out great!

A near $2000 increase in net worth! That feels really good, however I think I’d be even happier had the majority of the increase come in the form of credit card payments, but either way – the increase was a good thing.

Though it’s nice that during the same time that I decide suspend retirement contributions my “lame duck” 401(k) has a near 12% jump.

So, to sum up, my success in the past month seems to be from good luck in my 401(k) and an increased paycheck.

It’s simple stuff, but as I’m learning it’s patience and discipline that whittles away debt.