So I’m very late in posting this update, however the numbers are from early in the month. Not a whole lot of excitment in the past 30 days or so – still chipping away at that debt. My ‘year’ ends in October, so I’m going to pass the $10,000 mark in debt payoff within the past 12 months.

I’m looking forward to that number increasing in the next year as well – which would hopefully make it my last year in debt (besides upcoming student loans…gulp.)

A dive in stocks this past month didn’t bode well for my overall net worth, however I continued to put money towards my credit card debt and am close to getting that monster down to the $10k mark.

I started using Mint.com a bit more religiously this past month as a way to set and track my spending in May. I was surprised to learn that I spent over 300% more than what I had planned to spend on “restaurants/eating out”. I’ll write a full post about what I’ve discovered using Mint.com, but one thing is for sure – I have to get real and start packing a lot more lunches now.

Well I just took a look at my most recent paycheck, which includes my new 8% contribution. The bottom line is that it didn’t hurt at all. In fact, barely felt the few additional dollars. In total, my retirement contribution went up by about $80 while only about $60 was taken out of my check. So, the tax advantage of the 401k contribution is basically like $20 free bucks. Not too bad, eh?

In fact, kind of makes me want to do a little math right now and determine if I should raise it to 10%. We’ll see.

Well, what you may not realize is that advise is now more relevant than ever. The credit card reforms that went into play this year make it possible for those of us with credit card debt to save a lot of money and hopefully get out of debt faster – if we abide by the rule and pay more than the minimum. In fact – the Center for Responsible Lending says that the reform will save about $2 for every dollar you pay above the minimum. Pretty sweet, huh?Here are the Center for Responsible Lending’s four tips for cardholders:

1. Pay above the minimum amount due! Paying more than the minimum can save you as much as $2 for every extra $1 you pay. For example, before the CARD Act, paying $100 extra could save you $164 in interest charges, but now that same payment amount can save you $224.

2. Continue to watch out for hair-trigger penalty rates. Issuers can still raise your interest rates on new balances for the slightest reason. It is particularly important to pay above the minimum if you get hit with a penalty rate. Doubling your payment could cut your interest charges over the following four years by more than half.

3. Don’t opt in to over-the-limit coverage. Over-the-limit coverage is a bad deal because it means that if you go above your limit, the credit card company will extend you additional credit at an exorbitant cost automatically — as much as 4,215% APR (annual percentage rate) – instead of rejecting your card. A better option would be to call your issuer to see if you can have your limit raised, or apply for additional credit elsewhere.

4. Avoid arbitration clauses in credit card contracts. Protect your rights. There are now more card options without arbitration clauses and you should ask your credit card company for one. Forced arbitration requires the borrower to resolve any dispute with an arbitrator, not in court. Research shows decisions in arbitration favor card issuers, rarely the wronged borrower.

The good news this month is that my 401k rollover has finally taken place – the bad news is that, due to just missing the vesting period, about $4K of my previous 401k fund doesn’t get to make the trip to retirement with me. Oh well. It’s a marathon, not a sprint and I’m hopefully doing just fine considering where I am in life and debt.

Speaking of my 401k, I not only rolled my previous savings into my new account, but I have also upped my contribution due to a nice little raise at work. Things sure have changed since about a year ago.

My renewed commitment to pay down the debt is still going strong – I was able to throw $1,600 at it this past month. My goal for next month is to bring the total amount outstanding closer to $10K – so we’ll see how that goes.

Overall, my net worth has been knocked down somewhat due to money that didn’t end up being mine – but it’s okay – this is a more accurate picture of where I’m currently at and the NW# is still positive.

So, in the past month, my net worth has shot up incredibly. This is largely due to a big lift in stock prices that has affected my 401k, brokerage account and my Roth IRA. While I feel great about being “in the black”, it’s really a false sense of accomplishment. I haven’t been able to chip away more debt – or rather – I haven’t been disciplined enough to chip more debt away. In fact, I have added to my debt through the use of an “emergency credit card”.

This brings up a few things:

1. Why didn’t I use my emergency savings? I am in a way – I’ve transfered out money to cover the amount that I’ve borrowed on the card. It just hasn’t hit the debt as of the time of this post.
2. Why do I own an “emergency credit card”?!

Well, I shredded all of my cards a while back and it turned out that was a mistake. The mistake wasn’t really shredding the cards, the mistake was that I wasn’t ready for it. Cold turkey sounds good – but my emergency fund wasn’t really set-up at the time. So when something hit – whether it was a car repair or something less of an emergency – I was screwed. In fact, I learned the hard way that you do need to keep one credit card around for work/travel. Car rental companies – at least National – don’t take debit cards when you take out a car. And hotels will take a debit card – but they put a large hold on your account right up front, which didn’t help my budget at the time.

Bottom line is that I know it’s bad to still have a credit card and it’s even worse to use that credit card. But I feel like as long as I’m honest with myself (on this blog) and work to pay the charge off (and more) as soon as I can, I am using credit responsibly.

…though, is there such a thing as responsible credit use when you’re still $14K in debt?

Almost back to zero and my debt has been reduced by almost $900 since the this time last month. I need to keep chipping away at that credit card debt number. It’s getting pretty low, so the snow ball is really picking up speed and has been providing a good feeling with each payment that is made – every little bit is show a deeper impact.

I hadn’t carried a balance on the cards for probably over a year now, but didn’t want to cancel them in case the reduction in available credit would impact my overall credit score and therefore my rates on existing balances.

But with the new credit card rules coming into effect and the current state of lending – I feel that now is as good a time as ever to cancel my zero balances. I’m making good progress in paying down debt and if there are any repercussions to canceling cards – I’m betting that it will help in the long run if I just start making adjustments now.

One thing I do know so far is that I’m thrilled to no longer have any ties to Bank of America.

Also, below is the actual video from Jackie Ramos, in case you want to hear her whole story:

I’ve already made some good progress on my items – not a large sum, but still a few hundred to toss towards my debt.

I’m not a frequent user of ebay, but I have used the site enough – both as a buyer and seller – to understand a few of the components that can make for a positive experience:

1. Build your reputation

If you have an old ebay account – hold on to it (again, similar to a credit card with the longest history). If you don’t have an ebay account, sign up for one now – even if you don’t plan on using it right away. Like financial credit, your history and reputation means a lot in ebay, especially if you’re selling things.

A word of advice though, think of a good name that you won’t mind hanging on to for a while. I signed up for my ebay account a really long time ago and my username is pretty silly, but I won’t change it, regardless of how badly I’d like to, since I have a solid reputation tied to that name that has been built over many years, even though I’m not a frequent user.

Once you have your account, the most important thing is to take care of your reputation whether you’re buying or selling. Your rating helps you stand out from the crowd and reassures others that you can be trusted.

2. Know your goal

The Gordon Gekko strategy doesn’t often work here – it’s best to come in with a reasonable purpose. For example, I’m in debt and I never use what I’m putting up for sale. I’m not going to hike the price so high that I discourage bids and I’m willing to hear offers if they’re reasonable (i.e. reduced or no shipping charge).

3. Be real

Write accurate descriptions, and use real pictures when at all possible.  I’ve used pictures off the internet or suggested photos from ebay before and I’m always met with skepticism. Whenever you’re selling something on ebay, always try and think as if you were on the buyers end – how would you perceive you the seller?

To that end, always provide fast and detailed feedback to the other party – again, remember your reputation is the most important thing you have going for you. A positive review goes a long way.

Although I’m not an ebay pro by any means, the three tips mentioned above have worked pretty well for me. Do you have any tips to add?