I’m going to post a monthly update of our current debt status, along with the changes for the month and any thoughts on our progress (or lack of!)
Current Non-Mortgage Debt:
| Debt | Balance | Interest Rate | Payment | Due Date |
| Appliance Loan | 3,830.00 | 0% | 0.00 | 2012-06-01 |
| Mastercard | 2,520.35 | 24.99% | 2,520.35 | 2012-05-01 |
| Visa | 4,868.11 | 1.99% | 97.00 | 2012-08-15 |
| MBA Debt | 10,896.22 | 0% | 0.00 | 2013-10-01 |
| 2nd Mortgage | 21,786.16 | 3.99% | 57.50 | Bi-Weekly |
| SUV Loan | 32,881.40 | 0% | 432.65 | Monthly |
| Line of Credit | 38,043.08 | 6.25% | ~$225 | Monthly |
Original Amount as of February 1, 2012:
| Debt | Balance | Interest Rate | Payment | Due Date |
| Appliance Loan | 4,000.00 | 0% | 0.00 | 2012-06-01 |
| Mastercard | 4,000.33 | 24.99% | 4,000.33 | 2012-03-01 |
| MBA Debt | 12,106.90 | 0% | 0.00 | 2013-10-01 |
| 2nd Mortgage | 21,883.63 | 3.99% | 57.50 | Bi-Weekly |
| SUV Loan | 33,746.70 | 0% | 432.65 | Monthly |
| Line of Credit | 38,973.82 | 6.25% | ~$225 | Monthly |
Changes: Net Decrease ($1,638.91)
Current total: $114,825.32
Previous total: $116,464.23
Original total: $114,711.38
Appliances: Made one small payment of $170 – from overtime I earned at work.
Mastercard: The balance is finally starting to go down, although it would have been much lower without the $1,511 car repair I had to put on it. That will come off next month.
Visa: I made one $60 payment, plus a little interest was added.
MBA Debt: Every month I stay with my current employer reduces the balance by another $600.
2nd Mortgage: We pay $57.50 bi-weekly, and the balance reduced by $48.81 this month.
SUV Loan: Down by $432.65 this month.
Line of Credit: Up by $71.59 after I paid the $60 Visa payment, and a little extra interest was charged this month.
So while we’re still struggling to make significant headway, at least this month we managed not to add any debt. I hope to make progress again in April, and probably backslide a bit in May. By June we will have to pay off that appliance bill, and a lot of that will come out of our savings account – so the debt will actually go down, although our Net Worth won’t change at all.
We are looking at some options, but the truth is, so long as we intend to travel this year (which we do), our debt is not going to be reduced by any significant amount this year. Baby steps for now.
You’ve made some significant progress. At least you are paying them down. And you are right, it does take baby steps, but as you keep paying those debts down you will feel much better.
Yes, my problem is I’m a right here, right now kind of person (which is why I have debt to begin with!). Making incremental progress is painful, but necessary!