Skip to main content

Time To Refocus

Well, the unbelievable has happened; the absolute final credit card payment was sent and now I am wondering what is next. For the past several months I have been saying that we are working toward the credit card debt getting paid off but now I am looking at our other debt and it would be great to get that paid off too. So the question is, what is next?

I currently have three student loans but one of them is a very high interest rate (it might as well be a credit card; its a variable rate that currently is squatting at 8.5%) whereas one of the others has no interest and the third loan is tax deductible and I get the full benefit of that deduction every year. So, that makes the next target my student loan. I just wish the balance wasnt so much. Right now it hovers somewhere around 6500 dollars, but that seems like it will take forever to payoff.

Currently I am taking extra money that I earn on the side and throwing gobs of it at this debt, but it still seems like it will take a long time to be free of it. But in reality, when I look at others like Tricia at Blogging Away Debt, it doesn't seem like that much debt at all.


Comments

Anonymous said…
It's definitely a good move to start knocking off your debt, starting with your highest interest one first. It might be worthwhile, if you're having a hard time getting psyched up for it, to make some sort of visualization of your debt, like one of those "thermometers" that charities like to use to show the donations as they add up to a goal. I use these myself; I keep one on the refrigerator to help me keep my eye on the ball.

Popular posts from this blog

Suze Orman Goes Too Far!

I've been a fan of Suze Orman for years. When I first started working after graduating college and then I started to make some money, my experience with other members of my family, mostly my grandparents, showed me that I needed to figure this money thing out. So, I set out to understand how money works and I found Suze. Many financial gurus are out there and for the most part, much of the advice overlaps, but Suze really seemed to be right along my line of thinking.  I bought the books, watched the show, and despite the fact that I feel like I've largely outgrown it so long as I follow the lessons, I really wanted to check up on how things were going. I went to the CNBC website and found an interview where she said this: "I do really live within my means. I have absolutely no debt. If I don't have the money to write a check, then I can't afford it. I never, ever, ever spend old money, so I'm only allowed by my own standards to buy something new with new mone...

Do Better With Your Time

Recently, I've been extremely busy with some work commitments. The interesting thing for me is that this increased work activity has really helped crystallize some of my feelings with regard to time. And these ideas are a critical part about my view on personal finance. I'm curious to know if others feel similarly. Time is money. That is, Time, in some way, contains energy. Money, is also energy. In the act of working, I am able to compound and increase the amount of money that I have. I am exchanging my time and effort and thought which are components of my work, for the productivity that I produce. And this production gets me money from my employer. However, the first dollars that I make each day, week, or month are the most valuable. Then the ones that I make at the end are the most valuable. (Forget about taxes for a minute.) The reason is, the first ones help me have a place to live and food to eat. And the last ones are the ones that I can use to really improve my life lo...

iPhone as a productivity tool

Finding the right tool to be productive can mean the difference between being average and being a superstar. Although it still feels early, I think that the iPhone is that tool for me. I tried palm pilots and I've played with blackberries. The cost is significant but worth it. It can be very easy to get caught up in the aspects of the phone that make it entertaining. Bringing games and other aspects of computers together really makes it a productivity tool. So I don't know what else to praise it for. But those are not the real reasons I like it. The very text that I'm typing right now is the reason. Becoming adept at the keyboard is a bit of a learning curve. Butit is no different than the palm or the blackberry. And the quick composition of text makes the iPhone an all-star. Now that I have this tool I can always work on something that interests me or even chill out with a game. But more than that, it is all in one. For me that I don't have to carry a separate item li...