Saturday, January 5, 2013

Airing my Debt Grievances

So far this year, I haven't paid off any debt. This first pay cheque (I get paid every Thursday) was spent nearly as soon as I had it in my bank account. I had some bills to pay, mouths to feed (ain't nothin in this world for free) and what not.
My debt is currently at about $1400. This is divided between a credit card, and money owed to my parents. Not accounting for interest on the credit card debt, I would need to pay $27 a week to pay it off. So let's round it up and say $30 a week. I know I wouldn't be able to do this. My hours at work have all but disappeared. I went from an average of 40 hours a week in the summer, down to 14 this week. That leaves pretty much no extra cash for paying off debts. In fact, it's almost not enough to cover my basic expenses. (Contrary to what most think, I'm not making $15 an hour at The Beer Store. That won't happen for years, if at all.)
Anyway, I'm hoping at the very least to get my credit card paid off this year. That will take less than $20 a week, once again not accounting for interest. That's maybe a little more doable. I'm going to call them soon and see if I can get my interest rate lowered. It's REALLY high, and that's not conducive to paying off debts quickly.
Having this debt hanging over my head stresses me out immensely.

I'm hoping that by starting to open up about my money troubles, I can start fixing them. I used to have several thousand dollars in savings, and that has disappeared through a combination of events.
I won't turn this blog into a money related blog, don't worry. I am just trying to keep myself accountable.

2 comments:

  1. Have you watched Til Debt Do Us Part? It's a canadian money-saving show and I watch it all the time. She makes people put their money in jars and even though they are thousands in debt, and they spend about 10000 a month (that's not a typo) they manage to have money at the end of the month! She has a website.. http://www.gailvazoxlade.com/

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    1. I have!! I really like it, and there is lots to learn from it. I watch it occasionally. My biggest problem is that my income is unpredictable, so I have a hard time budgeting. What works for these 3 months, doesn't work for these, and so on.

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