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July 2007 Budget

bills.jpg

It’s August 1 and I have only 3 weeks before I start my final semester. Yea! It’s also time to put up my monthly review. It was painful to look at this month, but sometimes you have to just stare the monster down.

July 2007

Income  
 1046.82 
  
Expenses
Bank Fees         29.75 
Car                    235 
Household         54.31 
Joint                 360 
Pet                         7.09 
Transcript          20 
7-11                    57.63 
Savings              40 
Doctor                75 
Gasoline          114.49 
Credit Card      25.9 
                         1019.17 
 

Ok,  let’s review the month piece by piece.

Bank Fees: My credit Union charges 75 cents for every debit transaction that I use.  That’s very frustrating.  I bounced a check (forgot about the 75 cent charges) and that dinged me really bad.

Household: Just the basics of cleaning supplies and what not. I expect this to be smaller next month.

Joint: We have individual account and then we have our ‘family’ bills like rent, groceries, etc. We calculated the amount as based on how many hours we work, we put a percentage into the joint account.

Pet: My cat needs to eat.

Transcript: My university was missing some test scores that I need to graduate, so I went ahead and paid for the transcript.

7-11: A load of unecessary stuff like coffee, snacks, and magazines. I’m most upset with myself on this expense.

Credit Card: Iam happy with the account becaus ethat means that my balance on that is still $0.

 

Summary: If I cut out 7-11 and just use credit on my credit union card, then I would’ve had $87.38 more to keep in my checking account.

Goals for August:

1. Stop buying magazines from stores. Just read it online.

2. Use my credit union card wisely. I’ll keep better track of my finances, so I would need to use the debit feature.

3. Drink the coffee in the breakroom. Sure it doesn’t have the international flavors, but it’s free.

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  I decided to use Money’s Debt Planner tool to see how long it would take to pay off two debts:

  • My car loan has a balance of $ 6250 and has an interest rate of 13.75%.
  • Medical bills that were supposed to be covered by insurance (long story) but now are $350 with a 20% interest rate.

I looked at all three of their options: pay by a certain date, pay a set amount per month, and pay the minimum balances.

Here are the results I got for paying it off in 2 years:

If you pay $309.40 a month, it will take you 2 years to pay off your credit cards.
Based on your current combined balance of $6,550.00, you will pay a total of $895.51 in interest.

Here are the results of the $350/month plan:

If you pay $350.00 a month, it will take you 1 year and 9 months to pay off your credit cards.
Based on your current combined balance of $6,550.00, you will pay a total of $771.88 in interest.

Finally, here are the results if I only pay the minimum balances:

By making minimum payments only, it will take you 10 years and 3 months to pay off your credit cards.
Based on your current combined balance of $6,550.00, you will pay a total of $2,504.66 in interest.

Just looking at that I realize that I have got to be more aggressive about paying these off as soon as possible. Try using that calculator and notice the huge difference between the payment plans for yourself.

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I was surfing through some blogs and when I came across this one, I just couldn’t resist. Sometimes we focus on just paying debt off, not realizing what the end result is: freedom, peace of mind, and less debt. It’s not only good for your financial health, but also your self-esteem. By paying off a debt, you’re giving yourself more dignity and achieving a goal that many people struggle with nowadays.

Why don’t you start today? Pay off one debt. I’m not suggesting something big, like a credit card. (If you can, though, then go for it.) Pay off that IOU to your friend or family member. See how you feel afterwards and set a goal to work another debt. It takes time and it isn’t exciting, but there a huge payoff when you get closer to true financial independence. Write back if you accomplished that already or if you’re working on something right now.

read more | digg story

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Top 5 Credit Card Mistakes

I was looking at this post and thought I should include it in here be. These are mistakes that we should definitely avoid and yet many people still do them.I have done mistakes #1-3.

1. Carry a balance
2. Making late payments
3. Making the minimum payment
4. Charging things without cash in hand
5. Not using your rewards card

read more | digg story

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