ello-
Here it is May already and I wanted to talk about not paying off credit card debt for May 2009. Why do I say not paying off debt? Well because I took a look at my numbers for this month and I barely paid off $130 this past month on my debt but still paid over $500 in interest charges. So that kind of hurts. But what can you expect when you buy a new Dell computer! And not just any Dell computer, an Optiplex business PC with a 22 inch monitor. I bought the PC due to my old one slowing down and being really slow when I am trying to encode videos about products and services I am promoting. So to be more productive and not wait 20 minutes for one video to encode, I bought a new one and can make twice as many movies in half the time.
I will get to deduct the cost of the PC as a business expense as I work for myself and use it for business purposes.
I don’t buy things like fancy TVs or designer clothes or any electronic devices. I think of iPods and iPhones as cool luxuries but if they are not free I am not buying them. The only reason I got a new cell phone was because it was free including shipping and handling. I didn’t have to pay a thing for it. It’s not the fanciest model out there but it gets the job done – it makes phone calls.
And this new PC was a necessity not a luxury since that is the determining factor on when you should buy something as I will be using it for business.
Now let’s take a look at my credit card debt for May 2009.
USAA $1813.58
Discover Card $9014.26
Chase Card $13372.85
AT&T Universal Card $8409.63
Bank Of America $15315.42
Total credit card debt as of May 1st, 2009: $47925.74
Total credit card debt as of April 4th, 2009: $48064.93
Difference of $139.19.
Total credit card debt started with: $62124 Feb 2008
Total credit card debt paid off: $14,198.26
And now let’s take a look at my other debts.
$7712 IRS Tax Debt, paid off $1000. Waiting to see if the IRS approves of my payment plan arrangements as I don’t have an extra 7 thousand dollars to pay this bill.
$7849.95 Auto Loan – Original balance $11,000.
And if I could ever remember my SallieMae username and password I would know the total amount of my student loans. It’s around $38,000 give or take a few hundred. And I’ve been paying on it since 2002 when I graduated and my original balance was $38,000 give or take a few hundred. That’s what you get when you defer your student loans for 2 years.
Total debts: $100,947.69 give or take a few hundred.
Anyone want to lend me a hundred grand? That would really help my pay off my credit card debts and other debts. :o)
Thanks for reading,
Adam
The Credit Blogger