Debt

[dancerjodi]

Jetgrrl sent me a great spreadsheet for looking at debt payments, interest, etc.

If I paid things at the rate I've been doing (which *is* over the minimum payment each month) I'd be done paying off my 2 credit cards in 2008. Over that time I would have paid $35,000 in just interest alone.

This doesn't include my student loans and car loans (student loan should be paid off in 3 more years if I stick to schedule, car loan in 2 more if I stick to schedule).

Whee fun.

We need to figure out something smarter than what we've been doing to get this debt down. We can afford the payments, but we're throwing so much money away. This doesn't also include the credit cards that Brian has, or his car loan (or our mortgage). Me thinks we need to do less toy buying (ahem, Brian) and less spending over the weekends).

Comments

[jetgrrl01.livejournal.com]

Sorry for the icky total-interest news, but I'm glad the spreadsheet helped out. I found that seeing the amount of money going to waste on interest was one of the best motivators for not spending money on silly extra things. I'd be standing in Target with a cart of stuff and I'd say, "Do I really need any of this? Is it worth seeing that total debt stay around for a couple more months? Is it worth the extra interest I'll end up paying?" The answer was almost always no, so I often just left the cart and walked out.

Good luck!

Debt

[dancer.livejournal.com]

"I found that seeing the amount of money going to waste on interest was one of the best motivators for not spending money on silly extra things."

Oh I knew this. I thought I needed something more organized than a stack of bill statements though to paint a whole picture for my other half :) I'm just now focusing on knocking this out (since before I was more focused on moving to a higher priced area, and paying tuition - so extra money was reserved for other things).

Thanks again! It was a great help :)