A Weight Has Been Lifted

Well, something I never talk about is my credit card debt. I’m about $3000 in (along with a $16,000 loan for a car payment, a $1,200 loan on a laptop, not to mention a cell phone bill, child on the way, etc) and haven’t been able to find a way out until now. In August, I got a raise which put me at the highest salary I’ve ever been at since I started working at the age of 15. Yes, I’m only 21, and no, I don’t make good money. Last year about this time I signed up for a Capital One card and it just escalated from there. Now I have a total of five credit cards, four with at least three payments past due, and I was going crazy with the creditors calling me everyday from sunrise to sunset. Finally, just this morning, I decided to end it all.

I Googled debt consolidation and found a link to Care One Credit. I entered in tons of information along with each credit card and account number with the past due balance. They calculated the total and it was nearly $3,000. They consolidated it all and gave me a monthly payment of $120 which is something I can definitely afford. I never thought I’d be one of those people to get into debt and land myself in a bad situation. My mom had about $50,000 in credit card debt and she had to claim bankruptcy. I know that I am way below that mark, but it just feels good to be able to find help and get out of this debt before it gets to be too much.

I realize that I spend way too much money on entertainment such as dining out, shopping, etc. I am going to stop all of that. I added up my total bills along with the new credit card payment and I still have some money left over, so that will go into savings for the baby. Christmas is coming up and I feel bad, but I’m not going to be able to buy any family members presents. Yes, it’s my own fault. I have thought of a few ideas that are either free or extremely cheap and I hope they work out well. Here is a list of things that I plan on doing for my family…

Dad – Getting a nice card, writing a letter, offering to make dinner (since he always makes dinner) at least twice a week
Mom – Card, letter, cleaning her house (after the baby is born) at least once a week
Zach (my brother) – Card, small gift certificate to Target
Grandparents – Card, letter, small gift certificate to Borders
Michael (my boyfriend) – Card, letter, who knows? I never know what to get this man!
Mandy and Joey (aunt and uncle) – Card and letter since they are helping me out so much with the baby!

I normally don’t buy presents for friends or family members I don’t talk to much. I will normally send out Christmas cards with a personalized note. I believe for the people at work I will make a batch of cookies (not sure what kind) and give everyone a card. It’s just so hard to buy presents for people!

I am going Christmas shopping in a few weeks, and buying Christmas cards today to get a head start. I have finals coming up and can’t afford to not study or be on top of those. Thank goodness I’m only taking two classes. I am going to write another post in a few minutes about a few things that have been on my mind in the past few months.