Debt $ense

I’m still on the lookout for more ways to trim my budget. My next big expense is my auto/renter’s insurance payment in late July. I’m headed to my insurance agent Monday to ask them to increase my deductible to $1,000 for everything on the car. I had upped it to $500 last year, but at this point, any body damage less than $500 wouldn’t be worth fixing, so increasing to $1,000 makes more sense. It should also save me some money.I don’t know if they’ll refund any of the money on this policy, but at least it will be on record for next year’s policy.

I’m also going to call my credit card company and ask them to cut my interest rate. I’m almost at the point where I would only need one, maybe two balance transfers to get my debt paid off. But that’s a hassle, and prone to sneaky tricks. I would rather call the company I’ve had a card with since college and convince them to make me a deal.

Likewise, I’m going to call Adelphia and see if I can convince them to cut my internet rate down to something more manageable. I can think of better uses for $50 a month than internet, especially with the availability of free wi-fi in town. If they can make me a good deal, I’ll keep it, at least for now. If not, I’ll drop it.

My CC interest is running about $105 a month at 12.9 percent. If I can get it down under 8 percent, that should save me about $40 a month. I’m hoping to pick up either $25 a month on internet or $50 (from dropping it). That’s another $16-$23 a week toward my card.

I should also be able to add at least that much to my weekly payments in July after my raise, since I expect it will be comparable to the ones I’ve gotten the last few years. That will get my monthly payments up in the $700-$800 range. (For comparison, that’s about 45 percent of my take-home pay.) That’s $4,500 for the second half of the year. As you saw in my last post, that will make a substantial inroad into my CC debt.