Debt $ense

*sigh* I leave Saturday for 11 days with my family in Massachusetts. And no, the sigh is not because I’m spending that much time with them. It’s because the trip will run me close to $200 in gas money alone. That’s no worse than Amtrak or flying, possibly slightly better, but it’s a big chunk of change.

It used to be that gas up and back would be less than half that, making driving the logical choice. Now it’s a toss-up, and driving wins mostly because of flexibility while traveling, as well as not having to borrow a car from another family member to get around while I’m up there. (My brother already has to do that, since he doesn’t have his own. I’d offer him mine next year, but he thinks it’s too tiny.)

So I’ll be getting my oil changed and having my tire pressure checked before I go to maximize gas milage. Then I’ll just grin and bear it - and remind myself that’s the price I pay for living in a different part of the country. But man, I hate to see those pump prices rising as my departure date gets closer.

I had to renew my car registration this morning, and the Hyundai dealership is two lots down, so I stopped by to do some research. Fortunately, I got a salesman who’s related to one of my co-workers, so there was no pressure and he went out of his way to be helpful. So I had a chance to sit in the model I want, get a good look at the features and figure out which trim I like the best.

The car replacement is still a few months a way — knock on wood — but I have a better idea of what I want and now have the name of a salesman who I can trust. (Why? Because his S-I-L is a formidable woman and she wouldn’t take it well if I got hosed.) He even suggested I sell my car on my own to one of the newspaper carriers rather than trade it in. Apparently it’s a popular car because it’s a gas-sipper and fairly inexpensive to maintain. He estimated I could get $1,500 to $2,000 for it. I’d probably go for the lower end of that - it would still be three times more than I would get as a trade-in and it would likely go quicker. So I’m estimating I can get $1,000, to allow for negotiating room. That, plus savings based on my current rate of pay, mean I would have about $6,000 for a downpayment by this time next year, when they’re trying to get rid of the 2007 models as the 2008 come in. And, of course, by then there should be several leased models back on the lot as used, which greatly increases my options.

(If you’re wondering why I would consider new, basically it would only happen if between year-end incentives and the owner loyalty discount, I could get a comparable deal to a used one. New also comes with the full warranty, whereas used only gets part of it.)

The really nice part about the car - a Hyundai Tucson, for the curious - is that the rear seats and the front passenger seat fold flat to allow for carrying some pretty good-sized items in a small SUV. As somebody who lives alone and far from the family members with minivans, this is a good thing. It also means I won’t have an excuse anymore to leave stuff at my parents’ house. Guess that childhood closet will finally get cleaned out…

I’ve returned from my weekend helping a friend with home repair-type projects, and gained much fodder for the blog in the process. For now, the brief update is I will be able to put an extra payment of $400 toward my CC later this week - once a check for the bulk of that amount clears - which will drop my balance below $7,000. (Go me!) That’s even with dental bills, etc.

I should be back later today with a longer post, but I wanted to at least update those interested in my progress.

I finally took some time today to work on one of my extra income plans. I took various components in different papers and designed four basic holiday cards. I’m going to assemble one of each in the next few days, then pitch city and county parks and rec departments on teaching a fall class on the topic. Based on past experience, one class should net me between $50 and $250 depending on the number of students. If I can score two classes, that should take care of two months’ extra payments, possibly more.

My other plan, editing and proofing college papers, is waiting for me to design the flyer and distribute it on campus. I started last week, but haven’t had time at work to finish it. I don’t know if I will this week, but should on the weekend - it’s my turn to work. I’m not sure what kind of income to expect from that, especially for a summer session.

My third plan relates to the first one, and that’s selling Christmas cards I make. I’m hoping the classes will help with word of mouth. I’m not sure how crazy I want to go with this, for several reasons, so that’s why it’s third.

I just went in to update my electronic bill payments. It took less than five minutes to adjust my rent payment for the higher rent starting next month, kill my Adelphia payment because I don’t use their services and increase my weekly CC payment. And I don’t need to worry about making sure bills are in on time because the bank sends it automatically.

Well, the good news is I was way under my budget ($15 left of $40) for my Richmond trip. The bad news is part of that is because my friend got sick so I headed home a day early.

I was going to go back to work today and save the vacation day, but my sweetie convinced me I needed the day off. So instead I’ve been vegging. But I did make time for a trip to the bank to deposit $60 I’d saved, then came home and set up an extra payment on my CC for Monday for the same amount. It’s not the full $75 I’m planning for, or $100 I’m hoping for, but there’s time left in the month.

Oh, and I’m getting lunch on the company’s dime tomorrow because we have a job candidate in. If I pick the right place and order well, I can get enough leftovers for dinner out of the deal.

All in all, not a bad money week so far.

I just went into my bank account online to see how tight my cash flow was going to be this month. I thought I would have to skip a weekly CC payment to cover some of my extra expenses because of the dental bills and some other unexpected costs, but it looks like I’ll make it through with exactly enough. I have $53 and change in my account now, and I’ll have $53 and change at the end of the month. I won’t put any money in my pinch-point account, but I’d rather do that then skip a CC payment, at least short-term.

My next dentist appointment is May 30, so I have a little bit of wiggle room on that. June’s also going to be tight, but I can make it work. My birthday’s the end of this month, and one family member usually includes a dollar for every year, so that gives me a little extra cash.

My other goal is to save enough from my weekly spending money to still put at least $75 toward an extra CC payment at the end of the month. I’ve got $32 already, plus what’s in my change jar at home (probably $15-$20). I’m also hoping to get the prize at work, though I might have to split it with the photographer. (Half of $50 is better than all of nothing, and with his help, I think it could be really cool.) I’m also going to check out the consignment stores nearby this weekend when I’m up that way at the book fair and see if I can convert some of my old clothes (some even with tags) into cash by the end of the month.

I’m also planning to stash at least $30 for running sneakers out of the next two paychecks. That gets me halfway there, plus I asked for a gift card to the store for my birthday.

As promised, I’ve added some links to the sidebar, though more will be going up during the next few days. Within all the PF blogs I read, there are a few I eagerly check for the next post because I enjoy them so much. In no particular order:

Debt Hater was one of the first I found, partially because of her blog’s name. Her posts always make me think, whether they apply to my situation or not, and she has a great attitude toward killing her debt that’s contagious.

Boston Gal’s Open Wallet is another regular stop. As a former Bay Stater, I’m always amazed at how people can not only afford to live there, but do reasonably well, especially when they’re young and single. Watching Jane Dough’s progress not only gives me great tips to use in my own life, it reminds me how much easier I have it down here without the housing madness in metro Boston. If she can do it, so can I!

The Family CEO doesn’t apply as much to my situation, since I’m single, but I enjoy reading it and she has some good tips even for those not heading a household.

Young and Broke does a great job of finding information that pertains to the situation of what Suze Orman calls the “Young, Fabulous and Broke,” then adding her own take on it so it’s more than just a link farm.

There are two carnivals I want to highlight, but I don’t have the links available, so I’ll have to come back and edit this entry once I get to the computer where those are bookmarked. One is the Carnival of Debt Reduction, which will post tomorrow. I took a leap and submitted one of my posts from earlier this week to this edition, and I hope it gets in. The other is the Carnival of Personal Finance. They’re great collections of PF posts that have helped me find blogs I otherwise wouldn’t have seen.

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.

That’s my April net worth. My assets include an average of $550 in checking throughout the month (according to my bank), $7,800 in my 401(k) and a car worth about $1,200.

My debts include about $7,300 in student loans and $8,312 in CC debt.

May goals: I want to knock the CC down to $7,600, and think the 401(k) will be up about $8,000 by the end of May. That, plus a student loan payment, should get my net worth close to -$5,000.

For comparison, when I put my information into NetworthIQ at the beginning of April, I was at about -$6,900. Some of the increase is because of my 401(k), but a lot is from paying down debt!