Adjusting payments September 14, 2006
Posted by irishmadness in Budgeting, Debt, Saving.19 comments
Now that I’ve got a few hundred dollars stashed in my ING Direct account, I decided it was time to reduce the amount I put into my pinch-point savings from $50 a week to $25 a week. $15 of the difference is going toward my CC payment; the other $10 is going to ING Direct.
I also set up three subaccounts with ING: House, vacation and car. The house account gets $5 a week, the vacation account gets $15 a week and the car account gets $50 a week. That leaves $5 a week from my deposit to stay in the main account. Once my CC is paid off (February is my best guess), I’ll adjust the amounts as I start putting the bulk of that money into savings.
Update September 5, 2006
Posted by irishmadness in Credit cards, Debt, Saving.6 comments
My plan this month is to give my CC balance a big hit because I get an “extra” paycheck in September. So I’ll be able to put an extra three weeks worth of money toward knocking down that debt. 🙂
My initial ING Direct deposit cleared, and my first weekly payment goes in tomorrow. (Yay!) I’ll move a chunk over to my CC shortly before the low interest rate goes away so I get as much interest from ING Direct as possible, then knock the CC balance down as low as possible before the rate goes up.
(For anyone interested in opening an ING Direct account, clicking on a link below will get you a $25 bonus when you deposit at least $250. I’ll get a $10 for referring you.)
If the links are either used or expired, e-mail me at colorguard@mac.com and I’ll post more.
I’m also starting to plan for Christmas and birthdays. (My immediate family’s birthdays are ALL in December and January.) Of the 11 family presents I have to buy, four are purchased. I have a price estimate for the three others selected – $55. That leaves four presents for two people. I suspect my post-Thanksgiving shopping trip will take care of the remaining four. But I’m in good shape for me, both progress-wise and budget-wise.
Also in good news, my electric bill will go down below its current $25/month now that the weather’s cooler, and gas prices are dropping dramatically, so that should allow me to stash some extra money during the next few months.
Debt $ense 