General Goals 1) to be debt free in 3.5 years 2) save lots of money
Showing posts with label owning up to student debt. Show all posts
Showing posts with label owning up to student debt. Show all posts

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Confessions of an indebted TD Student Line of Credit

In an attempt to not study for 30 min I decided to flipped though my old TD line of credit statements. I have only found a early as Feb 2006 when my credit limit was a small 8,000. Interest was dirty high at 8%, 7.25% and 7.5% though out the year.

I often want to ask people if they remember the very first thing that they put on their (visa, LoC, other consumer debt). I was always sure I knew what mine was but as I flipped thought my statements, it was reaffirmed. The very first thing I put on my LoC was my first and last month's deposit for my first place on  George st. N. That was March 28, 2006. I had had my line of credit since before September 2005 but had not used it. To 'spend' that $900 I was charged 74 cents. After that of the first year, most of my LoC was rent; though there are a quit a few spots were I paid my visa off with my LoC 60$, 100$ ect a shot. There are even months like June 2006 where all that my statement shows is payments, interest and insurance AKA no new debt And even by the end, Dec 2006 my available limit was 5,500.50 of the $8,000.00 I was given. So were did I fall off?

Some time between Jan 2007 and Jan 2009 I fell off the rail.

 I can't find the statements that consist of that time. June 2009 was a bang up month, I spend on my LoC $2,513.42. Yup that's a lot of money to blow though. But it didn't matter I still had 6,514.02 of averrable credit before I hit the 34,000.00 max. By December of 2009 my available limit was $1,668.41. The LoC was my never ending debit card and its clear that's how I saw it and used it. The statements don't lie.

Despite all the frivolous spending that I did that month (June 2009) and there was a lot like: $6.00 to E-Specially F (I don't even know what or who that company is, nor do I remember what the 6$ bought). The most frivolous thing I put on my LoC was candy. Yup I have a sweet tooth. The day after my birthday in September I went to the Bulk Barn and spent $50.52 on candy and a glass jar to to put it in. I justified it as my 'bday gift' to myself. The jar sat on my desk and I ate a lot of candy over the next month and half.

So there you have it, the day I starting digging my debt hole "March 28, 2006" for a deposit on my first apartment. The worst of my spending ways: June 2009 at $2, 513.42. And my most frivolous buy: $50.52 on candy.

What about you, can you answer these 3 questions:
1) what was the first thing you put on credit?
2) what was your worst debt month?
3) What was your most frivolous item you bought on debt?

Monday, June 6, 2011

Please I Need Your Advice/ Opinion!

I got a bit of studying done yesterday but not nearly as much as I would have liked. I also did some number  crunching. Before I did my 'Own Up to my debt' post I had my student debt at a nice round number like $40,000.00. Well would you believe it was almost $10,000 more and at the time I wasn't including my visa card debt in that calculation. Also at that time I set myself the 3.5 year goal, I told every one that if it took 2 or 3 jobs I was prepared to do it. My BF at the time asked me not to fearing that it would sound the begging to the end of our relationship. So out of respect for him I didn't. I also thought I would get a job that started at $40,000 and guess what I didn't. Now this is no one's fault but my own. In my defence I took the first job offered and 10 days after I had handed in my last paper for my last course of my BA degree, I was sitting in training class. So maybe I could have stuck it out and waited for a 'better' job but no one was paying my bills that wasn't an option in my option.

But I digress, let me get back to the the original topic of this post. As I was saying I have been number crunching. With my visa debt my total debt worked out to be $49,058.75 so in order to get it paid off in 3.5 years I have to put $14, 016.78 in to my debt year 1,2,3 AND year 1/2. I have been musing over if I should make year 1 Sept. 2010-2011 or Jan 2011-Dec 2011, since you will notice (see 2011Goals) that one of my goals this year is to put $15,000 into my student debt. However I have now decided to count year 1 of debt reduction, Sept 30, 2010- Sept 30. 2011. Since I think I officially started this journey Sept 9, 2010. This means as of May 31 2011 I have paid off $10,122.48 in debt (sundry debt, visa debt and student debt). However this leaves me with $3,894.30 to go before Sept 30 2011. That means I would have to put at least $973.58 between now and the end of Sept each month in to my student debt, outside of min payments to reach my Year 1 target.  Given my current debt reduction rate the number is possible however by the end of this month/ early next month I will have a car. This will significantly reduce my ability to meet this target.

On top of this my plan is after I know what my minimum monthly payments are to shift focus from aggressively paying down my LoC to my OSAP, since it is both the smallest amount and has the highest interest. And of course in October I will be in debt reduction year #2.

Another piece of back ground before I present you with my dilemma. In Nov. of 2009 I took $1000 of my OSAP money and put it into a mutual fund, I wanted to invest it in stocks but was convinced at the bank to do a mutual find (that's a post for another day). Any ways this mutual fund has done crap all for me its was up to $1115 a few months back but as of May was down to $1110. Since its done crap all for me and its likely I have paid more in interest to OSAP than it has made, I am going to cash it out. I had thought to leave it until Nov. 2011 at which point it would have been sitting for 2 years and depositing back in to my OSAP. I am hoping to recoup the $1000 since there will likely be fees for cashing it out.

Now this is my dilemma should I cash it out early (in Sept) to help me meet my Year 1 debt target
                                                       OR
Should I leave it until Nov. and let it be part of debt reduction year #2 knowing I will likely not have met my debt reduction target for deb year #1

WHAT DO YOU THINK????  Please any guidance is greatly appreciated.

Friday, November 12, 2010

Ownin' Up to the Debt

The first thing that Gail taught me was to Own Up to my student debt. To be honest I thought I knew what it was. I had it at a nice round number about 40,000.00. Ya I was way off almost 10,000.00 off. Gail has a great worksheet on her website that can help you as it did me own up to my debt. I know its scary to go it, but trust me you will start to feel you have a handle on your finances, when you actually know the true numbers. The second piece of advice that I have gained is: to write down any personal debt you have outstanding with friends. Then systematically get rid of the second list and plan out how you will work your way through the first list.

this is my First list:
PAY OFF IN
Who you owe For What How Much Interest Rate 12 months 24 months 36 months
TD Canada Trust student debt $34,380.81 5.00% $3,008.32 $1,539.97 $1,042.57
National Student Loans student debt $13,058.00 7.50% $1,169.78 $604.29 $412.60
TOTAL: $47,438.81 $4,178.10 $2,145.27 $1,455






TOTAL: 47,428.81

That is a VERY SCARRY NUMBER!!! I honestly can tell you my parents don't even know its that high. And of course I had no idea.

The second list included the sundry debts to friends:

Jessica (last phone bill for our aptm in Uni.)~ $117.56
John (Moving truck)~ $120.00
Miranda (concert ticket)~$130.00
Dan (containers)~ $27.05
Dave (trip)~ $332.80

TOTAL: 727.41

So GRAND TOTAL: 47,428.81 + 7.27.41 =48,156.22

Ya almost $50,000.00 in student debt and I want it paid off in 3.5 years. This is the first of my grand plans and this blog is going to help me keep on track.