Sundry Debt FREE!!!!

Have you seen my new debt tracker to the right of this screen??? LOOK! You will notice something new!!! That's right I am sundry debt free!!! This last Thursday was pay day and the last $80 was taken out to make the final payment to Miranda. Now I haven't seen her in a while so I haven't given the money to her or the first $50. But the money is there sitting in my little glass jar waiting for a change to be handed over.

I my personal life I finally got my books sorted out and put properly on shelves. This might not sound like a large task but for me it truly is, at last count I had over 500 books. As it stands I have no idea how many books Ihave. The next task is to count them and put them into my database. I have put over 15 in a bag to go to goodwill.

Another thing that has happened is that I left my wallet with my boyfriend. Now luckily I had my debt card and my drivers licence on me at the time. And as it happens I have enough on me to get bus tickets because I took money out of my account at the bank before hand. Looking on the bright side of my stupid mistake with out my debt card there's no chance for me to spend any money.

Sundry Debt Update and Extra December Pay Cheque

I am so excited I gave the last $62.80 to Dave today. Which means that he is completely pied off!!!! YAHOO finally since it was outstanding since August. Also the first $50 for Miranda is sitting on my desk ready to give her when I next see her, and at the rate that we are going it might not be until after next week's pay day. If this happens then I will have the next $80 for her. Which means that after she has that $80.00 I will be Sundry Debt free!!! I know I am jumping the gun a little bit but I am excited about the idea. To be even a little bit debt free is an exciting prospect.

In other news next month I get 3 pay cheques and I have spent the last couple of night agonizing over it to the point were I can't get to sleep. Its pathetic I mean now that I have money and I am trying to pay down debt and its an extra pay cheque I am still stressing over it. I had originally wanted to put the extra money left over after my automatic general saving deduction and cat fund deduction into debt. But other things have come up like my car fund which has to be at $2000 by the end of December. Also I have the chance to go to an academic conference in Cuba in February. And since there is no 'spare' credit (thank God) It has to be paid for in cash. The other thing is that I am not treating it as 'bonus or extra cash' for me its just another pay day. So I want to make sure I use it wisely. sigh.... advice anyone....

The first steps to payin' off debt

In my last post I mentioned that I have several sundry debts to friends. I recommend that they be the first things you tackle. Taking my own advise the first thing I did was pay off Jessica. I owed her money for the last of our shared phone bill a total of $117.56. The second one I started to work on was my debt to Dave. Now he's not fully paid off, but because he is the biggest I wanted a good chunk of it paid. I have given him $270 of the $332.80 that I owed him. So $332.80-$270= $62.80 that I still owe him. He would have been paid off last month but 'life got in the way.' So he was willing enough to let me delay for a month. The topic of 'life getting in the way' I will talk about in another post. The other debts that I took care of was the $27.05 that I owed Dan. I am also happy to report that as of last night I have also paid of John which was $120.00. This leaves me with the last amount I owe to Dave and the full amount of $130.00 I owe Miranda.

Original sundry debt amount: $727.41

Current amount paid back: $534.61

Amount Outstanding: 192.80

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.