Crap!

I should have done some figuring in my head before I posted! It looks like I won't be under $10K this month. Even at the end of the month, I will still be maybe $25 away (depending on interest). Which is still good, but I am getting ready to head into a "turtle" month, so my debt pay down - at least for October - will slow a bit.

I get paid today, so this afternoon I will be paying bills :) Amazingly enough, it excites me to do so now! I'll post later with an amount!

I might be under $10K by tomorrow!

Okay, technically, I might already be under $10,000 in debt, but I won't "record" it until my statements reflect my new balances. I just updated two of my accounts, and I have two more to update tomorrow.

It's kind of sad how excited I am to get under 10 grand! That's still a huge number!!!

A Final Shoe Decision (I think!)

Alrighty....enough fooling around this morning. I figured I would at least try to get a financial post on here today!

For those of you who have been following my shoe dilemma, I've made a decision. BUT, there's a possibility that I will buy one more pair of shoes "just in case." I know, I know, for someone who is still $10,000 in debt, it does not sound like frugal to purchase TWO pairs of shoes to take to a wedding. But here's the deal - both pairs are from Zappos so I pay no shipping, EITHER WAY. How awesome is that?! So, if I don't wear the heels to the reception, I can send them back. I should be getting the flip-flops on Monday, so if I think those are cute enough, I probably will just stick with those, and kept that other $65 to myself!

Oh, you might be wondering how I went from looking at stilettos to flip-flops . . . . well, it's a beach wedding. So we will be barefoot. But I need some sort of shoes to wear to the sand, because it's just nasty AND painful to walk on pavement barefoot (trust me, I know). But all of the other bridesmaids are wearing flip flops to the reception - comfort over fashion in this case. And honestly, it's probably a lot safer that way!!!

I'm getting good at this!

Checking another statement online today (the fourth card I paid off), I found out I had been charged $10.06 interest - which I was expecting a charge because I didn't get my final payment applied before my due date. But ten bucks seemed like a large finance charge for like a $200 balance. So I just called to see what amount the interest was charged on. And I was told my previous statement's balance of $678. Which seemed weird to me. The rep told me that in order to keep from being charged a finance charge, you need to pay the amount in full - not over the course of the billing cycle. What a bunch of baloney! I wanted to scream that I'm just a poor girl trying to pay off her credit card bills and I can't just save $678 over the course of one month because I will spend it! But I didn't complain or anything, and the guy said in good faith they are going to credit the charge off of my account! I've saved over $13 this week! Sweet!

Keeping $3.49 in my pocket

With my few minutes of down time today, I checked some of my account balances. It's amazing to me that I actually go online or call to check my account balances as soon as my billing cycle starts! Any who, only two have been updated for September so far. For some reason, I decided to check on one of my zero balances, JUST to make sure I had not been charged a finance charge. Low and behold, I had a balance of $3.49. Well, I knew I had paid my balance in full before my due date, so of course I called. They gave me some reason about cash advance, yada, yada, yada. It might have even been a valid reason, but I was still pissed. So they ended up waiving the fee, and now I really do have a zero balance!

It pays to bitch!

Leaving On A Jet Plane . . . .

'Cause I'm leaving on a jet plane

I don't know when I'll be back again

Oh, babe, I hate to go

(okay, so maybe it's a Piper Seneca, but hey, I still feel pretty special) Yeah, I'm bummed about leaving Destin, but not as much as normal - which is a good thing. It was a really relaxing weekend and I'm actually ready to get back to work (note: I did not say "looking forward" though). I was worried that I would be "taking work with me" and not enjoy myself at the beach, but some way I was able to let go (might have been the LITs). I was able to let go of my work worries and my debt worries. The funny thing is, I am not longer worried about my debt (I'm not sure that I ever really was - considering this is the first time I've taken a real crack at it)! But now I know I have a plan, and it I have it all under control. My biggest stress this weekend was searching for wedding shoes (see post below) - didn't find any either! I will be posting an update about that tomorrow . . . .