Before I could really focus on future debt reduction, I needed to see if I what I had done merited any praise. I was truly surprised!
I left a position in September of 2006 and really did not have 100% of our income back in tow until June 2007. My wife and I had been working on our debt reduction plan, but did NOT have 100% communication prior to me leaving this job. It was not a “happy” place and I brought tremendous amounts of stress and anxieties home. My wife, Carmie, was very supportive; better stated, she was enthusiastic that I walked away from this job. Trying to find a job in the Metro-Detroit area in the fourth quarter of the year in my field (industrial sales), in our economic climate, was not an easy task. So we decided I would take some time off, regroup mentally, work on the “honey do” list and overall just pay the credit card minimums and make do. I am happy to say that has been one of my best decisions ever. I took time to look at our finances. I never did before. If everything was paid, and I had cash to “play” with, everything was succulent in my world. I knew we had “some bills” and “some debt”, but I never understood why my wifey was upset at paying bills. I took the time in February 07 to pay attention to the finances. After all, there wasn’t much more to do while unemployed, other than reading blogs and listening to talk radio. WOW! Talk about lights being turned on. I was amazed at how we got so far in debt so quickly.
This is the list of credit card bills we had and how far we have come in just one year!
| CREDIT CARD | BALANCE | % | Paid down | ||
| 01/01/07 | 01/01/08 | RATE | |||
| WaMu | $3,617.82 | $0.00 | 27.74% | $3,617.82 | |
| Well’s Fargo | $607.37 | $0.00 | 23.50% | $607.37 | |
| Express Store Card | $201.12 | $0.00 | 22.80% | $201.12 | |
| Lowe’s | $643.73 | $0.00 | 21.99% | $643.73 | |
| Home Depot | $0.00 | $602.52 | 16.24% | -$602.52 | |
| Orchard Bank | $147.17 | $72.96 | 15.90% | $74.21 | |
| Capital One | $4,353.43 | $2,917.10 | 14.90% | $1,436.33 | |
| Hanson’s Windows | $0.00 | $2,476.34 | 14.49% | -$2,476.34 | |
| Bank of America | $3,625.92 | $2,881.58 | 13.99% | $744.34 | |
| First Consumer’s | $7,475.52 | $5,383.21 | 13.95% | $2,092.31 | |
| Discover | $231.68 | $0.00 | 0 | $231.68 | |
| Total | Total | PAID DOWN | |||
| $20,903.76 | $14,333.71 | $6,570.05 | |||
I have added some cards over the year, but that was to reduce to % rate. Losing 25% of my income in 2007 might sound devastating but actually it turned out to be a very positive eyeopener.
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