DEBT FREE!!

Debt Eliminated!

As of today (April 20, 2011), I have paid off approximately $7,000.00+ in credit card debt that have accumulated since the beginning of 2010. Finally! 

I still have about $8,000 of savings left in a 1% ING Orange Savings account and a Bank of America Maximizer Account (0.15% apr). I will close out the Bank of America's Maximizer account and put the $2,000 and change from that account to be combined with the ING account. This will be my emergency fund.

Not too bad considering the 15% paycut that has been in place since the beginning of 2010 at my job. This paycut will continue until the end of 2012, but the management has been negotiating on extending it to 2014!

My main method of Debt Elimination:

It's simple. Most people cut back on the area that they spend the most on. For me, this is the "Dining Out" area. It's just me and my partner so we waste alot of money by going out to eat all the time. I knew letting go of the "dining out" concept would be hard so I, instead, focused on cutting down entertainment budget and utilities.

1) We did not go to clubs or concerts during 2010. We went to the movies mainly.

2) We hardly turned on the heater/air-conditioner during 2010.

Savings from these cutbacks combined with any leftover money, initially purposed for saving, went into paying off the credit cards.

This is pretty much following Dave Ramsey's debt snowball concept; throwing every extra penny into the smallest debt, then working your way up to the biggest debt.

What's next?

Reduce The Biggest Expense:

I realize that I should eliminate the biggest leak and stop eating out. I have come to a solution that's unique to my situation. I will detail this solution in another post forthcoming. I do not want to post about this until I can be sure that this solution indeed works.

Start Saving More:

I plan to save $700.00 per month to add to the emergency fund. I should max out my 401K but currently, my main objectve is to have the emergency fund around $25,000 by April, 2012.

I view Dave Ramsey, the personal finance guru, as more of a motivational speaker than a precise financial expert. Either way, he can be heard on AM 980 radio station from 11:00 am to 2:00 pm if you live in the southern california area and his books can be found from any book retailers or amazon.com.

Here is one of his books that can help motivate you like it did for me:

Hopefully, 2011 will prove to be the year of saving for me.