As of April 9, 2019, I have 22 distinct pieces of my debt that need to be paid down. Excluding my two highest student loans (because that’s a whole other beast and there’s really no need to focus on that negativity at the moment), this total comes to $65,693.68.
$65,693.68. That’s my starting fixed debt number. I’ll add those other two loans (actually one consolidation loan) back to the total once there’s been some significant headway made on the others.
The total minimum payment each month for all loans is $1,441.14, with $227.03 of that being minimum student loan payments.
This blog will detail the highs and lows of getting these numbers down. I am a single parent of one child, and this number includes bad decisions, hard choices, and some wonderful moments too. Since I can’t change the past (don’t have a Men in Black Neuralyzer, or an MCU Infinity Stone), we are moving forward. Perhaps inching forward would be more accurate, but progress is still progress.
I decided to switch things up for April’s budget, as my expenses are outpacing my income at the moment. As my expenses are what they are, I really need to focus on my spending/cash envelopes. So this is what my budget reviews will focus on going forward. I’ve modified how I track that, and hopefully this will better help keep me on track and be able to whittle this number down.
As you can see, $4,112 is the figure I arrived at when I totaled my known expenses for the month. Yes, this is way too high to be manageable, which is why you’re reading this now. You will also note this does not take into account any of my cash envelope categories (which include some basics): gas, food, medical expenses, etc.
My name is Miss C, and welcome to my debt-free journey.