I received my check for $490 today and deposited it into the checking account. I will get the paychecks direct deposited and available at midnight bringing my total to $4831.72 which based on the budget forecast is exactly where I expected to be! So now I can start attacking the list of expenses. Whoo hoo!
On another note...I tried calling and asking that they waive my credit card annual fee ($45 on a card I haven't used all year) and they told me they couldn't because of lack of activity on the card.
Yep...I am paying the stupid thing and closing it. So much for customer service!
As for the bonus I was expecting it will end up being less than expected (thought I was getting $6106) with a bonus for $5491. That's OK because I still plan on taking $5000 and putting it away for Hawaii and using the other $491 towards Card 3 in the debt reduction tracker. So we've got vacation covered and I still will have plenty of excess income over the next couple of months to do some damage to Card 3's balance. Yippie!
Income right on target...kind of
June 24th, 2008 at 10:16 pm
June 25th, 2008 at 12:47 pm 1214398038
Instead of asking them to eliminate the few, they card company might be able to lower your rate instead. Or simply rollover the balance (of all three cards)into another card with no fee and low introductory rates. Normally I wouldn't recommend something like that but you are focused on paying down that debt so this might be a prudent move on your part.
And lastly, Hawaii? This is probably the most expensive US holiday spot. Why not try another less costly alternative like the US Virgin Islands or Florida or postpone the vacation altogether and payoff one or two of those cards.
June 25th, 2008 at 01:27 pm 1214400471
1. That's exactly the plan. I have an ING Orange Savings account and an Electric Orange Checking and we will be parking the Hawaii money into the Savings and then moving it to the EO Checking right before we leave so it's ready to go.
2. I have considered rolling the totals over but since we have $91k I have decided to just hammer them out (with our income it shouldn't take very long...at least I'm hoping that to be the case.) I'm pretty intent on paying it down but I realize they are pretty steep hills as it is.
3. Unfortunately for us Hawaii is already paid for and most of it is non-refundable so we're kind of stuck (not really a bad thing I guess.) The airfare and condo are paid in full and non-refundable (and $10k of the debt.) The good thing is my company is paying for the vehicle and gas on the island (I will have to do some work while there even though it is a vacation.) I figure if we can be liquid with activities and food at least we will not be accumulating additional debt that we'd have to pay down later. It's kind of a catch-22 since if I could be sure we weren't going to spend the $5400 while there I could pay it on debt before we go, use the card in Hawaii while we're there and then pay it off later. In that scenario less interest would accrue before we go and as long as I'm able to throw what I've been able to throw at it when we get back we'd probably avoid paying a lot of interest on the charges.
Lots to ponder before we go...that's for sure. Thanks for the advice!