Hooray! We got a call from the bank saying they approved the wife for $46k at 8.99 percent for 96 months (which we will never need 8 years but we can attack the higher interest stuff first). The rate is a little higher than what we wanted but we get more than we thought we would AND I'd be hard pressed to find 8.99 on a card for 8 years right now. The bank is closing her current cards except one that they're leaving a 10k limit on (which is all she needs...I have 21k with them as it is and we don't need all that credit!) The bank has to pay off their cards first and the remaining balance gets deposited to our checking account (which means I have to keep Wachovia until the transfer is made...doh!) where we can use the funds for whatever we need (which will be to pay off the higher rate cards!)

Here is the matrix as we know it today:
Updated matrix:
Card 1/$12258/$20000/14.23
Card 2/$15318/$31000/12.24
Card 3/$8215/$12500/12.24
Card 4/$6211/$9000/18.24
Card 5/$6151/$9000/18.24
Card 6/$6143/$8000/0.00*
Card 7/$5903/$10000/4.99**
Card 8/$3821/$10000/0.00***
Card 9/$1971/$7250/17.24
Card 10/$3514/$4400/16.99
Card 11/$2815/$3900/13.99
Card 12/$2100/$2500/0.00****
Card 13/$4082/$4500/5.82

*Teaser rate ends 4/1/07 (up to 13.99)
**Balance Transfer rate
***Teaser rate ends 8/22/07 (up to 24)
****Teaser rate ends 5/1/07 (up to 13.99)

$81008-$78502=$2506 off since day 1.


***Here is what the matrix will look like after the loan takes effect:

Updated matrix:
Card 1/$12258/$20000/14.23
Card 2/$15318/$31000/12.24
Card 3/$0/$10000/12.24
Card 7/$5903/$10000/4.99**
Card 8/$3821/$10000/0.00***
Card 9/$1971/$7250/17.24
Card 10/$3514/$4400/16.99
Card 11/$2815/$3900/13.99
Card 13/$4082/$4500/5.82

**Balance Transfer rate
***Teaser rate ends 8/22/07 (up to 24)

$81008-$49682=$31326 off since day 1.

You can see a whole lot of cards are gone! We will still have $17.2k and I can already tell you that Card 9, Card 10, Card 11 and most of Card 1 will also be paid off. This is how I envision the matrix looking after applying the lump sum to the debt.

Updated matrix:
Card 1/$3378/$20000/14.23
Card 2/$15318/$31000/12.24
Card 7/$5903/$10000/4.99**
Card 8/$3821/$10000/0.00***
Card 13/$4082/$4500/5.82

**Balance Transfer rate
***Teaser rate ends 8/22/07 (up to 24)

$81008-$32502=$48506 off since day 1

Not too bad! I think the best thing now is to use that ebay money to either attack Card 8 since it's going to jump to 24 percent OR transfer Card 8 to a 0 percent for 12 months offer we have on another card and use the money to pay off even more on Card 1. That way I'll be able to pay even less interest over the rest of the life of the balances.

Of course we could do a lot of different things with that 17.2k but I think this is the best scenario for us right now. Our payments on the loan will be $701/mo and I can't wait to calculate our monthly savings (the rate is locked in for the life of the loan, there are no annual fees AND no prepayment penalties) over what we were paying per month to the cc companies.

I can taste debt freedom!

I have an update before I get started using our paycheck to attack some bills. Card 1 decided to say hello with a finance charge of $161.54 and (now) a min payment of $278 due April 9th. Doh! So let's update the matrix before we start paying bills:

Updated matrix:
Card 1/$12258/$20000/14.23
Card 2/$15318/$31000/12.24
Card 3/$8215/$12500/12.24
Card 4/$6211/$9000/18.24
Card 5/$6151/$9000/18.24
Card 6/$6143/$8000/0.00*
Card 7/$5903/$10000/4.99**
Card 8/$3821/$10000/0.00***
Card 9/$1971/$7250/17.24
Card 10/$3514/$4400/16.99
Card 11/$2815/$3900/13.99
Card 12/$2100/$2500/0.00****
Card 13/$4082/$4500/5.82

*Teaser rate ends 4/1/07 (up to 13.99)
**Balance Transfer rate
***Teaser rate ends 8/22/07 (up to 24)
****Teaser rate ends 5/1/07 (up to 13.99)

$81008-$78502=$2506 off since day 1.

...and we made it on $250 for the last week +! We had to spend $19 on pictures for volleyball for our son today but we made it. It was easier than we thought it would be (but the wife REALLY needs to go grocery shopping tomorrow). So here's the update for the budget tracker:

Balance: $55
Spent: $19
Remains: $36

We are planning on withdrawing the $300 for our weekly budget tomorrow and she's going to hold onto the extra $36 so we'll have a little cushion. If we can stay under our weekly budget next week as well we'll probably withdraw less and load up to $300. So I'm proud of the family for staying under the $250 after we had to go over $300 the week before.

***Stock Update***
I forgot this update on last Friday's posts but CRWN which I bought at $3.90 the day after President's Day closed today at $5.28! So that account is growing little by little (remember there wasn't a whole lot in there to begin with but instead of withdrawing it I left it in and bought 25 shares of this stock...just to keep my feet in the kiddie pool). So far so good (and I'm not endorsing the stock...just happy that it's up!)

I'm going to link this entry to all THREE categories since the debt tracker got a new twinge regarding Card 13. Finance Charge of $7 hit the card so the min payment of $81 is now due 4/12/07. Another notch to the cards due belt (ugh!)

Updated matrix:
Card 1/$12097/$20000/14.23
Card 2/$15318/$31000/12.24
Card 3/$8215/$12500/12.24
Card 4/$6211/$9000/18.24
Card 5/$6151/$9000/18.24
Card 6/$6143/$8000/0.00*
Card 7/$5903/$10000/4.99**
Card 8/$3821/$10000/0.00***
Card 9/$1971/$7250/17.24
Card 10/$3514/$4400/16.99
Card 11/$2815/$3900/13.99
Card 12/$2100/$2500/0.00****
Card 13/$4082/$4500/5.82

*Teaser rate ends 4/1/07 (up to 13.99)
**Balance Transfer rate
***Teaser rate ends 8/22/07 (up to 24)
****Teaser rate ends 5/1/07 (up to 13.99)

$81008-$78341=$2667 off since day 1.


And the ebay update: I sold another item and cleared $18.94 to add to the ebay total. So I'll put that below.

$1820.67
+ $18.94
$1839.61


Tomorrow's payday and I couldn't be more excited to pay bills...seriously!

Card 10 said hello in Saturday's mail with an interest charge of $50.70 and a minimum payment (due 4/1/07) of $86. I'm just keeping up with what's due so that interest charge is another attack at the amount we've reduced our debt down to. Freakin' card 10! Do they even know I'm half Irish and to bill me on today is not right (then again they billed me before today and the time in the mail just happened to land on today...oh well!)



Updated:
Updated matrix:
Card 1/$12097/$20000/14.23
Card 2/$15318/$31000/12.24
Card 3/$8215/$12500/12.24
Card 4/$6211/$9000/18.24
Card 5/$6151/$9000/18.24
Card 6/$6143/$8000/0.00*
Card 7/$5903/$10000/4.99**
Card 8/$3821/$10000/0.00***
Card 9/$1971/$7250/17.24
Card 10/$3514/$4400/16.99
Card 11/$2815/$3900/13.99
Card 12/$2100/$2500/0.00****
Card 13/$4075/$4500/5.82

*Teaser rate ends 4/1/07 (up to 13.99)
**Balance Transfer rate
***Teaser rate ends 8/22/07 (up to 24)
****Teaser rate ends 5/1/07 (up to 13.99)

$81008-$78334=$2674 off since day 1.

Card 2 reared its ugly head today and hit me with a finance charge of $103.54 and a due date of April 11th (I have two paychecks coming before that due date..yay!) with a minimum payment of $306. That card is always 2 percent of the balance for a min payment so just think of it this way. 2 percent x 50 payments = 100 percent (but we're not even counting interest!) I can't wait to get some of these other balances out of the way so I can attack Cards 1 and 2 (the big dogs.)

Card 6 also closed its March statement and this is the last month of the teaser rate before the jump to 13.99 so that has a min payment of $61 due on 4/7. Hopefully the Mrs. gets a happy answer from the bank about the unsecured consolidation loan and Card 6 never sees a balance with an interest rate attached to it!

I think I'm going to pay the minimums on these cards and put the remaining balance that I can at my favorite card...Card 9. There will be a lot of satisfaction in killing that card's balance! They actually sent me checks today to write against the card's available balance (not b/t checks with an offer just plain checks...as if that's not insane! Of course if someone can tell me where I can put that money and earn MORE on it than the 24 percent interest I would be paying on a cash advance I'd love to hear it!)

Ugh! The sooner we get rid of this debt monster matrix the better.

Updated matrix:
Card 1/$12097/$20000/14.23
Card 2/$15318/$31000/12.24
Card 3/$8215/$12500/12.24
Card 4/$6211/$9000/18.24
Card 5/$6151/$9000/18.24
Card 6/$6143/$8000/0.00*
Card 7/$5903/$10000/4.99**
Card 8/$3821/$10000/0.00***
Card 9/$1971/$7250/17.24
Card 10/$3464/$4400/16.99
Card 11/$2815/$3900/13.99
Card 12/$2100/$2500/0.00****
Card 13/$4075/$4500/5.82

*Teaser rate ends 4/1/07 (up to 13.99)
**Balance Transfer rate
***Teaser rate ends 8/22/07 (up to 24)
****Teaser rate ends 5/1/07 (up to 13.99)

$81008-$78284=$2724 off since day 1.

My wife called one of the creditors she has four (yes FOUR) credit cards with (for those familiar with the matrix these are Cards 4, 5, 6 and 12) and they offered her an opportunity to take all four balances into one loan (unsecured) with a $30,000 limit at 5.99 APR for the life of the loan. She also has the ability to transfer other balances and get the same deal up to her limit which is GREAT because that would cut 4 cards into 1 and 2 of the highest APR's would be history! She hasn't been approved but she has a perfect credit history and all of her scores are in the 690's (how ironic that she's never missed a payment in 20+ years yet her score is below 700...but it's all utilization) so we're confident in her getting approved. We'll see though. Card 10 and Card 8 may also find a way to this loan so we'd be getting rid of 6 card payments and be able to concentrate on attacking one big loan. It would really shrink the matrix down!

Updated matrix:
Card 1/$12097/$20000/14.23
Card 2/$15215/$31000/12.24
Card 3/$8215/$12500/12.24
Card 4/$6211/$9000/18.24
Card 5/$6151/$9000/18.24
Card 6/$6143/$8000/0.00*
Card 7/$5903/$10000/4.99**
Card 8/$3821/$10000/0.00***
Card 9/$1971/$7250/17.24
Card 10/$3464/$4400/16.99
Card 11/$2815/$3900/13.99
Card 12/$2100/$2500/0.00****
Card 13/$4075/$4500/5.82

*Teaser rate ends 4/1/07 (up to 13.99)
**Balance Transfer rate
***Teaser rate ends 8/22/07 (up to 24)
****Teaser rate ends 5/1/07 (up to 13.99)

$81008-$78181=$2827 off since day 1.


Looking ahead to next week (Weds = Payday!) we only have one card actually due to be paid before the following pay period (Card 3 with a min payment of $161) so on the debt front it's a light pay period. We'll see what we have cookin' after the ebay cash comes in.

Got a bill for Card 3...they hit me with a finance charge of $80.45 so that brings its balance to $8215.39 with a min payment of $161! I'm still busy working on a possible (and probable) consolidation plan to cut down on the monthly payments and increase the amount left over to put to the principal. Here's the updated matrix:

Updated matrix:
Card 1/$12097/$20000/14.23
Card 2/$15215/$31000/12.24
Card 3/$8215/$12500/12.24
Card 4/$6211/$9000/18.24
Card 5/$6151/$9000/18.24
Card 6/$6143/$8000/0.00*
Card 7/$5903/$10000/4.99**
Card 8/$3821/$10000/0.00***
Card 9/$1971/$7250/17.24
Card 10/$3464/$4400/16.99
Card 11/$2815/$3900/13.99
Card 12/$2100/$2500/0.00****
Card 13/$4075/$4500/5.82

*Teaser rate ends 4/1/07 (up to 13.99)
**Balance Transfer rate
***Teaser rate ends 8/22/07 (up to 24)
****Teaser rate ends 5/1/07 (up to 13.99)

$81008-$78181=$2827 off since day 1.

OK here's what I am thinking. My wife and I have seperate checking accounts and usually between the two of us I like to keep about $1000 so that we have a cushion in case of emergency. Well since our debt is ginormous (a combination of gigantic and enormous!) I thought why not delve a little deeper into the debt and go a little light in the checking accounts? I realize it's a risk but I think at this point we need to keep the pressure on the debt reduction and with more and more stuff going to ebay I can probably recoup some of the dough as we go.

Here's how it shapes up. Combined we have just under $1300 in both checking accounts. I know based on our budget I'm going to need $433 before our next payday. So that leaves $867 to make a mark. I'm going to put an additional $500 on Card 9 to bring it under $2000 and today I got an email stating Card 5's statement closed with a finance charge of $92 and that a min payment of $154 was due on it. So I'll use $654 to pay those two amounts and be left with $213. It's a lot closer to that 0 than I like to be with my checking accounts but in this reduction scenario every little bit helps.

As I said it's a risk because if we have something come up over the next 12 days where we have to write a check we're only going to have a couple hundred to work with but I think right now it's the right thing to do. I have an additional $200 in an overdraft savings I can freely transfer to cover a check but I don't want to do that. So no checks from now until payday! I think we can do this. Let's update the debt tracker:

Updated matrix:
Card 1/$12097/$20000/14.23
Card 2/$15215/$31000/12.24
Card 3/$8135/$12500/12.24
Card 4/$6211/$9000/18.24
Card 5/$6151/$9000/18.24
Card 6/$6143/$8000/0.00*
Card 7/$5903/$10000/4.99**
Card 8/$3821/$10000/0.00***
Card 9/$1971/$7250/17.24
Card 10/$3464/$4400/16.99
Card 11/$2815/$3900/13.99
Card 12/$2100/$2500/0.00****
Card 13/$4075/$4500/5.82

*Teaser rate ends 4/1/07 (up to 13.99)
**Balance Transfer rate
***Teaser rate ends 8/22/07 (up to 24)
****Teaser rate ends 5/1/07 (up to 13.99)

$81008-$78101=$2907 off since day 1.

I got an email last night saying Card 11 has a payment due on 3/31/07 with a minimum of $61. The interest charge on this card was $33 so I've decided since I have a little elbow room to make a payment of $100 on this card. Since I believe it will be my next card to pay off after Card 9 a little extra past the minimum isn't a bad thing! So here we go:

Balance: $358
Card 11: $100
Remains: $258

So we have $258 in reserves from this paycheck for now. This gives me room to knock out a few more minimum payments if they show up before the next payday too. Yay!

Oh and the B/T to Chase went through today and posted to the account. There was a $75 transaction fee for the transfer (grr) but that's 4k that now lives at 5.82 APR for life. Which is good because I can push it to the back of the pack and get the cards from my credit report paid down (1, 2, 9 and 11.)

Updated matrix:
Card 1/$12097/$20000/14.23
Card 2/$15215/$31000/12.24
Card 3/$8135/$12500/12.24
Card 4/$6211/$9000/18.24
Card 5/$6214/$9000/18.24
Card 6/$6143/$8000/0.00*
Card 7/$5903/$10000/4.99**
Card 8/$3821/$10000/0.00***
Card 9/$2471/$7250/17.24
Card 10/$3464/$4400/16.99
Card 11/$2815/$3900/13.99
Card 12/$2100/$2500/0.00****
Card 13/$4075/$4500/5.82

*Teaser rate ends 4/1/07 (up to 13.99)
**Balance Transfer rate
***Teaser rate ends 8/22/07 (up to 24)
****Teaser rate ends 5/1/07 (up to 13.99)

$81008-$78664=$2344 off since day 1.

I'll pick this up from the last blog post. We currently have $2681 left from today's paycheck and we've paid $319 of it to debt thus far with a minimum payment on Card 1. Before I get started I'm going to set aside an additional $300 for the weekly cash reserve (in case we use the whole $300 this week. I want to make sure next week's cash is there!) So let's do that first:

Balance: $2681
Week $$: $300
Remains: $2381

So let's attack. First thing I'm going to do is knock off a couple of the wife's cards that are due 3/21 and 3/22 by paying the minimums. Remember we're working on my credit first by getting my util down so her cards can take minimum payments for now (all her FICO scores are in the 690's...while mine are a bit lower in the 660's with one in the 630's.) This is also good because I don't have to use the next paycheck to pay them. One is for $152 and the other is for $120. So let's knock them off.

Balance: $2381
Wife CC: $272
Remains: $2109

Now that all the minimums that had to be paid were paid...we can look at knocking some debt out of the park. Starting with (here you go Mr. Ramsey) 2 cards that have balances below $500 (Card 14 and Card 15 on the chart.) They are the cards with the two lowest balances and they are about to be eliminated.

Balance: $2109
The low: $551
Remains: $1558

Card 14 was one of those two due 3/18 I mentioned in the last blog post. Now for the other one! It happens to be the highest rate card that shows up on my credit reports. Card 9. I'd like to leave a cash cushion in my totals just in case of emergency so I think a $1200 payment to Card 9 would be fine and cut a nice chunk out of its ugly number. Let's do that now.

Balance: $1558
Card 9!: $1200
Remains: $358

So that leaves us $358 plus the cash reserves of $600 until next payday. When I pay the mortgage ($2500) then I will have $1000 left over plus whatever I have now to make min payments on whatever cards are due (and pay the cable bill due the 29th) and then the following paycheck attack the debt again just like I did this time. Now that was fun!

The matrix updated:
Card/Balance/Limit/APR

Card 1/$12097/$20000/14.23
Card 2/$15215/$31000/12.24
Card 3/$8135/$12500/12.24
Card 4/$6211/$9000/18.24
Card 5/$6214/$9000/18.24
Card 6/$6143/$8000/0.00*
Card 7/$5903/$10000/4.99**
Card 8/$3821/$10000/0.00***
Card 9/$2471/$7250/17.24
Card 10/$3464/$4400/16.99
Card 11/$2882/$3900/13.99
Card 12/$2100/$2500/0.00****
Card 13/$4000/$4500/5.82

*Teaser rate ends 4/1/07 (up to 13.99)
**Balance Transfer rate
***Teaser rate ends 8/22/07 (up to 24)
****Teaser rate ends 5/1/07 (up to 13.99)

$81008-$78656=$2352 paid since day 1.

Ah I will be adding a card to the list at the bottom as the card I B/T'd the balance off to a lower rate card hit me with its final finance charge of $134.75!

It's ok...I will be paying it off tomorrow. Doh!

An update to the debt tracker as Wednesday's payday looms on the horizon. I was able to transfer $4000 from card #1 to the wife's card which had no balance and a $4500 limit and get a 5.82 APR for the life of the transfer (a current promotion from Chase!) This will allow me to cut 4k off of my utilization (so we go from around 80 percent to 60 percent on that card.) I will have to pay off the Chase card but we can put it to the back of the pack since the APR is low and it lasts forever.

She also was approved for a $3000 card with a 0 APR for 12 months on all balance transfers and we are transferring the bulk of a card that has an expiring 0 offer in August (which the rate then jumps to 24 percent!) So even though we haven't been able to make payments yet we are saving ourselves a lot in interest! That's the name of the game for us right now.

This category is where I am going to track my debts and anyone with suggestions feel free to chirp in. As I mentioned in my main blog the goal for me right now is increase FICO as fast as possible so we'll be ready for the refi in March of 2008 on our mortgage. SO the main goal right now is to get the balances below 50 percent and then start attacking the interest rates one-by-one. So I will post accounts, balances, limits and APR's and each reply will have the payments made and updated balances (I think I may even post when I get notified a bill is due so that when I come back here it's just another reminder to pay the bill!) The sooner we see 0 the better!

Card/Balance/Limit/APR

Card 1/$12416/$20000/14.23
Card 2/$15215/$31000/12.24
Card 3/$8135/$12500/12.24
Card 4/$6363/$9000/18.24
Card 5/$6214/$9000/18.24
Card 6/$6143/$8000/0.00*
Card 7/$6023/$10000/4.99**
Card 8/$3821/$10000/0.00***
Card 9/$3681/$7250/17.24
Card 10/$3464/$4400/16.99
Card 11/$2882/$3900/13.99
Card 12/$2100/$2500/0.00****
Card 13/$4000/$4500/5.82
Card 14/$416/$5000/15.99
Card 15/$135/$17500/19.99

*Teaser rate ends 4/1/07 (up to 13.99)
**Balance Transfer rate
***Teaser rate ends 8/22/07 (up to 24)
****Teaser rate ends 5/1/07 (up to 13.99)


Now for some number crunching. When you total it all up it's $81008 in unsecured revolving debt. Ow that hurts! Now as I said we're talking about reducing balances to limits to increase my credit scores for a better rate at refi time. The cards that actually report on my credit reports are Card 1, Card 2, Card 9 and Card 11. So those are the cards I am focused on first. Card 1 needs the most help to get to below the 50 percent mark ($6399) followed by Card 11 ($932) and Card 9 ($56) so that's where I am focusing my efforts on first. I have some plans going forward so stay tuned to the blog and I'll be sharing them with everyone!