It’s the final quarter of 2019.
Unbelievable.
I’ll be honest, I’m not in the best head space in regards to money. In general actually, but things will get better.
September was better than August, but the setbacks have continued. It always feels like one step forward and three steps back, but at least I made a little bit of progress this month.
DEBT PAYMENT/INCOME SPREADSHEET
Current FICO Score: 703
Current Debt: $59,777.58
Roth IRA Value: $2,398.01
THE GOOD NEWS
My lowest total debt ever
This is the lowest amount of debt I have ever had! And hopefully I can say the exact same thing each month going forward. I’m under $60K and on track to stay under that.
Made a decent amount of extra income
I made extra cash through Mediavine, the IBotta coupon app, selling shoes on Poshmark, and selling headphones on Ebay. Most of which went to paying off debt.
THE BAD NEWS
My credit score went down
The amount I charged to my Barclay Apple Card was reported which was the main reason my score dropped. I’ll have that credit card paid off by December though. Just a reminder, the other credit card debt is due to a balance transfer from my student loans. I am not paying interest on that balance (about $6K total).
My emergency savings is depleted
I had another root canal and have not hit the waiting period for root canal coverage with my dental insurance. Which means I paid in full ($998 so far). In October I’ll have to pay for my crown.
I did ask my endodontist for a discount and he gave me $100 off which I greatly appreciate.
I consider this an emergency, so I did charge it to my credit cards but I’ll be paying off the balance in October. I just about depleted my whole emergency fund, so I’ll have to work on building that up again.
Multiple setbacks
Setback 1 was the root canal.
Setback 2 was I serviced my car without searching for other options. So I paid over $300 for car maintenance that probably wasn’t necessary.
Setback 3 is iffy for me to talk about. I have talked about this before but to keep things simple, my name is on someone else’s car loan. I am now garnishing their wages as of September. However, I have not received ANY of that money yet and probably won’t until November. I will have paid 3 months of the car WITH MY OWN MONEY (over $800). Money which could be used for paying off debt.
Fortunately I have the money to pay for it and I’ll eventually get it all back. It still sucks though and this process has been beyond stressful.
SPENDING
Savings/Sinking Funds: ($1,504) I’m not including this in my “spending” total because it’s not actually spending. $180 went to my sinking funds which I’m SO GLAD I’m doing. The rest is for my taxes.
Investing: ($100) I automatically invest $100 into my Roth IRA each month.
Donate: ($50) Every month I want to donate at least $50. This month I donated to Second Chance Rescue. Please donate if you can!!
Rent: ($1,316) The cost of my one bedroom one bath apartment near Atlanta, GA!
Renter’s insurance: ($16.66) I am required to have renter’s insurance for my apartment.
Trash: ($35) Valet trash is mandatory at my apartment. Dumb, I know.
Wi-fi: ($50) I have Google Fiber. It is $50 a month.
Electricity: ($72.72) My electricity bill. It was HOT in Atlanta.
Water: ($38.45) My water bill has been high lately, but not too bad.
Food: ($431.29) High per usual. I bought more food this month because I baked/cooked for my boyfriend’s birthday AND for the birthday celebration at my job.
Gas: ($80.66) I had to get gas more this month because I was house/pet sitting for my sister for a whole week. I had to commute over 80 miles every day that week.
Health: ($267.44) This includes my Ritual multivitamins and about $235 for the co-pay of my root canal. I had about $15 on an old HSA card but I don’t count that.
Car: ($713.07) My minimum car payment ($382) PLUS I got an oil change, tire rotation and alignment, brake fluid change, blah blah ($330). I should have been smart and gone elsewhere but whatever. I only had $160 in my ‘car maintenance’ sinking fund but I did pull from that.
Student Loan Debt: ($301.14) This is my new minimum student loan payment. I didn’t put any extra toward my loans since they’re technically on my credit cards now.
Credit Card Debt: ($300) I put this only to my Barclay Apple card. My credit card increased otherwise :/
Insurance: ($147.15) This includes vision, dental, and life insurance. I have health insurance through work on top of my salary which is really nice.
Business: ($71.49) This includes paying for Tailwind and GSuite. I used other services but pay most of them annually. I also paid a Pinterest VA $50 to maintain my Pinterest account. A service I now ended.
Google Play: ($0) I have canceled GP for now because I am using a free trial of Spotify for another 3 months.
Lor (Phone bill/car insurance): ($227) Lor = my sister. She pays my phone bill so I pay her for that. I also pay for my dad and step mom’s phone bills because my dad pays for my car insurance…the costs basically equal out. I usually pay an extra $50 to help her out with the dogs, but she said not to this month since I watched them.
Other: ($347.53) This category basically includes unnecessary spending.
I bought:
-Things at Target (razors, personal hygiene, coffee, food) – $28.76
-Natalie Bacon Coaching – $49
-Amazon (vegan collagen, Calm powder) – $77.74
-Protein Powder – $100.88
-Candles – $26.50
-Acure Skincare – $50.09
-Things at Wal-Mart (romper for a wedding, mascara, and sponges) – $14.56
Excluding my savings and debt I spent a total of $3,481.91.
Let’s review my September goals
- Put at least $300 extra to my Barclay Apple credit card CHECK
- Put $1,000 EXTRA to my other credit cards FAIL
- Spend less than $300 on groceries, ideally less than $250 FAIL
- Spend less than $150 on “unnecessary items” FAIL
October Goals
- Decrease my debt by at least $800 (post interest)
- Spend less than $300 on groceries, ideally less than $250
- Spend less than $150 on “unnecessary items”
- Work through Natalie Bacon’s money coaching