Dear Credit Card Debt...
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The first credit card I ever got was in college, a shiny Discover card with a $1,000 limit. I still have that card, though the limit is much larger than $1,000 now. For a while, I was tracking my debt payoff journey on Patreon, as a fun way to hold myself accountable, and break the taboo by being open and sharing my real numbers with people on the internet. It feels weirdly personal to share about your debt with folks, but also a little bit freeing. In trying to simplify my life, I disabled my creator page on Patreon, and everything lives here on this website.
This summer has been amazing.. albeit a little more spendy than I'd planned. Even though I've been trying to pay my debt off for a while and been mindful (I thought) the number is still not trending downwards and I'm so ready for this to be done and gone. With the announcement from the White House about partial student loan cancellation, my entire net worth will get a lil facelift. It's gotten me SO excited about paying off my consumer debt, because I thought it would be years until I was in a positive net worth, but it can be much sooner now. After reviewing my spreadsheet and thinking about my goals, I've decided to start sharing my numbers again, so you can all follow me on this leg of the debt payoff journey. I got fully financially naked on Shannon's podcast, Martinis and Your Money, which you can listen to here. I'm hoping being transparent here will motivate me to pay off this debt even faster
Check-in posts will come out the first week of each month, since that's when I update my spreadsheet.
The Credit Cards:
I have 6 different credit cards, with three of them currently carrying a balance to be paid off. The others are tucked away for now to be used thoughtfully in the future once all my debt is paid off, and I'm confident I won't dig myself back in. Two Discover Cards, an American Express Card, a Chase credit card, and one with Apple. Right now my total credit card debt is $4,151. If I want to be credit card debt free by the end of 2023, it will take an extra $259 per month to make it happen. Any additional cash on top of the $259 will ultimately help me become debt free even sooner.
The Numbers:
So here's where we are:
Thanks for following along on this journey with me! I look forward to updating you next month. Let me know in the comments if you are paying off debt, or send me an email to thehungryartistny@gmail.com ! I'd love to cheer you on.
