Okay. I am extremely motivated right now. And determined. I have a few different debts that I need to pay off because I’m sick and tired of having them. Now, I’m not unrealistic here. I know that there is no way I can get all my debt paid off this year. It’s just too high. The only way that’s happening is if my husband or I win the lottery. So, not likely. But, I have a plan and if all goes according to plan, I will be able to pay off one of my debts by the end of this year. So, let’s make a debt payment plan and see what I can make happen.
But First
As per my own privacy, I will not share the exact numbers of my debts. Just know that each one is several thousand. Now, one of these debts I know will take time because I bought a newer car at the end of last year. And they said it would take about 5 years to pay it off. So, clearly that won’t be the debt that I’m aiming to tackle this year. Other debts I have – I had to pay taxes instead of getting a return this year. So, I have that to finish paying. I have two credit cards that have been cancelled and just need to get paid off. And then I have a line of credit. Those are my debts. On top of paying those I have car insurance, monthly cell phone bills, gas, groceries and let’s not forget that I need to find money to publish my book. And that is a lot of money in itself.
Phase 1 of My Debt Payment Plan
The first part that I need to nail down is which debt I want to aim to pay off first. I have heard so many different opinions from different people. Some are really good with finances, others are average. The popular one is to tackle the one with the highest interest rate. Now, I do see the wisdom in that, but when you have minimum payments that need to be made each month on two different credit cards with different interest rates, it is tricky to know how to throw higher payments at the highest interest rate. So, I will be tackling the other option. Pay off the lowest first.
Selecting the Lowest
So, I actually have to find out how to access my account that tells me how much I have to pay the government in taxes, because I honestly do not know how much I still owe them. I’ll have to talk to my accountant about that. Until then, I’ll continue to make payments on it each month. But, I do know that, for the debts I can track right now, my line of credit is the lowest. So, I will settle on that one and hopefully the rest of my debt payment plan helps me pay that off by the end of this year.
Debt Payment Plan – Phase 2
So, part two of my debt payment plan is simple in theory. Make a regular payment every month. Now, you may be asking, Stephanie, what’s so difficult about that? Well, let me tell you. When you work shift work, your paychecks are not consistent. Some weeks I get more hours, and others I get less. Yes, even as an assistant manager. Every paycheck some money goes towards my car payments. And then I also make a payment to one credit card each paycheck, alternating between them. Plus gas, cell phone bill, and all the other things. I need to figure out what will be most successful.
Picking an Amount
So, I’m taking a deep breath and letting it out. I looked at what I still owe and how many months I have left in the year. Then I divided that to see what, ideally, I need to pay each month to successfully pay off my line of credit by the end of the year. It’s achievable, but at the same time, it’s really tricky with all my other monthly payments. This might be more difficult than I thought…..or I need to make even more sacrifices.
Making Sacrifices
This is something that I wrestle with a lot. You see, I have pulled back on so much this year. I have two monthly appointments and one of them I physically need for my health. The other is something I really do not want to sacrifice for my sake and my husband’s. I suppose I could pull back on my iced coffees. Sadness. Or figure out how to make them at home. And there is a week coming up that my husband and I would like to take off – our anniversary. We’re working so hard to make that possible. Hopefully we don’t have to sacrifice that.
Debt Payment Plan – Side Quest
This is not a side quest like you might expect. It still is about paying off my line of credit. As I mentioned in a previous blog, I found an app that pays you to play games. I’ll be honest, I have 3 of them. One I have more faith in than the others. And one of them I won’t recommend. The last one I’m enjoying the games I play on there, but not sure how much I would recommend it for getting cash fast. But free money is free money. I’m thinking that I will alternate between the apps each month to cash out, and once my paypal is high enough – bam! Throw it at my debt. It might take longer than this year to reach that goal, but hey, every bit helps.
Other Slow Income
And then we have my side hustles, as some people call it, like this blog. Slowly but surely it brings in some extra money. Obviously I can’t quit my day job with this and playing games. But like I said before, every bit helps. And I’m excited about that. Also, I might have an exciting announcement around the end of August, so keep your eyes peeled for that. Let’s just say that things are looking up. The future is bright my friends. I’ll keep you posted.
Activating Debt Payment Plan
So, that’s my plan. Maybe I’ll make monthly updates for you all so you can know how things are going. And I really do need to get into regular blogging again. I’m sorry that July was so bad. I have a lot of hope for the month of August. Some I can share with you, and even have shared with you. Next Saturday is the market at the hotel and I hope that I can raise some money for my book. So, if you’re in the Steinbach area next Saturday, the market is from 12pm-5pm. Come say hi, check out the car show, and enjoy some BBQ. It will be a lot of fun. And who knows, maybe I’ll make enough to take the next step with my book. Anything is possible if I try.
