I'm Not Dead Yet!

Holy three months of non-blogging and bad finances!

Hey boys and girls. It's three days to the new year and guess what I'm trying to do? That's right! New Year's resolutions, which includes (drum roll please...)getting my finances back in shape!

So what damage have I done since I've been away? Hmmm...

I bought a ticket to Singapore for about $1,300 a few months ago. I put this on a Discover credit card that I got for this specific purpose. It's a Get More card--the purchase is at a 0% APR for one year, and I set up my account to automatically deposit $50 every two weeks (when I get paid). So, I'm going to Singapore! Eh. I know. But, I'll be staying with family, and word on the street is a lot of my nightly entertainment will be taken care of. My sister (read: travelling companion) and I are making plans, and I'm being explicit about our need to keep things in financial check.

However. Christmas kind of whooped my ass. I was expecting a small bonus for a job completion--I received a bonus for an identical set of documentation I wrote about seven months ago, and I hoped I would get $500 like the last time. No can do, says boss man. I got half of that...$250. And I (unwisely) planned that $500 for Christmas presents/travel, and have been scrambling ever since.

I haven't been all shiny about paying off debt.

- I got my car down to about $300, at which point my efforts stalled out. I need to get back in gear with that--no pun intended.
- My BIG debt, the massive cash-hole currently on my BOA card, has seen little (read: no) progress. Ah, I love the winter.

Does anyone else get S.A.D. (Seasonal Affective Disorder)? I'm horrible. At the start of the sunless days, I have trouble getting our of bed, and feel like I have an anchor around my neck. In actuality, I have an anchor around my belly. I gained a few pounds since we've talked. :) Krimeny.

Do I have any good news?

Well the relationship is going well--my girlfriend and I are still annoyingly happy. I got an 'A' in my first official grad school class. I'm going to Singapore, which I'm genuinely stoked about, despite the money issues around it. I realized I may be able to shift all my remaining credit card debt to school loans, as I qualify as a full-time student, and therefore can get subsidized loans. That will wrap up the last debts into one handy carrying case, which will give me a rock star credit rating. Oh, my credit rating is currently around 750, which is pretty good.

So I'm going to give you the what's what with the credit situation. It's pretty ugly-ish.

BOA Credit Card: $5,315
- 0% APR, ending in two weeks, will transfer to a school loan, or a loan with another 0%, as long as I can get another 0% balance transfer, which I think I can
- about $2,000 of this is in school loans that will be reimbursed. I haven't been counting it before, but I've decided to now.

American Express Credit Card: $1,304
- 3% for life
- my favorite loan--it's stable, and doesn't intimidate me.

Discover Card: $1,200
- 0% APR for 1 year
- this is my trip to Singapore, paying at ~$100/month

Car: ~$300
- 9%
- I can't find a bill to look up the amount I actually owe, but it's about $300

Wells Fargo School Loan (Me): $12,179
- currently in non-interest accruing deferment

Wells Fargo School Loan (Dad): $3,235
- currently in interest-accruing deferment at about 5%

Mac School Loan: $1,850
- currently in interest-accruing deferment at about 9%

THE GIST:


So what does this mean? Well, I'll be paying around $2,500 of the credit card back in a few months--I have a small year-end bonus, and money reimbursed for school. That will put be back to where I was... three months ago. Damn.

Lots of other things to talk about, but I'm off.

Oh, for Christmas, I bought my girlfriend season tickets to the Guthrie Theatre. It cost about $110 (x2=$220), but I'm happy with this investment--she excited, and I've paid for a bunch of entertainment down the road (four shows)--I think this is a great gift and a great investment.

Okay, done. For now.

Season greetings, etc.