The Miseducation of L.H.

And deep in my heart the answer it was in me, and I made up my mind to define my own destiny - The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, Lauryn Hill

I had a moment of self-loathing while digesting all of this. I was upset with me, I mean I consider myself to be fairly intelligent but I felt so dumb.  I have been wasting money and I could be a lot further in life financially.  I kept wondering, how did I get here?  Where did my miseducation start?  I've never been the type to say I deserve anything or I work too hard not to have "insert whatever luxury item" but then I realized something.  Even though those words never came out of my mouth, I was saying these exact statements through my actions.  Every time I bought something that I didn't have the cash to pay for, every time I swiped my credit card I was acting like I was entitled to these things.

Honestly, my miseducation came from several places.  I remember my first credit card, a Macy's store card that my Mom suggested so I can establish my credit.  I bought a few items and when the bill came the next month I paid off the balance in full, approximately $112.  I told a friend about this and they immediately asked me why did I do that.  I was confused, I thought you were supposed to pay what you owe and if possible, pay in full.  But this friend told me the way to get my credit score higher is by maintaining a balance and just paying the minimum.  I'm sorry to say, I listened to this friend.  Today, I have a lot of credit cards,  They don't all have a balance but I do have a lot, 13 to be exact.  Out of those 13, four have balances.  I was able to pay one off in July, a small victory for me.  I started with the one with the smallest balance, $65.  It's not much to brag about but previously I was content with paying the minimum balance, so before I set out on this journey that $65 would have taken another 3 or 4 months.  My plan is to pay off two more credit cards over the next two months.  This will leave me with two cards to focus on.  

Then there is my car note.  I never wanted a car note but the ex (how I refer to my ex-husband) totaled my old truck while we were married, so we bought another truck for me.  This time, we opted for a luxury vehicle, first mistake.  Then came the divorce and after that divorce the vehicle started going downhill.  Now this was my moment of truth.  I could buy a cash car or a less expensive vehicle, but oh no, I bought the same luxury vehicle because I became accustomed to the luxury and I didn't want to give it up, second mistake.  If I knew then what I know now...I cannot wait to pay this vehicle off!  When it comes to car notes I know several people who accept that they will always have a car note, They like upgrading their vehicles every few years so they build a car note into their monthly expenses.  But, if I can help it, I will never have a car note again.  If this truck dies, I'm buying a cash car, period!  I don't care if I'm driving an '89 Oldsmobile.  We will discuss car notes and leases at a another time.

Finally, there is my student loan, that I have deferred so many times I lost count.  Almost half of my debt is my student loan and it's all from undergraduate school.  I grew up thinking that was normal and everyone had a student loan.  Again, a lot of people I know have just come to accept their student loan as a payment they will always have.  I use to be one of those people, until I calculated the interest I will pay if I continue on my current track.  Absolutely ridiculous and unacceptable.  We will breakdown student loan payments later too.

If I had the chance to do it over again I would have never started on this downward spiral of credit cards.  It makes no sense to spend more than you earn, that displays a lack of self-discipline and self-control.  I would always buy cash cars so I wouldn't have a car note.  Lastly, I would have worked during undergraduate school so if I did have a student loan, it would be much smaller than what I have now.  But hindsight is 20/20 and I cannot dwell on the past.  So guess what?  I forgave Lani and decided to focus on the things I can change.  Again, my goal is to have all of this debt paid off in 36 months.  

Just to recap, these are the things I have changed to help meet this goal:

• I take Marta to work each day.  Now I fill my gas tank up every 3-4 weeks.  Previously I filled my gas tank up every week.  Savings: about $204/month or $2450/year
• I reduced my internet, power and cable bills. Savings: about $100/month or $1200/year
• Claimed my appropriate allowances for my tax deductions.  Savings: a lot more than the above :-)

So I found a significant amount of extra money to throw at my debt each month.  Is anybody going through these steps with me?  Were you also miseducated?

My Debt Breakdown:
Credit Card Debt: 32.0% Total Debt
Car Loan:               22.4% Total Debt
Student Loan:      45.6% Total Debt

Mini Milestone Celebration: August 21, 2017, Month 1/36 = 1 Credit Card paid off