Saving Stargirl

no more credit card debt!

stargirl — Mon, 28 May 2007 03:13:41 +0000

I know it’s been a dreadfully long time since I’ve updated here, but while the blog has been somewhat neglected, my savings plan/debt management hasn’t. The exciting news is that today I paid off the LAST of my American Express credit card balance, meaning that for the first time in almost 2 years,

I have no more credit card debt!!!

I still have a personal loan to continue paying off, but it was the credit card that was causing me grief all this time - I just couldn’t seem to get the darn thing paid off in it’s entirity, but I’ve done it now - and hopefully it will stay in the clear from here on!

motivation

stargirl — Mon, 05 Mar 2007 06:43:39 +0000

Ugh, I’m really struggling with motivation now, even though the end of my credit card debt is near. I’ve been doing some shopping the last couple of weekends, and even though I can justify my purchases - textbooks for studying, and birthday presents for my boyfriend’s daughter - I’m still feeling the urge to shop, and to not save as much (or at least, putting it onto my Amex card to clear off the debt!) There are some clothes that I really like (and I don’t often buy clothes, I’m actually pretty restrained in that department, most of the time!), and some books from Amazon I’d love to read. So even though the end is in sight (if I focus, I can have the rest of my Amex card paid off before the end of the month!), I’m still struggling to stay on track, and keep progressing the same way I have been this year so far.

Any tips/suggestions on how to avoid temptation, and to keep saving hard to pay off the last $800 of my credit card?

Current status

stargirl — Wed, 28 Feb 2007 05:36:33 +0000

From Friday 23 February 2007:

American Express credit card: $949.75 AUD
Personal loan: $5,028.15

Total: $5,977.90

Since then:

American Express:
+ $113.12 (*coughs* um yeahâ€¦ went shopping last weekendâ€¦)
- $250 (repayments)
Total: $812.87

Personal Loan: $5,028.15
- $150 (repayment)
Total: $4,878.15

New Total Owing: $5,691.02

layout (part II)

stargirl — Fri, 23 Feb 2007 06:20:36 +0000

I finally have a layout that I’m happy with AND my blogroll is working - a nice way to end a Friday afternoon, and a long week at work.

Some exciting things are happening at work, but I’ll write more about them when things are more definite :)

How has everyone been lately?

Current status

stargirl — Fri, 23 Feb 2007 05:13:21 +0000

From Wednesday 7 Feb 2007:

American Express credit card: $1,549.75 AUD
Personal loan: $4,975.23

Total: $6,524.98

Since then:

American Express:
+ Still nothing!!
- $600 in repayments
Total: $9,49.75

Personal Loan: $4,925.23
+ $52.92 (interest, grr!)
Total: $5,028.15

New Total Owing: $5,977.90

This is the first time in MONTHS (over a year, I think!) that my Amex card has been under $1,000 owing, so this is definitely a milestone for me. A little over 3 more weeks, and it will be paid off!!! That is so exciting to me.

And then I can start tackling that personal loan with a similar aggression, so I can stop getting slugged with such high monthly interest fees!

layout

stargirl — Fri, 09 Feb 2007 01:10:42 +0000

It seems that my problem with the links list/Mysql errors were because of a Wordpress upgrade I did last weekend, and my template not being compatible, so I’m using a generic wordpress layout until I have time to find one that is prettier, and is compatible with the upgraded version.

So excuse the fact that this isn’t very pretty at the moment ;)

Another update to come soon, am feeling pretty unmotivated at the moment :-\

Current status (damn interest!)

stargirl — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 00:58:43 +0000

From Wednesday 31 Jan 2007:

American Express credit card: $1,796.92 AUD
Personal loan: $4,975.23

Total: $6,772.15

Since then:

American Express:
+ $52.83 (interest charges… boo!)
- $300.00 (payment today)
Total: $1,549.75

Personal Loan: $4,975.23

New Total Owing: $6,524.98

I was upset with the interest charges - I thought that since I had paid so much off the card last month, it would be a lot less, but apparently not. Well at least there should be very little interest charge for THIS month - and hopefully none by the next month, becausen my credit card will be paid off by then!!. There is light at the end of the tunnel.

Right?

a bit blah

stargirl — Tue, 06 Feb 2007 06:48:22 +0000

I have been pretty stressed out lately, of course it didn’t help coming on here this afternoon and finding out that my Blogroll list isn’t working for some unknown reason (Mysql issue… it was fine yesterday though!)… hopefully it will sort itself out as I have no idea how to fix it! Life in general has been stressful lately, and I just want to go to sleep for a long time or something… I brought myself some lovely Vogue magazines at lunchtime today - the international ones, which are more expensive, but oh, I love them, and they really are like a treat to me. I suppose it’s not too bad, though I’m not sure if emotional shopping is a really good habit to get into (well, not that it was actually shopping… more like a stressful dash into the city during my lunchbreak to grab the magazines & out again, and was STILL late back to work!) Still, I really needed that today. I’m looking forward to curling up at home with them later, and reading through, looking at the beautiful photoshoots. They always cheer me up.

I hope everyone has been having a better week, and hopefully a more positive update soon :) Hopefully my links list will be back too….

a challenge, and a new blog

stargirl — Fri, 02 Feb 2007 06:22:17 +0000

I emailed No Credit Needed about changing my debt repayment chart to reflect a goal date of December 2007 (instead of my overly optimistic April deadline - though at that stage I was only thinking about the credit card debt, not my card AND loan), and the cheeky bugger has set me a challenge - to have it paid off by November instead. Oh well, I’ll definitely give it my best shot! This year is definitely going a lot better than I expected it would so far - thanks in part to having this blog and all the motivation of other personal finance bloggers around whom I read regularly. It’s amazing how much more inspired I feel to get everything paid off, and get back in control of my finances!

On an entirely separate note, I’ve been working on a new blog this week, for something different - Lace & Stars. Okay, so it seems like a complete 180* from this one, which is about SAVING money, and that one is about, well, fashion & homewares & other shopping related things. BUT, I am just APPRECIATING those items — I haven’t BROUGHT anything!! I actually make a lot of stuff like jewellery, stationery etc, and finding things I really like - in magazines, books, on the internet - is very inspiring. So my Lace & Stars blog is a place to keep all those inspiring pictures & websites together, but doesn’t mean I’m out spending loads of money. I promise!

Of course I’ll still be updating this blog, Lace & Stars is an entirely separate project.

I hope everyone’s had a good week! I can’t believe it’s February already, but I’m very proud of myself for all the money I paid off my credit card in January, but still had a life too - I saw some movies, went out for dinners, brought some books & magazines (which I love - they are my ultimate treat!) - but I didn’t go crazy. I budgeted for those occasions, and I mostly stuck to my budgets each week. I think I’m starting to get the hang of this thing!

Mylot.com

stargirl — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 10:43:03 +0000

I have become rather addicted to Mylot.com, another earning-money-online site. It’s basically like a big message board, and you earn money for making posts, leaving answers to other people’s questions, starting discussions, and uploading photos. It’s the easiest site I’ve found so far - I’ve only been a member for 2 days, but I’m quite addicted already :) I figure that I spend enough time posting on regular message boards anyway, so why not get paid for it?

Mylot.com - I definitely recommend this one!