Let’s All Throw Some Money at Our Problems: January 2013 Check-In

It’s time to check in with our debt payments again. If you’re joining us for the first time, you can read about our decision to publicly keep track of our debt here.

I get email from you guys daily, and one of the most frequent questions I get is something along the lines of: “I have extra money, what should I do with it?”

We should all think about what our answer to that question would be. Next fall, some good friends of mine are moving to London. I’d love to be able to visit them after they move. If I had extra money, that’s where I’d dedicate it.

So this month, in addition to paying off debt, I’m adding a savings goal into the mix. I opened up a savings account just for the purpose of saving up for a vacation to visit my friends and put an initial deposit of $50 into it. Let’s see how much it’ll grow by June. What would you like? Start saving for that thing, and check in every month with the total. Let’s get to it!

Logan paying off a Barclay Card, which currently has an APR of 22.99 percent, and a minimum monthly payment of $47.
Dec. 2012 Balance: $1,642.36
Jan. 2013 Balance: $1,424.11

I’m paying off one of my Sallie Mae Private Student Loans, with a current interest rate of 4.5 percent, and a minimum monthly payment of $55.
Dec. 2012 Balance: $1,190.42
Jan. 2013 Balance: 1,098.97

Jan. 2013 Vacation Savings: $50

Give us your updates below. As always, if you pay off a debt, email me, and I’ll mail you a personal note to congratulate you. I still have a few I need to mail out (you guys have been doing such a great job of paying off your debts that I ran out of notecards!).

See previous months here.

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