Monday, August 25, 2008
Timing
Timing is everything. In my case, it's working against me! One of my new expenses, my dental bill, is $176.25 per month minimum payment. It's due by the 2nd of the month, which I have budgeted in my paycheck that hits on the last day of the month. Now, since I can't get the payment there in time (online bill pay) in the 2 day window from payday to the due date, I planned to pay 2x last month and get ahead. So I made my first payment before August 2nd's due date, and then I made anothe payment after the due date for the next cycle. However, I didn't time it right and the payment was credited before the statement cycle ended. Since it's a minimum payment, it doesn't roll over, so I have to come up with an extra $176.25 before the 2nd of September and start all over again. On the positive side, it puts me ahead of schedule to pay it off, but it makes things tight right now.
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
New Expenses and Budget Adjustments
Well, I've had some new expenses pop up and need to re-arrange my budget to accommodate them. Unfortunately that will slow down my other debt repayments, but that's how it goes sometimes!
Expense #1: Dental Work - $176.25 - $305 per month
I decided to take care of all of my dental work now, rather than do it in bits and pieces for a few reasons. First off, I know that prolonging some of the work could potentially result in worse problems down the road, and second, I was able to get a 0% interest LOC for 18 months. The minimum payment is $176.25 per month, but in order to get it paid off in 18 months I need to pay $305 per month. The plan is to pay the minimum for the next 6 months until my car is paid off...then I will use my car payment money to pay off the remainder of my dental work. This should result in my having everything paid for in 13-15 months, 3 months ahead of schedule.
Expense #2: Best Friend's wedding - about $1100-1500 to save
My college roommate/best friend just got engaged and asked me to be her maid of honor. She's also informed me that they are doing a destination wedding in the Riviera Maya. They are trying to keep costs to $1100 per person, all inclusive, and the wedding is July 2009. So I have just under a year to save for this, which means I need to put back another $100-150 a month.
It should all be do-able, I'm just going to be a turtle on the debt repayment front for the next year! :) C'est la vie!
Expense #1: Dental Work - $176.25 - $305 per month
I decided to take care of all of my dental work now, rather than do it in bits and pieces for a few reasons. First off, I know that prolonging some of the work could potentially result in worse problems down the road, and second, I was able to get a 0% interest LOC for 18 months. The minimum payment is $176.25 per month, but in order to get it paid off in 18 months I need to pay $305 per month. The plan is to pay the minimum for the next 6 months until my car is paid off...then I will use my car payment money to pay off the remainder of my dental work. This should result in my having everything paid for in 13-15 months, 3 months ahead of schedule.
Expense #2: Best Friend's wedding - about $1100-1500 to save
My college roommate/best friend just got engaged and asked me to be her maid of honor. She's also informed me that they are doing a destination wedding in the Riviera Maya. They are trying to keep costs to $1100 per person, all inclusive, and the wedding is July 2009. So I have just under a year to save for this, which means I need to put back another $100-150 a month.
It should all be do-able, I'm just going to be a turtle on the debt repayment front for the next year! :) C'est la vie!
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