15 January 2010

frugalista friday!

first off, this week i am doing so much better than last week! let's compare:
*last thursday night consisted of eight tequila shots in two hours, followed by much vomiting and crying. this thursday night consisted of homemade soup, hot cocoa, and the opening chapters of anna karenina.
*last friday night consisted of a wendy's caloriefest, bridget jones's diary viewing, and more crying. this friday night will consist of dinner with a friend to plan a 30th birthday dinner for another friend and long-overdue christmas thank-you notes and house cleaning.

i have worn make-up every day for the past two weeks and not once in that time have i resorted to a ponytail. my hair has been squeaky clean and perfectly coiffed every day. still hurting, still healing, but moving in the right direction. some shoe shopping with a tomorrow and homecooked dinner and champy with k tomorrow night, and i might even be almost as good as new.

and now on to the main event! today is our first installment of frugalista friday, aka my attempt to keep myself on the path straight and narrow on the way to being debt-free. here is the moment of embarassing, {semi}truth. i have $5,559.32 of credit card debt. {i say semitruth because i'm not including my student loans or my car since they're fixed debt and they'll be paid off in time}. i'm working on my own version of the dave ramsey plan, combined with some stuff i found on oprah. here's my plan:
*pay off my bank visa. i currently owe $733.37 on this card. i made my first big payment on it at the beginning of this month. at the rate i'm going {$250/month}, it should be paid off no later than the first of april.
*build up my emergency fund. for now the goal is just to get it to $500, which i should be able to do no later than the first of may {i'm planning on putting any money i get back from taxes toward this and i already put $7.50/week in savings}. eventually the goal is to get this up to at least 3 months of living expenses, but baby steps!
*next comes the j.crew card. i currently owe $1,172.64. this one i hope to have paid off by early october, paying approximately $50/month between now and building up the emergency fund, and then going to $300/month until it's paid off.
*we'll deal with the devil card when we get there.

so, ladies, i need your help! words of advice and support. if i'm blogging about buying some new outfit or something, tell me to STOP. ask questions, let me know what's worked {and not worked} for you. other ways you are cutting costs or saving money. i am all ears. these frugalista friday posts won't always be exciting, but it's what i need to do, so thanks for hanging in there with me!

happy weekend, loves!

11 comments:

Anna said...

You can do it! Do you have wiggle room in your budget to put more towards your emergency fund?

Unknown said...

You're gonna do it! I'm not much of an inspiration these days because I spent money on clothes today. But, I am headed back to work on Monday and I'm headed back into the corporate world so business casual is my new everyday wear. Long gone are my days of wearing jeans to work day in and day out. (Yes, that was my "dress code" for work these last nearly 2.5 years).

Anyways, we're taking things in baby steps, too. We had to dip into our emergency fund (considering my unemployment hearing hasn't even taken place) so once I start earning a paycheck again we'll be paying that back.

Our goal is to still get out of debt by the end of the year (not including student loans) and don't be embarrassed by the amount you owe. I WISH that was our total debt, but it's not even close. ;) (ours is triple that amount)

Summer Athena said...

you can do this! so proud of you, darlin! so proud!

Perfectly Imperfect said...

you can so do this. we've been working on paying off our debt for a while now too and i can't wait to be debt free. just keep at it and don't get overwhelmed!

and kudos to you for getting out and about these past few weeks! keep your head up!

Unknown said...

I think it's great that you have made such a sound plan. You have the right attitude and will totally be able to accomplish this!

MCW said...

Such a difference a week makes :) But, tears are sometimes very helpful! Cheers to you for posting and talking about your dept. I am in some too and have been working to pay it back for awhile. It is hard, but one day soon it will say $0 for both of us!

MHM1314 said...

Good luck with this plan, it sounds like you are completely committed to making this happen!

If you are aching for some new clothes, try organizing a swap with a bunch of girlfriends. It will introduce a few new pieces to your closet and make room by giving some things away.

Barefoot in the Park said...

you are doing great. keep it up and it will be so much better!

i think a swap is a great idea. ive got some nice things id like to have a new home, with new stuff coming to me too! great frugalista idea!

Connie @ SogniESorrisi said...

Sounds good. A sound plan is the first step!

Anonymous said...

I am so grateful to you for posting this. I am a single gal in Canada with $8000 in cedit card debt. Not to mention student loans as well. I am brand new to your blog and as I read backwards in time I see me everywhere in you! I am committing to going on the journey with you and look forward to our success!

Anonymous said...

I just stumbled across your blog and I can't believe you're in that much debt. I would say that your first step is getting rid of the J. Crew card...You just went to the clearance sale, so I'm doubting you need any new clothing for awhile. Start determining what's necessity and what's luxury. Sit down and see how much you're spending on shopping, coffees, lunches out, nights out, etc and then determine where you can make changes--make your own coffee, bring your own lunch...To make some extra cash in the meantime, go through your closet and see what you can get rid of. If you're a big time shopper, you probably get new stuff all the time; get together with a friend and sort through all of your stuff. You can then sell it to a consignment store (some places will give you 50/50 cash) or else try selling it on Craigslist or at a yard sale. This way you'll clean out your closet and make some cash. Once you determine what you really need to spend money on, it will become easier to save and pay off your cards.