Tackling Debt One Credit Card at a Time

So as you may remember, I have been spending quite a bit of time at my local library or at least the library’s website, www.madisonpubliclibrary.org. Saturday I made a trip to pick up some items on hold and noticed that they were having a book sale. Believe it or not, I have never been to one of the library's book sales and I can see why. I had 5 books in my hand 2 paperbacks and 3 hardcovers which would have totaled $4.00 so instead of buying just them I paid $3.00 to buy a bag of books. Instead of 5 books I ended up with, about 20. Although I saved money I still purchased way more books than I needed. Thus no more unexpected library book sales for me in the future.

On another note, I think I am getting much better with my food budget. I am more easily able to say no to a meal out and it feels really good to have a little extra money at the end of the month, especially this month. This week I am appearing in court to contest a traffic ticket—definite unexpected expense—as well as renters insurance is due next month. Although you save a little for unexpected expenses, you never know when you will have to use those funds and how much they will be depleted. I am doing well with paying down my debt. Since recognizing the emotional spender in me, I have become more aware of how to control my urges and have only used a credit card once since beginning the program. I have paid off two credit cards so far and by the end of next month I hope to turn that into three. I am officially under $70,000 in debt. Next, Carrie and I will have to make a decision about which card to pay off next. I need to really work on increasing my savings. So if any of you have any ideas please feel free to comment.

I also have a challenge this month. Making a long story very short, I am hosting a Lia Sophia Jewelry Party this Sunday. My problem is that I enjoy—some aspects—of hosting. I enjoy the preparation, making sure things operate smoothly and to a certain expectation. As you can imagine this feeds into my emotional spending. I want everything to be grandiose and elaborate; however, I don’t have that kind of budget. In order to cut down on the costs of the hors d'oeuvres, I am preparing most things from scratch and plan to use the remaining $45 from my food budget to prep for the party. This will definitely be a challenge of my new skills, which I hope are habits now. I will have to go in the store with my list and stick to it.

Comments

[Beth]

Those extra books you can take to the Half Price book store & see if they will buy them from you.