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July 1 Check In

July 4, 2010 · By Sandy Smith

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Happy Independence Day! I’m celebrating my own path towards independence by posting my debt update. It’s time to see how I’m coming along with getting rid of the debt. Remember, the goal was to save some money and reduce some debt. Let’s see how I did.

June 1, 2010
Student Loan #1 $1,239.61 @4.5%
Credit Card #1 $1,102.07 @13.99%
Credit Card #2 $2,920.57 @13.99%
HELOC $43,057.68 @3.125%
Student Loan #2 $37,905.02 @3.3-7.5%
The bed $1,321.50 at 0%
Personal Loan $0
Car Note $0
Total: $87,546.45 $

Savings: $549.24
Savings Goal: $3,000

July 1, 2010
Student Loan #1 $991.87 @2.48%
Credit Card #1 $1,104.54 @13.99%
Credit Card #2 $2,738.82 @14.24%
HELOC $42,622.45 @3.125%
Student Loan #2 $37,828.33 @3.3-7.5%
The bed $999.00 @0%
Personal Loan $0
Car Note $0
Total: $86,285.01 $

Emergency Savings: $800.24
Emergency Savings Goal: $3,000

I did pretty well! More than half of my monthly income went to debt servicing with is always my goal. I also managed to add $250 to the savings account which is a little tough to do when I’d rather put it all to debt servicing. You’ll notice credit card #1 didn’t move much, but I actually paid the debt down during the month and then ended up adding $250 in medical bills back onto the card. I had some oral surgery and the copay was brutal, but better than paying the entire amount out of pocket.

This month I’ve decided to add the income that I’d made online. It’ll start out low and hopefully work its way upward. 🙂 I hope to generate enough income on this site to pay off the smaller student loan. Keep in mind that I might not have actually been paid yet, because each of these sources have payout thresholds, but I’ve earned it.

Internet Income in June
Google Adsense $4.55
Sponsored Tweets $0.12
Commission Junction $15.00
Cash Crate $3.00
eHow $1.25
Total: $23.92

That’s pretty decent considering that the one thing that actually involved me performing an action (sending out a Tweet) is the one that paid the least. The eHow article was written 8 months ago. All the others were based on someone clicking on an ad or signing up for a membership. In July I hope to continue reducing the debt and surpass the total that I made online. Wish me luck! Now on to watching the fireworks display that my neighbors insist on keeping me away with. Enjoy your hamburgers and hot dogs.

About the Author

Sandy Smith

I started this blog years ago as a way of keeping myself accountable to my own debt reduction plans. Now I'm using this site to help others get out of debt, and learn about personal finance so that they can live their best lives.

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