Wednesday, July 22, 2009

I have updates - and they are scary.

Whoa boy. If there was anything that confirmed that I need to get my ass back on track it's what I found today. All my figures have been updated. Read 'em and weep.

The good - My move last year to pay my mortgage on a weekly basis has proven to be a great idea. This has allowed me to reduce my overall mortgage balance greatly. It turns out to be an extra payment a year and my house should be paid off in 23 years as opposed to 30. This is good as it should take that long for the damn market to recover!

Also, my 401K and stocks have not suffered that bad. They tanked in October of last year. I know, you feel me. But I have recovered all the money back and am now back to rebuilding. I just shifted my allocations in my 401K to start investing in a more aggressive fund that is offered. I didn't move any money, just changed allocations.

The bad - I didn't get a bonus last year, which I was going to use to pay a good chunk of my car off so that didn't happen. Still, I am getting close to having it paid off. I think I want to set a goal of having it paid off in 9 months. That means trying to find an extra $250 a month in funds. Yikes.

The value of my house is down, as is any house in my area. That is killing my net worth. I am actually in the red. There will be more on that later. I have to finish crying first.

The ugly - My credit cards are out of control. I had a number of expenses that came up last year and put the money on the cards thinking that my bonus should be able to cover what I have spent. That was a fine idea until I didn't get my bonus. Not a pretty thing at all. I am currently paying $400 a month on the cards and I'm not even making a dent. They got hiked in the Great Credit Card Screw Over and everything that I am paying is going toward fees. And ideas on how to get this done faster, let me know, I am all ears.

So now it's time to work on a plan...

4 comments:

Sheri Jones said...

Oh dear! Can you call one of the REAL credit counselors and get some help? Clark Howard (I listen to him on the radio) has the link on his website which is www.clarkhoward.com (I think) They may be able to get your interest rate lowered. Good for you on facing your credit!

Little Dough Girl said...

Thanks for your feedback, Sherri! I love that website too. There is so much good info on there. I have talked to a long standing credit counseling company here and they would need to shut down the cards and offer a settlement. It would adversely affect my credit in the long run, whereas the only effect this has on my credit right now is a lower score because of a higher limit...

Tom said...

How about moving your balance to no interest cards that give you a year of free interest? Some have no balance fees and some cap it at $75. Take a look and see if this is worthwhile!

Little Dough Girl said...

Tom - That is definitely a worthwhile choice. I am wondering what the long tern effects. I know that having a large balance on my cards is not good but having really new credit isn't either.

Either way, I think it's definitely a good idea to look into, especially if I could find a good cards that had zero interest transfer and offered good benefits.