My Debt Quest

As I've mentioned before, the primary purpose of this blog is to help me track my own progess towards being debt free. To accomplish that, I'll be monitoring my progress with debts and savings and periodically posting updates.

As of 3/20/2009:

Savings - $1027.11
ING Direct - $915.27
USAA - $111.84

The USAA account is my "Short Term Emergency Fund," which I usually keep funded to around $500 to help in case of unexpected expenses. I just had to pull $500 last week to cover some car repairs, and I should be able to refund that on Tuesday when my paycheck posts. The ING Direct account is my Emergency Fund that I hope to fund with 1 month of living expenses by the end of this year.

Revolving Debt - (-)$18,800.00
USAA - $0.00
Universal - (-)$18,800.00

This is my primary target right now. Over the last 3 years I've knocked my revolving debt from $25,000 down to $18,800, and I want to use this next year to eliminate it. I've restructured my work schedule a little and hope to start a part-time job in the very near future so I can start increasing my payments.

Of the $18,800 on the Universal Card, about $6,700 is locked at 1.9% until paid off, $12,000 is at 0% until 3/10/2010, and the remaining $100 is at 14.99%. Since they apply payments to the lowest interest rate first, all of my payments will go directly to the $12,000 at 0%, and my target is to pay down $1,500 per month once I get the alternate income stream working.

Loans - (-)28,276.81
Direct (Education) - (-)$3,844.95
SEFCU (Education) - (-)$2,723.50
Toyota - (-)$12,068.37
Volkswagen - (-)$9,639.99

I am focusing on the revolving debt at the moment so I can make sure the $12,000 is paid off before the balance transfer offer expires.

Investments - $7424.91
Retirement - $5,191.67
Non-Retirement - $2,233.24

I am continuing my meager contributions to both my retirement and non-retirement accounts, but any returns now are falling far short of the interest I would accrue on my debts, so my priority is still in eliminating those balances first. I anticipate that the markets will remain somewhat dismal at least through the end of this year, so I hope that by the time I divert my efforts from debt repayment to investments it will be time to start seeing some better returns.

Net Worth - (-)$38,624.79

This number really does not mean much. It is the sum of all of my investments and savings minus the balance of any debts. It does not include the approximate value of any vehicle or property. I just like having a number that I can use to track my progress and make sure I'm moving in the right direction.

I am very fortunate to work for a company that is doing well despite the foul economy. Despite that security, though, I am still searching for a part-time position so I can tuck away a little extra cash and pay down my debt faster.

Resume

It has been a while since I mounted a job search, and my resume showed it. I spent a few minutes updating job descriptions and correcting a few dates, but I really wanted to update the format of my resume to try to grab the attention of the interviewers. I found a few resources to help:

- Some advice from Free Money Finance about the use of the "Objective" on the resume. I removed my objective long ago and replaced it instead with a list of "Strengths." Occasionally I tailor the strengths to the job I am applying for, but for the most part they'll work with any position.

- Some information about the different Resume formats (Chronological, Functional, Chrono-Functional, Hybrid, Print, Web-based, etc.), and how to decide on the best format for you.

- The WikiHow page for Resume writing provides step-by-step instructions including videos.

Resume writing is far from a science. It is more important now than ever to have a Resume that stands out from the competition. The goal is to have a Resume that provides an interviewer with enough information about your skills, qualifications, and experience, but doesn't overwealm them with too much detail.

I've made a lot of mistakes since I left home for college. The one mistake with the greatest and most lasting impact on my life is my failure to prioritize my financial health.

From the time I got my first credit card, I "tomorrowed" myself into a pit -- "I'll pay this down tomorrow" became "I'll take care of this with my next paycheck" and led to "well, it'll only take me a couple of months to pay this down," and now I'm stuck with almost $19,000 in credit card debt. In my defense, however feeble, a large chunk of that $19,000 is from a couple of school loans that I rolled into a balance transfer offer sitting at 1.9% until paid off, and the remaining balance is at 0% until 3/2010. Defensible or not, though, it's still $19,000 in credit card debt.

Mydebtquest.com has been up and down over the last year - It started strong but fell victim to competing priorities. I hope to get back on track and maintain the site as I continue to dig myself out of debt - seeing my progress on the site motivates me to stay focused, and I hope that others may benefit from some of the lessons I've learned along the way.