April Net Worth Update

I know this is late, but I've been swamped as usual. It's been a good month as far as making progress goes. This was the state of the union as of April 30th, so this is actually better than it looks.
I should be seeing my Net Worth go up a lot each month, as I continue to make progress on my debt. I hope that I can keep this up. Andrew asked me today when I think I will start feeling stable or seeing things turn around and for that, I am aiming for the end of the year. Just have to make it that far.

Assets

Car Value - $2,730 (No change)

Prosper Loans - $190 ($200)

Cash Savings - $187 ($0)

Roth IRA - $67 ($34)

Debts

Student Loans - $25,695 ($23,781)

BOA Credit Card - $4,523 ($4, 617)

Scooter Loan - $69 ($944)

Net Worth

- $27,113 (-$28,378)

Increase of $1, 265 which is 4.46%

The big plan right now is to get this credit card taken care of and to keep chipping away at the Student Loan before I attack the student loan with full force. I have to get it paid off by April 2013, but I want to get it gone much faster than that, as those are big payments that I would rather be putting towards something that brings me happiness.

And Then There Were Two

Last Friday I made the final payment on my scooter loan. This was a 36 month loan that I managed to pay off in just 16 months.

I am so ridiculously proud and happy that it's done. It was really important to me to get that cleared, and it wasn't just about the money. That was the last tie to my accident last year. Now it's all over and done with and I can finally move on with me life.

Now I'm left with the two biggest debts. I have a credit card with about $4,500 charged to it to pay off, and then my student loan of over $25,000. This student loan isn't a real student loan but money I borrowed from my parents over the last 7 years. I'm working hard on getting both paid off. Right now I'll be throwing everything I can at that credit card as it's my last interest bearing debt.

With the extra work I do, and with working at my new company, I'm hoping to pay somewhere around $1,000 a month on the two debts. I'll be putting big lump sums on the card, and making smaller payments from my part time job on the student loan.

This is the rocky part. This is where it's harder to get to having a debt paid off and get that high that comes from making a final payment. I know I can get out of the credit card this year and I fully intend to.

I've worked so hard on this and it sucks working 60 hour weeks and never spending any of the money I earn. I hate it sometimes, but the end will justify the means. One day, those pay checks that I work so hard for will really be mine.

So Beautifully Close

Today I got paid at both my part time job and my full time job. The best thing about this is that I was able to put some extra money on my scooter loan. And now it stands at a balance of $69.27.

No I didn't miss a zero. $69.27 is all that is left of that debt. I will be able to pay it off next Thursday. I am so happy and excited! After this, I get to start putting money towards my credit card and my student loan. I am focusing on the credit card primarily because it has interest on it. If I manage to make the payments I think I can make on it, I'd estimate it at being paid off by the middle of October.

That would be so very very wonderful if I could make that happen. To have all of my consumer debt gone this year would be a dream come true. Then I would be able to blow through this student loan in just over two years.

So now comes the time to set a new and realistic goal about when I can get out of debt. We are looking at January of 2012. This may seem a way away, and it feels like forever. But it's a year and three months sooner than I thought.

Let's see if I can meet my own challenge!

Growing Snowflaking Opportunities

One of the hardest things I deal with when paying off my debt is that I want to be making greater and faster progress.

I am on a partially fixed and partially not fixed income. I have a full time job with a set salary, a part time job that pays hourly and fluctuates, and then other income streams.

These other income streams are probably the most important part of my income. Some are passive, some require a lot of work. These are the ones that have the potential to always help me. Some make me just a few cents, some can give me a lump sum payment of a few hundred dollars (if I'm super lucky).

So what am I working on in my "spare time"?

Voice Over Work

I have been doing voice overs for a while. I have a professional demo online and I am always looking for work. This can pay really well when I get gigs, but a lot of the work I have done for free while I build my portfolio. This is the kind of thing that can get me lump sums if I get the work. I'm currently looking for an agency so that I don't have to chase gigs myself all of the time.
I also find it really really fun.

CashCrate

When I have a little spare time, which is rare, I take a few minutes to fill out surveys on CashCrate. With their awesome referral program, I am able to make extra money each month. True, when you start out you might not earn much, but snowflaking is about adding in little bits to make a bigger whole.

eHow

Do you know how to do something not many other people know how to do? I write articles on eHow. Granted, this starts with you just making pennies, but it's passive income. Once an article is written it's on the site and generating income. If you have a large library of articles, you can potentially do very very well. There is a really nifty list of requested articles if you are looking for inspiration. I've written articles from How to Get Around a Necklace Allergy to How to Make Felt

Half.com Sales

I read a lot of books, and when I am done with them I am really brutal. If I know I won't read it again, I instantly put the book up for sale on Half.com. My old building used to have a trash or treasure section where people would leave things for other people to take and any time there were books, I would go through them and grab them to sell online. I can usually make three sales a month or so with them. It's not a lot, but again, every little helps!

Distilled Rose Herbal Tea

I have a fledgling online company that I am still working on getting off the ground. I make herbal tea blends and sell them at my Etsy Store. Once I get this off the ground and start marketing the company it has the potential to be a good earner for me.


So how about you? Do you have any great extra income ideas that work for you?

And the Beat Goes On...

I admit, I am sad that my updates on here have been infrequent and I know that I'm not the most thrilling read right now. But I do appreciate everyone sticking with me and here's a state of the union update.

Last night we finally moved the last of the things from our old loft. Though it was a great place to live, it ended up costing us an absolute fortune. We got a fair bit credit card happy with decorating it, and we really were living beyond my means.

My new apartment is lovely and I am so happy about it. It's not perfect, but it's much more my style. Now, of course, it is absolutely filled with stuff. I have a lot of unpacking and sorting things out to do.

It's hard. There are things that I want to buy for the new place. I want a smaller microwave. I want a couple more orchids (I collect them), I want to get some plants for the yard, I want a curtain rod and curtains. I also want a new couch, since Andrew will eventually be taking the day bed that I am currently using.

I can't have these things right now. I don't have the money and I have to force myself to wait until I do. Sure, I could throw that stuff on a credit card, but how would that help? I'd just feel guilty.

In looking over my finances, I realized that making those huge student loan payments wouldn't be feasible or logical right now, so I am back on my Snowball. I was able to make another payment on my scooter loan to get that paid down. Now, even if I just went back to the minimums, it will be paid off by December. I think I can actually have it paid in full by June.
I'm sending extra money towards my student loan at this point, and I'll be working on some other strategies to try and make some additional income.

I also got the notice today that the lawsuit against me has officially been settled and that the dismissal papers are on their way to me. I can't explain how happy that makes me. I am so utterly relieved by that. I can't wait to actually get those papers in the mail. I will be baking up a storm in a little bit for my lawyer.

I'm working on very slowly rebuilding my emergency fund. It was completely decimated because of the lawsuit and not having it makes me really really edgy. But, I will persevere and hopefully I can have it back up to a sizable amount by the fall.

In the sidebar of the blog, I've got a list of debts and goals now that I am updating frequently. These are to keep me more accountable towards my goals and because I'm not hiding anything. I know I'm in debt, you know I'm in debt, thats why I have this blog. It's full disclosure time.

With the loft out of the way, I have more time to work on other projects now. I will try and make this one of them.

New Project

Andrew suggested that I try and focus a little more on my artistic pursuits to alleviate some stress. With that, I happily announce the launch of my newest project. This is a little personal and fairly deep in to my soul, but the man has the occasional point.

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