Here’s How Much I’ve Spent And Saved 1 Month Into My Debt Payback Journey
Welcome back to words by Christian! It’s me, Christian!
Last month, I started my journey of debt payback after years of unchecked spending and general irresponsibility. If this is your first time reading my writing, you can check out the first part of this series below.
Since then, I’ve had a few updates I’m excited to share with you all, so take a seat if you’re reading this standing up for some reason and read onward to see what they are!
I’d previously provided a rough calculation of my fixed monthly expenses and income, $2,480–$2,590 and $5,400, respectively. However, I also noted that the former would not remain consistent month-to-month because fixed expenses are by no means my only expenses — I’m going to be considerate about what I spend my money on, but I’m not going to be a soulless hermit. Not yet, at least.
Providing those numbers alone would leave me with very little to write about moving forward apart from ‘I have this much left over and I paid off/saved this much!’. That’s boring to read and to write, so for the sake of accountability and entertainment, I’m going to provide screenshots of my monthly card statements on the card(s) I run most of my expenses through.
Is this plan bold? Perhaps. Is this plan brash? Maybe so. Does this plan belong in the trash?
No.
Before discussing that, let’s get to those updates I’d mentioned. The first is one I’d anticipated for a while now— As of September 5, my $30,000 consolidation loan has been fully paid off! Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace saved the day. Words can’t express the relief and exhilaration that I felt upon seeing the following screenshots.
Though I’d love to say all of that was my own earned money, that just isn’t the case. Approximately $10,000 of the payment was made through 0% balance transfer offers a few of my credit cards were gracious enough to extend to me.
Some of the more credit-savvy readers might question why I chose to pay this balance off before the remaining credit card debt, given that loan balances don’t have much impact on my overall credit score. It’s a great question and I have a good answer for it.
When I got the consolidation loan, it was enormously helpful in…well, consolidating my debt, but it came at at an eye-wateringly high cost, an 18.62% interest rate. That’s abysmal. 10/10 would not recommend. I had no choice but to take it given my credit at the time, but I implore those of you reading this to never get yourself in a similar situation lest you subject yourself to similar stipulations.
According to my amortization schedule, I would have paid a total of $39,387.80 over the 36-month payback period. That’s $9,387.80 in interest. With my expedited payments, I ended up ‘only’ paying $4,719.12 of that.
I never thought I’d be so good at literally burning my money, but here we are. This was an expensive life lesson, but I’m glad I learned it at an age where I can still be selfish. My monthly automatic payments on the loan were $1,093.93, which I can now throw at other debt.
The second major update was completely unexpected but hugely welcome. I received an email from Chase last week informing me that I’d been pre-approved for a refinanced auto loan. In my previous post, I had mentioned I wanted to get this done but figured I would have to wait several months for my credit score to pick up.
I was cautiously excited about this offer given that I’ve been rejected after being pre-approved before. Regardless, I went ahead with my application and was approved! This refinancing will take me from an awful interest rate of 11.95% and monthly payments of $496.05 to a less-awful one of 6.49% and monthly payments of $437.25. I plan on refinancing again in the future, but Chase has saved me $4,351.71 in interest over the life of the loan and I couldn’t be more grateful.
But wait, there are a few minor additional updates! Every 4–6 months, I go through my credit card accounts and request credit limit increases. I do this to increase my total available credit and therefore lower my overall credit utilization, not to find an excuse to give the banks more of my money through interest. Not anymore, at least. After going through this process last week, I managed to get $15,000 in credit limit increases! This provides me with some cushioning for the increased utilization from the balance transfers.
I managed to pay off about $1,700 in debt this past month, not including any payment made towards the loan. Hoping to increase this number next month!
Finally, I cancelled my American Express Platinum Card. I got it last year to force myself to pay off all of my monthly expenses in full and it was a hugely beneficial tool in keeping me accountable. The only downside is that it carries a $550 annual fee, and I don’t spend enough money on travel to offset that cost with rewards points. I was charged the renewal fee a few days ago and knew it was time to lay the card to rest.
Luckily, I don’t need to search for a replacement. I’d gotten the Gold Card a few months after the Platinum and although it carries a $250 annual fee, it gives me 4x points on supermarkets and eating out, so it’s more than earned its worth and will be my main card moving forward.
With that out of the way, let’s get to the numbers, starting with the Platinum Card’s statement from 8/12–9/10.
Total Charges: $1,023.86
Ignore the $550, that’s the annual fee that’s since been reversed. That being said, I told you fixed monthly expenses are never the only expenses! Let’s break them down over the three tags I’ve set up, Necessary, Recurring, and the delightfully named Treat Yo Self.
Necessary — $386.53
- Sunpass — I drove down to Miami for two weeks in July to see my friends and family, and Miami loves to set up tolls every five feet on the highway. This is the grand total I’d accumulated during my time there.
- Best Buy — I bought a dash cam for my truck to keep me covered and accountable on the road, and I needed to buy a MicroSD card and cigarette lighter adapter splitter to get it working.
- Walgreens — There was a BOGO sale on supplements, so I picked up a ton of melatonin and fish oil, because health.
- USPS — I had to ship a pair of headphones I sold on eBay. The package dimensions made it an expensive shipment.
- AutoZone — Car fresheners, tire cleaning solution, and some microfiber towels.
- Target — Flavoring for my SodaStream. It keeps me from buying soda, so please let me consider this necessary.
- Best Buy — SodaStream CO2 canister exchange and a Gudetama figure. You could consider the latter unnecessary, but I’d consider you wrong.
- Nevrslo — Got a front license plate adapter installed on the front of my truck so I’d no longer be riding dirty.
- DentalOne — Dentist visit.
Recurring — $321.05
- Geico — Car insurance.
- Neurosport Chiropractic — Biweekly chiropractor appointments. Keeps my back healthy through all the lifting I do.
- HPG — Gym membership.
- PayRange — My apartment complex’s washing and drying machines let you pay through an app. This is that.
- Lemonade Insurance — Renter’s insurance.
- iTunes — My monthly Medium membership.
- Twitch — Supporting a YouTuber I watch.
Treat Yo Self — $266.28
- Alphalete — Got myself some new athletic attire for the gym. This won’t happen again for a while.
- Saks Fifth Avenue — Ooh he FANCY FANCY. Platinum Card offers a $50 credit biannually so I took advantage of it to get myself some cologne.
- Old Navy — Got two pairs of jeans during the back to school sale.
- Fandango — Went on a movie date and paid for the tickets. We watched Hobbes & Shaw. It was exactly what we’d expected, for better or for worse.
- Pinballz — Date at an arcade. Learned I suck at pinball.
- Walgreens — Candy. It was a lot of candy.
- Hidden Falls Adventure Park — Went off-roading for the first time ever. I clenched things I didn’t know I could clench!
- iTunes — A week of Bumble Boost. Ragret.
- Y’All We Asian — Went to a coworker’s troupe’s improv comedy show.
- Walgreens — Honestly don’t recall. Probably candy.
- Walgreens — See above.
- iTunes — iCloud Storage. Should probably re-categorize this one.
- Shop Saks with Platinum Credit — Brought the cost of the cologne from $70 to $20.
I’m not a fan of how much I spent this month, but I’m glad a lot of it fell under the Necessary category and that the Treat Yo Self category has drastically shrunk. There’s definitely room to tighten the financial belt some more.
Let’s move on to the Gold Card statement, from 8/18–9/15
Total Charges — $478.48
If I had just stuck to the grocery spending, it would have made up for some of the treating myself. Sadly, that’s not how things went down. Let’s go into more detail.
Groceries — $287.63
- HEB — Food
- HEB — Food
- HEB — Food
- HEB — Food
- HEB — Food
Thrilling. Moving on.
Eating Out — $190.85
- Cheesecake Factory — Dinner date. Amount includes tip.
- Starbucks — Coffee date, I’d missed two of my meals this day, so I tried making up for it with overpriced sandwiches.
- Uber Eats — Got home late, so I ordered Panda Express for dinner.
- Uber Eats — Was having a lazy Saturday, ordered Sonic for dinner. Got a partial refund on this because of missing items.
- Chilantro — Grabbed lunch with a coworker. Awesome noodle bowl.
- Dos Batos — Grabbed lunch with coworkers. Awesome tacos.
- Uber Eats — Awesome popcorn.
- Snarf’s — Awful name for an awesome sandwich place.
- Uber Eats — Panda Express for dinner.
- Jack In The Box — Late night outing had me craving junk food.
- Uber Eats — Paaaaandaaaa Exxxxpreeesssss.
- Menchies — Froyo date.
- Uber Eats — Burger King. Got a partial refund due to missing items.
- The Coffee Bean — Coffee for coworkers.
- Uber Eats — McDonald’s. They ended up mixing my order up with someone who ordered three times as much food. This was a great night.
- Uber Eats — Wanted a slush from Sonic.
- Grand Billiards — Got a soda at a billiards hall.
- Better Half Bar — Sparkling water.
- Menchies — Froyo. I had rewards dollars to claim!
I have a crisp dollar bill for anyone who can tell me where my weakness lied this month. Just kidding I need that to pay off all the Uber Eats orders. As of today, all of the food delivery apps on my phone are gone. Those $10 and $5 impulse purchases add up quickly and accounted for a third of this month’s Eating Out expenses. Never again.
I’m happy with the difference in my spending compared to previous statements — There were months earlier this year where my Treat Yo Self category would break $700, which is inexcusable given the debt I’m in. That’s in the past now, and I’m fully expecting the next statement to be much lower.
I’m going to end this post here to keep it at a reasonable length, but I’ve got some ideas for what I’d like to do with the series moving forward. Needless to say, if anyone reading this has any suggestions on what they’d like me to include, please feel free to let me know.
That’s all for now, see you next month!
