Hey everyone, I'm back one last time. I tried to post an update last year, but couldn't remember my password and eventually gave up. Today I found that I still can't remember my password for that account, so forgive me from posting from a different throwaway. I felt I had to post today to express my gratitude to you all as I close out this chapter of my life--today, the final payment posted to my credit card debt, and I am without a standing credit card balance for the first time in 10-15 years! It's an amazing feeling.
I'll provide more information on what my finances have been up to for the past two years for anyone who's especially interested, but let me start by saying thank you. I have been an avid /pf/ reader for 4 years now and I'm constantly lurking and learning from the stuff you all post. I am doubtlessly in a better financial situation today than I would be without the community here, and you all deserve a medal for being such a thoughtful, positive community despite the size (especially since becoming a default sub!). You're all great.
So, what's the story?
When we last spoke, I had just started a new career in a new city and was very optimistic about the future. Things have definitely been good since then--work continues to be more rewarding than it was when I started this adventure, and last year I negotiated a $10,000 raise (about 25%) on the merit of my contributions. Not bad; my salary is finally approaching something I'm proud of--though I hope to continue to push it up aggressively.
As discussed in my prior post, I did end up applying for a 0% interest credit card--Chase Slate had the best deal--but they would only absorb a little more than half of my standing balance (about $11,000). So at that point, I had $6K on a 0% card, and a little less than $5K on my original card. I started paying minimums on the 0% card and threw everything I had at the other card. When my tax return came in April, I used it to finally snuff out the balance that I was paying interest on. (This is why I wanted to write an update last year--I was very excited!)
Eventually, my introductory period on Chase Slate expired, and I transferred the remaining balance to another 0% card with Discover. I've been paying that balance a little less aggressively than I had been in the past, but recently received a small inheritance that I used to eliminate the remaining $4K.
My 401K continues to grow nicely, and is now clocking in at $46K--nearly triple the value from 2013--thanks to my contributions, a generous employer match, and strong growth in the last year or so.
That's about it. I'm unfortunately not debt free yet--I have college loans that I've been paying on since 2009 that I now need to turn my attention to, and although they are much larger than my credit card debt, they are "only" 6%. Since I'm already paying $300 monthly to them, the snowball effect should allow me to put a big dent in them pretty quickly. (Well... it still is going to take me 5-10 years, but that's a lot better than infinity years at my current payment rate that was barely covering interest.)
- 9/13: $18,000 CC debt / $16,000 401K
- 5/14: $13,000 CC debt
- 4/15: $11,000 CC debt / $25,000 401K
- 4/16: $6,000 CC debt
- 3/17: $0 CC debt / $46,000 401K
Thanks again, everyone! If anyone has any questions, AMAA.
tl;dr: Peace, I'm out! [̲̅$̲̅(̲̅ ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°̲̅)̲̅$̲̅]
Submitted March 01, 2017 at 06:12PM by 401kvsCC2 http://ift.tt/2ltG3jW
