slow your roll

{cred}

remember how i got a no interest credit card and it made me super nervous but i did it anyway. well...after only 5 weeks with that silly thing i have significantly racked some charges. $2,000 to be exact. whomp whomp.

so i am slowing down the student loan pay off to get that credit card back under control. i decided that paying off the student loan-my ultimate goal-wouldn't feel nearly as fantastic knowing i had a credit card with over 2k sitting on it.

so, it may be a month or two of minimum payments on the loan to get it back under control, but then, i will kill those loans and that card.
as it turns out, interest or no interest, i can't stand owing anyone money. not my mom, or the government, or my roommate, or discover card. it doesn't matter. i hate it. it eats at me. i'm just not cut out for it.

but the loan is under $1000.00-which is stinkin' awesome. i can't wait to have that damn thing off my payroll.

tightening the purse strings.
xoxo ashleycolean

sticky ricky

{cred}

my love for credit cards is not a secret. i've posted more than once, about the value, i find, in credit cards. it's my firm belief if you have a good grasp on your finances, don't spend like you never have to pay it back and figure out a way to play the cards, you win.

i have only paid $97.18 in fees, and interest charges since 2005 when i got my first credit card. two annual fees for my southwest airlines credit card, and a $19.18 interest fee once when i forgot about a payment (the only payment i've ever forgotten about). i have taken about 9 free flights on southwest (since october of 2009 when i got my swa card), and gotten hundreds of dollars in rewards from discover over the life of my credit card use. for me, that $97.18 was absolutely, unquestionably, worth it.

so a few months ago i was nerding out about finances with my friend blake. blake is one financially savvy gentleman himself, so i always enjoy chatting with him about what he's doing, his route, his plan, and his reasoning. blake had recently gotten a no interest credit card, which he planned to put the majority of purchases on (while still being wise about money), until he had his student loans paid down. the point was, "borrow" the money at no interest, from the credit card while you pay off an interest baring account, and then pay off the card before it's no interest term expires.

i hadn't thought of this until then. an interesting idea. i was afraid, initially, that getting my hands on a card that had 'no strings' would resurrect my wild non need, pre lockdown spending. however, with more thought and reflection into my new habits and ultimately, new found self control in a consumer way, i could handle this.

i recently put another big fat chunk of cash down on my loan, which has taken me to a balance of only $4290.79!! super exciting. so, i decided, i am likely about three months away from having it completely paid off. pushing me into the idea, why not get the no interest card??

i applied for the discover platinum card, which is offering 15 months no interest. i kept my limit at a reasonable, $3500, as not to do any undo able damage. :) of course,  i will have to pay the minimum, on time, each month, to keep the special terms, but that will only be 2% of the total balance.

the plan: put rent for one month, gas and groceries for three months on the card and see where i land. this will free up cash that i would have put toward these things for my additional student loan payments and then, leave me 12 months to pay off the balance at a couple hundred a month.

the benefit: i will pay substantially less interest on the student loan, and then no interest on the card payments. it will also allow me to put more money into savings over the next year.

i'm not, by any means, saying this is the right route for everyone. you have to be really disciplined or this could totally backfire on you. if you spent wildly for the next year you would be up a creek without a paddle and trying to harness $1500/month credit card payments facing a 23% interest rate, when you could have paid the 5% interest on your loans.

i'm interested to see how it goes. like anything you have to have a plan. if you don't it's likely not going to work. if you want to look into a plan like this for yourself, go to creditcards.com to compare cards to get you the most benefit. be sure to keep your eyes on the annual fees too. i refuse to pay annual fees on any card except my southwest airlines card, because i get so much benefit out of it.

good luck and no interest.
xoxo ashleycolean

good versus bad

{cred}

debt is sticky. there's good debt and then there's bad debt.
good debt is that which is invested in a worthwhile asset. an example of good debt would be student loans, or a home loan.
bad debt is consumer debt. these are your credit cards.

when you sit down and look at your own financial situation evaluate your debt. what's good? what's bad? and what's the worst (highest interest rate)?
you want to categorize your debt and focus on the bad debt first.

likely, bad debt has higher interest rates and you don't really have anything to show for that debt-other than the killer leather jacket you got, or those boots you are afraid to wear outside of your apartment because you spent so much on them-not that i have ever done that :/...

your good debt will generally get you tax breaks as well. you will be able to write off the interest you paid on things like student loans-so keep track and keep your eye out for that statement around tax time for what you paid for the previous year in interest.

when i started the lockdown i had a little over $800 in credit cards, my car, and my student loan.
i decided to pay off that credit card debt (my bad debt) in the first month of the lockdown. it made the most sense. it had the highest interest rate and was my only bad debt.
in month two i focused on my student loan debt. i am putting all extra debt payments on my student loan until it is paid off because it's interest rate is significantly higher than my car loan interest rate-6ish% compared to 2.95% on my car.

once the student loans are gone i will concentrate all of the extra payments on my car loan until that bad boy is long gone as well. i'll likely sprinkle some of that 'extra money' into my savings as well.

i know us girls love the bad boys, but in this situation-they are just bad so get rid of em.
xoxo ashleycolean

the plastics

{cred}

credit cards-everyone has their opinion of them. pure evil, useful, life ruiner, life saver. ask around.
i'm a credit card fan. i get so much free stuff from my reward cards that using cash just seems silly to me. why use cash when i could get something free for making the same exact purchase??

i have a southwest airlines card through chase bank, and a discover rewards card. the sw card has a $39 annual fee, the discover card has no annual fees.

in less than 2 years i have taken about 5 free round trip flights on southwest, and in 5 years with discover card i have gotten $1275.00 in free merchandise. FREE MERCHANDISE. FREE. FREE. FREE.

why would you not use credit cards? as long as you pay them off every month, it's bonkers if you don't. in my humble opinion anyway. i'm sure dave ramsey would punch me in the mouth if he heard me say that. but ya know what, daveo, i'm laughin all the way to banana republic, bath and body works, nike and urban outfitters with the free money in my pocket....so judge on, brother, judge on.
i do see the problem though. people let it get out of control. they don't pay on time, they get interest charges, they continue to rack up the charges and then all of a sudden they are in deep sh*t and don't know how to get out. so watch yourself. remember it's not free money. remember you will have to pay it back.

when i was growing up, whenever my mom used a credit card she always debited the money automatically from her checkbook register. that way, when the bill came, she already had the money allocated to that card. brilliant. way to go toni.

i try and do that with my chase checking straight to my southwest card every couple of days so i know my actual balance in my account.

according to the nilson report, not everyone is so smart. the average outstanding credit card balances/household in the US over the years looks a little something like this:
1998: $5508
2003: $7116
2008: $8268

i can only imagine with the economic troubles of so many americans that number has gotten larger.

so yes, they can help, but be careful. don't drown in them.
another note-while i was working through all my financial issues and figuring out how much money i actually had, i used cash. for the first couple of months of the lockdown for everything except gas and groceries. i certainly think working with cash helps you see how fast it goes-so do that first if you're trying to get a grip financially. once you have a firm grasp, then start racking up the points.

cool?!
xoxo ashleycolean

brilliance...and modesty

a couple of weeks ago i was whining about the surprise crap. it ruins everything. fun, plans, fun, fun. you get the idea. the contact lenses i had to buy were no different. thanks to warby parker getting my new glasses (i hadn't had a new pair since i was 19) was a breeze. i'm just crazy hipster now, with clear vision-bonus.

contacts on the other hand...

my hot eye doc told me i had to switch to dailies from the month longs that i've worn before because of eye problems. fine. right? not fine. dailies are pricey little buggers! $439.92 to be exact-for 1 year of contact lenses.
but wait. you didn't think i'd actually pay that for them, did you!?? being the thrifty chick i am, i got the same supply for $175.94!!!

here's how:
1-went to discover card rewards section to see which eye companies work with discover to provide cash back.
2-picked from 2 or 3 companies and chose vision direct for their prices compared to the others.
3-googled 'visiondirect coupon codes' and found a code for 20% off my purchase-that worked.
4-got the contacts and linked through discover to get 15% cash back!!
5-filled out the ciba vision rebate when my contacts arrived.

savings from my purchase:
$80.00 rebate from ciba vision
$65.99 cash back rewards from discover
$117.99 coupon code found online

$263.98 total savings.
saved more than i spent!!

'booya'
xoxo ashleycolean

wrongly accused villain

c/o emo-corner

when i started this 'get out of debt' mission i admitted that i have a problem with credit cards. not really carrying balances-which is most people's problem. actually, in all honesty-in the 5 years that i have had credit cards i have only been charged a total of $58.00 in charges. $19 was on interest, and $39 for my annual fee for my airline mileage card (which i learned through all of this i can call and get out of).

my problem, as i've said before is with the points, credit, cash back, etc. they blind me when i am making a purchase. i have less of an issue spending the extra money because i know it will convert to points. this is exactly what they are designed to do. i am simply a product of the ad campaigns.

i vowed to get off the cards. the problem is-i can't. i just don't see the point. if i pay cash i see no benefit. if i pay with my discover card (5-20% cash back) or my southwest airlines card (1 pt per dollar/ 2 pts per southwest dollar) i rack up points.

so, i had to be honest with myself. can you keep the cards and keep out of trouble?? i've done well so far. not carrying anything on my accounts. and in the first month of the lock down i earned $23.76 in discover rewards and over 4,000 points from southwest.

ultimately, my friends, it isn't the credit cards that are the problem. we are the problem. it's our responsibility to be smart about our spending. a lack of personal responsibility is the culprit here-not credit cards.
if you quit playing the blame game, and you're smart about what your credit cards offer, it might not be long before you're flying somewhere fun for free in a great new outfit thanks to your good buddies over at visa and discover.

think about it.
xoxo ashleycolean