As you will see on Maxed Out on Tuesday (8pm & 11pm EST, W Network, repeated again 11:30pm Sunday the 24th), I have some debt. By the show's account, around $23,000 worth of debt. Well, that was a few months ago, and with host Alison's help Adrienne and I have been very disciplined in how we deal with our money.
I don't know, having not yet seen the final product, how much information will get out there, but here's an approximate breakdown of where my money was owing:
Oh sure, I've been comfortable with my massive debt load for a long time, but now being married and trying to figure out this whole "future" thing, I've realized that it's just a big wall in the way of establishing some security for myself and my family. Damn, the sounds of growing up is abrasively pleasant, like Aphex Twin.
Well, thanks to a lot of work on the part of my wife, myself, the staff of the show and our bank adviser, Adrienne and I are now in the black. Oh, I still have debt, but our assets now officially outweigh our debts. What's more, Credit Card #2 debt: gone. Credit Card #1 debt: will be gone completely at the end of the month. Back Taxes: gone. Line of credit remaining owing: 13,000.
We've had the good fortune of receiving a few bonuses and Aden has 2 years of tax refunds due so our advanced schedule of debt repayment has been fast tracked well beyond our imagination. That 13K on Line of Credit, I've projected, will be completely gone by the end of July. From my initial forecast of 1 year (December - December) to the show's forecast of 9-months (January - September) to now what looks like 7-months, we're so far ahead of schedule, I'm elated. To have 0 balances on my credit cards almost brings me to tears, it makes me that happy.
What this allows me to do is look ahead, and for the first time I'm actually able to plan ahead like this. As of July, all the money Aden and I bring in will be ours, with no creditor stake hold. It's brilliant. I've already got ideas on how my money is going to be distributed with the primary goals of a) buying a house and b) saving for retirement looking rosy already. In fact, by the looks of it, Aden and I are going to be able to start house hunting in April 2009, which is about half a year ahead of when we originally had predicted, and by the looks of it we'll be in an immeasurably stronger position to buy that house than we were before. It's exciting, a little scary, and also a little intense, knowing that we have a lot of thinking to do about where we want to buy before we get there.
Life, if not great, is pretty damn good.
I don't know, having not yet seen the final product, how much information will get out there, but here's an approximate breakdown of where my money was owing:
- Credit Card #1: 5600
- Credit Card #2: 3300
- Line of Credit: 14,000
- Back Taxes (recently discovered): 600
Oh sure, I've been comfortable with my massive debt load for a long time, but now being married and trying to figure out this whole "future" thing, I've realized that it's just a big wall in the way of establishing some security for myself and my family. Damn, the sounds of growing up is abrasively pleasant, like Aphex Twin.
Well, thanks to a lot of work on the part of my wife, myself, the staff of the show and our bank adviser, Adrienne and I are now in the black. Oh, I still have debt, but our assets now officially outweigh our debts. What's more, Credit Card #2 debt: gone. Credit Card #1 debt: will be gone completely at the end of the month. Back Taxes: gone. Line of credit remaining owing: 13,000.
We've had the good fortune of receiving a few bonuses and Aden has 2 years of tax refunds due so our advanced schedule of debt repayment has been fast tracked well beyond our imagination. That 13K on Line of Credit, I've projected, will be completely gone by the end of July. From my initial forecast of 1 year (December - December) to the show's forecast of 9-months (January - September) to now what looks like 7-months, we're so far ahead of schedule, I'm elated. To have 0 balances on my credit cards almost brings me to tears, it makes me that happy.
What this allows me to do is look ahead, and for the first time I'm actually able to plan ahead like this. As of July, all the money Aden and I bring in will be ours, with no creditor stake hold. It's brilliant. I've already got ideas on how my money is going to be distributed with the primary goals of a) buying a house and b) saving for retirement looking rosy already. In fact, by the looks of it, Aden and I are going to be able to start house hunting in April 2009, which is about half a year ahead of when we originally had predicted, and by the looks of it we'll be in an immeasurably stronger position to buy that house than we were before. It's exciting, a little scary, and also a little intense, knowing that we have a lot of thinking to do about where we want to buy before we get there.
Life, if not great, is pretty damn good.