Paid Twice asks today whether we carry our credit cards in our wallet, have them locked up in a block of ice in the back of our freezer, or have made confetti of them. For those of us who continue to fall deeper into the pits of debt, rather than rising out of them, this seems like a pretty silly question. Of course I carry my Capital One card around in my wallet! I wouldn’t be able to pay for the $400 or so per month in gas I use just to get to work and back every day without the card. Precisely that, ladies and gentlemen, is why I am living in Threat Level Red, courtesy of Frugal Guy’s Financial Risk Advisory System. He described Red as “Underemployed / Using Credit,” and further elaborates as can be seen in his article.
On January 1st, I fired up OpenOffice.org and made a handy spreadsheet to track nothing other than my current debt balances. I also included various lofty savings and debt elimination goals for 2008, as well as a bunch of random numbers to track the progress of such, a la my Where’s George? spreadsheet’s Goals sheet. Well folks, only two weeks into the new year, and I’m already almost $200 behind where I was. Here are the raw numbers:
| Account | Starting | Current | Change |
| Capital One | -5415.1 | -5683.68 | -268.58 |
| Sallie Mae | -29281.79 | -29353.36 | -71.57 |
| Kristen | -650 | -650 | 0 |
| LFCU | -5029.8 | -4920.58 | 109.22 |
| AES | -2625 | -2575 | 50 |
| Totals | -43001.69 | -43182.62 | -180.93 |
| Goal | Status | Goal | Obtained | Needed | Avg/Week | Need to Avg | Comp Avg | Status | |
| 1000 Emergency Fund | 390.39 | 1000 | Incomplete | 609.61 | 39.04% | 210.21 | 12.09 | 19.13 | Ahead |
| 5000 Emergency Fund | 390.39 | 5000 | Incomplete | 4609.61 | 7.81% | 210.21 | 91.41 | 95.63 | Ahead |
| Reduce Debt 5000 | -43182.62 | -38001.69 | Incomplete | 5180.93 | -3.62% | -23252.18 | 102.74 | 95.63 | Behind |
| Reduce Debt 10000 | -43182.62 | -33001.69 | Incomplete | 10180.93 | -1.81% | -23252.18 | 201.89 | 191.26 | Behind |
| Reduce Debt 10% | -43182.62 | -38701.52 | Incomplete | 4481.1 | -4.21% | -23252.18 | 88.86 | 82.24 | Behind |
| Reduce Debt 25% | -43182.62 | -32251.27 | Incomplete | 10931.35 | -1.68% | -23252.18 | 216.77 | 205.61 | Behind |
Ignore those -23252 values, they are erroneous due to my debt level going in the wrong direction. That, and for some reason, I always have trouble making OOo play nicely with negative numbers. Also note that it isn’t really accurate in saying I’m ahead of the game in achieving those emergency fund goals, as that is assuming I saved nearly $400 in the past two weeks. But, later in the year, it’ll all even out.
Anyway, what I’ve been getting at for the past while now, is that it is statistically impossible for me to work on my debt as matters stand. I’m not necessarily underemployed, and it’s not that I can’t live off the measly $9.31/hr they pay, it’s mostly the 60 mile round trip. So, last night I emailed my resume to the newspaper for a data entry position they have. Right now, I’m going to get dressed and find the nearest Merchandiser box and grab a copy to look through the jobs. I might even call up this janitorial service company. Regardless of where I go and what I end up doing, I need to get out of this security gig and find something much closer to home. My financial life depends on it.
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