More and More Debt, But Less Despair

 

Hello from here -- spiritually I'm very much on the move. 

This blog has become a yearly check-in rather than a monthly check-in. There's other areas of my life that have taken priority (namely physical health as opposed to financial health...) and I'm happy to report some improvement there, though that won't be reflected in these numbers at all. 

When I started this blog years and years ago (with the subtitle "May this Be Short-Lived"), I had imagined that I would be able to continue working with the dogged intensity I was at the time, and I could have never imagined how run-away expensive housing would become. (Or, maybe I could have imagined it, but I didn't, and here we are.) Turns out, what I imagined to be the "rock bottom" of my financial health (fresh out of grad school, unable to find work in my field, etc.) was by no means the how low I'd find myself really. 

I'm assessing the financial damage from the last several years, turning around and taking it all in, and I think that this is where I'll have to start from. (The metaphor isn't complete, but what immediately comes to mind is a sort of voyage through hell, and now that I find myself back on solid ground, I find it more barren then how I'd left it, but I'm nonetheless glad to be here.)

So, here's the

Debt:

	November 2022	November 2023
Visa Credit Card	$1819	$4671
AMEX Platinum	$9231	$12604
Personal loan	$6008	$4897
Citi Card	$7300	$6150
Loan From Parents	$1300	$1300
Fedloan*	$143482	$143482

*Not included in "Total Paid Down". This is just here for horror.

Total Paid Down: -$3964 


Assets:

	November 2022	November 2023
Individual Brokerage	$1902	$1400
Acorns	$621	$192
Vanguard	$6380	$9053

Total saved/accrued: $1742 

... for an overall net gain of : -$2222

***

I'm looking back on my "game plan" for last year and going whoops. I unfortunately have not stuck to consistently paying more than the minimum on my Visa card, and worst of all, I've used it. 

The most I charged to it was this past month, as my roommate and I moved out of our old apartment on October 1st and had (immediately) a lot of expenses. Moving is so expensive, and believe you me merely a month ago after I'd paid first, security, and a hefty broker's fee, I had like $200 to my name. I'm actually quite proud I have $1400 in my brokerage again, despite this number being less what I had last year. 

Financial commitments for the next few months:

-More frequent check-ins here. My next post will be in January 2024. 

-Travel more strategically. Which means *not* going home for Christmas in December, but finding travel time in January and February instead when the tickets are cheaper.

-Not using the Visa card, save the auto-pay I have set up for my internet service, and paying $50 more than the minimum 

-Aggressively pay down the Citi card (the promo 0% APR ends March 2024)

-Expand my editing/writing/translating clientele 

By January 1st, I aim to have:

< $6000 balance on the Citi card

< $10000 balance on the Amex card

< $4500 balance on the Visa card

> $2000 saved in Brokerage account

> $300 in the Acorns account 

Yee-haw,

J