08.18.18 Debt = $38,705.42

$617 less than yesterday. Woot. Here's my breakdown of my seven accounts: 

(spaces are for loans/cards I have paid off)

BOA AMEX	$6,147.32
BARCLAY	$8,085.50
CHASE SLATE	$443.26
Prosper loan	$9,412.95
Navient	$7,993.02
Navient	$3,007.35
FREEDOM	$3,616.02
TOTAL	$38,705.42

Freedom is still in it's 0% APR phase, so I'm paying slightly more than the minimum - but trying not to keep running it up.

The higher Navient student loan is from undergrad (1997-2001) and has a lower APR (5.62) and the lesser one is from Grad School (2008-2010) @ 6.8%, so I try to pay a little more on that each month. Student loans are pretty crooked and I only recently learned that the APR is a daily calculation, not monthly, so it ticks up a little every day. I'll figure out how much each loan ticks up each day soon. 

The Prosper loan was a $20,000 consolidation that I got in December of 2017. I paid off my highest rate credit cards since their APR is only 6.9%. I was half-way through paying off this loan as of July 2018. It's a steep $617 a month, but it's really helping me make a dent in my debt. 

The Chase Slate card was another 0% intro APR cards that I used, didn't pay off in time, and now the APR is 18.99%. So I'm hoping to have this paid off in the next few months. My debt snowball vs. avalanche techniques line up and tell me this is the next to go. 

Ah, the Barclay. 11.99% APR. This is that card I used/the account I opened at Apple to get my new laptop in 2009, and sure enough... starting racking up more debt well beyond the 0% APR grace period. My minimum payment is $162, so I try to pay at least $175 or $200 each month. It's not budging much since I get around $84.51 in interest each month. I should aim for their suggested 3 year payoff: 

"Only the minimum payment 21 years $15,340.00 

$269.00 3 years $9,684.00 (Savings = $5,656.00)" 

Remember that chart that Obama made a law to show us this transparency? Thanks, Obama

Finally, the Bank of America American Express. This is the card I've had the longest, racked up the most interest, and the account that brings me the most embarrassment and shame. In 2003, I totaled my Honda Accord and decided to replace it with a brand new Vespa. I got about $3,000 for the Honda, had $800 in my savings already (specifically for a Vespa - inspired by watching Martha Stewart Living), but I was about $1000 short. When I asked the Vespa dealer in St. Louis for financing, he told me the rates were ridiculous and I'd be better off getting a credit card. So I opened up a card with Bank of America *just* for the balance of my scooter, intending to pay it off asap. Then I decided to move to New Orleans in 2004 so I could ride said Vespa year-round. So I put the UHaul on this card, and all things related to my move. Then I started graduate school at LSU and had heard the "tuition is so cheap, I just pay it every semester." This was not the case for me, so I ignorantly put the tuition on this card instead of getting student loans. (I eventually got student loans). And there are *plenty* of other things I put on this card that I will delve into later which put this card at over $15K at one point. I used part of my Prosper loan to pay this down. Right now the APR is 12.99%, my interest for July was $68.51. And if I pay on time and a little over the minimum, I get a $25 credit per quarter. Not impressed. I'm going to try to tally up my total interest for this card to see the truth. That's a later project. 

Here's my Obama box break-down:

"Only the Total Minimum Payment 20 years $11,985.00 

$207.00 36 months $7,452.00 (Savings = $4,533.00)"

Here's to baby steps!