Thursday, January 26, 2006

RIP Mr. Visa Platinum

As we have discussed before, I have some credit card debt. I will let you interpret for yourself what "some" means, but suffice to say that it is an embarrassing amount. There is no way I will be able to pay it off while still in school and working part time. Therefore, it remains as my albatross, just hanging around my neck as I try to keep my head above water.

Thanks to the new regulations governing the minimum payment on credit accounts, my minimum payment has gone up, and it now consists of more than half the money I bring in on a monthly basis. Thank God for my parents, who are allowing me to live here rent-free (and my dad, who has given me a gas card to use so that I don't have to buy my own gas) because without them, I would be unable to make even my minimum payment each month. As it is, this month will be a struggle because I didn't realize that the payment was going up that much (damn on-line bill pay means that I don't really look at my statement every month), so I have a late fee and an overdue amount of $62 to tack on to this month's bill.

Anyhoo, last night, Mr. Visa Platinum met his fate at the hand of a pair of scissors. I do NOT want that bill to climb any higher. As I lack in self-control, it was time to cut that baby up. The current card expires in December, so I know that it will be only 11 months without the card...but that will be 11 months of paying toward it without also spending on it. Hopefully, I can keep it up until graduation, at which point I will have a better-paying job and will be able to keep a handle on things better.

In other news, I have booked my photographer for the wedding and am convinced that my pictures will be AMAZING! His shots were beautiful; he can do fancy things with his digital camera; and at the end of the whole thing, we will give me every pictures he shot that day (300 to 600 total) to do with what I wish. So instead of ordering overpriced reprints through the photographer, I will be able to take my disk down to our local camera shop and have prints made for much less. That was a little bonus feature due to the fact that he is friends with my childhood friend who is serving as my DJ for the big event. Sometimes, it's all in who you know.

On Monday, my mom and I head to the florist that I expect I will end up choosing for a bridal consultation. I am reall excited about this, as I look forward to choosing all kinds of beautiful fall flowers for my beautiful fall wedding. And Thursday, February 1? That's dress shopping day! I have an appointment at the bridal store that has been the most recommended one to me so far to transform myself into a fairy princess! I am definitely looking forward to it.

Anyway, I am heading back to my knitting. I am knitting what will hopefully become my knitting needle bag, if it felts up well. I am sick of having my needles lying in the bottom of my knitting basket, often missing their partners. So I thought I would both enjoy some mindless knitting-in-the-round, experiment a little with some freestyle knitting, and add some organization to my knitting life. Wish me luck!

8 comments:

amandamonkey said...

wedding stuff is veryvery exciting.

I too have somehow saddled myself with an embarassing amount of ccdebt. It makes me a feel a little dirty (in a bad way) and is always on my mind. Great first step in cutting up the card.

Guinness_Girl said...

Credit cards = evil. Evil, evil, evil. I messed up with one, early in my college career, and while I hated it at the time, I'm beyond glad that my parents found out about it because they put the fear of credit cards into me for good, and I haven't had one since. That's not to say I haven't screwed up in other ways...but man, credit cards scare the shite out of me.

As for wedding stuff - so very very exciting! Can we pretty please email about wedding things? armstronglara@yahoo.com. I loooove all that talk, even though I've already figured most of my own stuff out. Especially I love looking at dresses.

And - do you have a pattern for this knitting needle bag? Or does "freestyle knitting" = no pattern?

Oh - and you asked earlier - no, I am not having a videographer. I suppose I might one day regret it, but...I just don't see a need. I'd rather spend the money on a fabulous photographer. :)

Buffy said...

Everytime I try my hand at knitting it turns into a big knot.

A little artsy. Mostly just knotty.

hazel said...

ah, credit cards. they are totally evil.

we had a photographer who gave us all the negatives (no digital) too, and we were psyched about not having to pay ridiculous amounts for books. unfortunately, that also meant that the onus was on us to get the photo album(s) together. and...it never happened. we still just have the small prints and the negatives. I don't even know where the box is at this point. so...just saying, make sure you DO it afterwards.

NME said...

Credit cards are so easy to abuse. And it takes forever to come back from it. Maybe that is something you and the mate should discuss. Because soon your debt is his debt. And if you are paying high interest when paying your stuff off and he has the cash to help then it is just throwing your collective money out the window.

MC said...

Patrice - Oh, I am not relying on myself to make my own wedding album. We will be ordering an album as well...for a small fortune. However, any reprints for framing (Christmas gifts and such) we will do from the magic disk.

And NME - I so wish Bill had extra cash to throw my way...but he doesn't! I just keep reminding myself that once I am a nurse, I will be making WAY more money and be a part of a two-income household, so that's why I am just treading water now. He knows about my debt and has some of his own...and we will be tackling it together, of course!

Oh, and GuinessGirl - I would love to e-mail about weddings! My e-mail is thomas(dot)mm(at)gmail(dot)com. Check out my clever way of foiling the spammers!

Gunngirl said...

I know all too well about CC debt. I cut up my Discover card. Good you can live at home. I agree that credit cards = evil. I don't want to think about what I've paid in interest. It makes me sick.


Can you post at least one wedding pic? I'd love to see you in your dress. Oh, and it's totally in who you know. It always is. Have fun with the wedding details!

Steph said...

It all sounds lovely!! Sounds like your going to have a beautiful wedding!! anyway hope all is well with you!