Next credit card to pay down: Chase Sapphire

The Chase Sapphire card is the next victim on my credit card paydown list, with an interest rate of 15.24% (the same as the Amex I just paid off - I basically flipped a coin on which one to pay first). As of two days ago, it has a balance of $7,566.89, including the previous billing period's interest. 

Here's how I'm dealing with it: Balance transfers! I qualified for a new credit card from Citi (Citi Preferred Diamond) with a $4,100 credit limit, and also finally realized how I could get a new balance transfer on an existing Citi card I already have (Citi Simplicity, $2,700 limit). 

The Simplicity transfer processed two days ago as well, so my current balance is $4,945.53 (there was also a 3% transfer fee). I have to pay the Simplicity card by March 1, 2022, so I plan to pay $270 per month for the next 10 months.

I'm waiting for the Preferred Diamond card in the mail still, which I think is why the transfer hasn't processed yet. That one will bring my balance down by another $3,980ish (I'm not sure of the exact amount) to under $1,000! This card has an 18 month 0% period, so I'm going to be paying $227.75 per month on it. I expect to be able to pay it off by June 2022, because at that point everything else should be paid off! 

I'm currently budgeting $1,315 for credit card paydown (ugh, I hate that number), plus $265.78 from my federal student loans. It's being allocated as follows:

Card	Monthly payment
Chase Sapphire	$231.80
Chase Freedom	$50.00
Chase Amazon	$110.00
Wells Fargo CC	$82.00
Discover BT	$500.00
Citi Preferred BT	$227.75
Citi Simplicity	$270.00
Affirm	$109.23

(Affirm is due to be paid off in May, at which point that money will be reallocated to the Chase Sapphire.)

The remaining Chase Sapphire balance will be paid off by July! (I'm counting it as paid off even though most of the balance has been transferred to 0% BT cards, because then it's no longer accruing interest and digging me in deeper.)

After the Chase Sapphire is paid off, next will be the Chase Freedom, which should only take a couple months given that it's a relatively low balance (currently only about $1,000). The Discover BT will also be paid off at the same time as the Freedom. (The Discover balance was previously on the Marriott Amex.) 

I'm really excited, I finally feel like the end is in sight for this damn credit card debt. It's been hanging around my neck since I graduated grad school at the end of 2016, and I'm finally in a financial spot where I can make significant progress with it.

March net worth update

March was a great month for me! I got my third stimulus check, which I allocated to a vacation 

Here's my introduction post where I broke down my net worth in January, and here's a link to my February update.

Here's where my net worth stands now as of 3/31/2021:

• Checking: $4,503.83 (I have two checking accounts - more on that to come!)
• Short-term savings: $3,848.80 (This is several savings accounts: car repairs, car insurance [paid every six months], cat savings [I have two approaching-senior cats, and their vet bills are always a kick in the teeth], and vacation)
• E*Trade: $512.45 (this is literally just a few shares in one stock that I've had since I was probably 12 or so?)
• Retirement savings: $30,288.86 (Roth IRA) and $35,856.26 (401(k) - I'm also not fully vested yet, but since I don't intend to leave my current job before I fully vest, this is the full amount in my account)
• HSA: $1,132.43 cash, $7,999.52 invested = $9,131.95 (my HSA requires at least $1,000 in cash available to pay for expenses - anything over that, I just haven’t invested yet)
• Condo: ~$120,000 (Zillow estimates my place to be worth $173k, which is so unbelievably comical to me. I don't even know if it's worth $120k, but that seems like a more likely number than $173k.)

Total assets: $204,112.15

• Credit card debt: ($22,651.74) (due to be paid off by September 2022)
• Student loans: ($21,649.34) (mostly federal, and payments are suspended until September 30, 2021 - roughly $5.4k is private, so that's where I'm focusing my efforts) (private loan due to be paid off December 2022, and federal loans April 2023)
• Car loan: ($760.19) (due to be paid off August 2021)
• Affirm loan (I desperately needed a new mattress last year, as my 15+-year-old one was causing problems for my back, and Affirm was offering 0% and no fees for a 12 month loan of the purchase price): ($218.50) (due to be paid off in May 2021)
• Mortgage: ($36,127.56) (due to be paid off November 2038 - before grad school, I made 8 months of principal-only payments that were the same amount as the mandatory principal+interest payments [not including escrow for taxes and insurance] and it cut 2.5 years off the life of my loan, which still blows my dang mind)

Total liabilities: ($81,407.33) 

Net worth: $122,704.82

My prior month net worth was $118,215.51, which means I've had an almost $4k gain in about 4 weeks! It was almost entirely an increase in assets - my credit card debt stayed steady because I put an upcoming vacation (funded by my stimulus) on it. I did consider upping my estimate of my condo valuation because Zillow has increased the value by about $6k, but I decided it wasn't time yet.

Marriott Amex - officially paid off! Next steps...?

I'm so stoked! Last night at 10:30 pm, I was looking at my GoodBudget app, and I realized I could pay the last little bitty chunk of the Marriott Amex (while borrowing a bit from the next pay period's envelope loading/the "unallocated" envelope). I have officially paid it off!

So technically, I did make three additional purchases on it this month, primarily because I didn't have my main credit card with me. I bought a bottle of kirschwasser and a bottle of whiskey at the liquor store, I paid for a massage with it (that money came out of my stimulus funds), and I ordered some (much-needed) leggings from Old Navy, so I'll be on the hook for all of that (about $300) when the billing cycle closes in April. 

My federal student loans are frozen because of the pandemic, so I've been using that money (about $265) to pay off this card. That $265 plus the $97ish in the regular mid-month budget will more than cover the last chunk of spending, and I will be ready to move on to the next card, the Chase Sapphire with about $7,500 (ugh) on it.

I've already been paying slightly more than the minimum payment on the Chase Sapphire (I set all my cards up with a fixed payment instead of just the minimum because I hated having to adjust my budget every month). The current minimum payment is about $150. With the Marriott Amex paid off, I'll be able to put $680 ($150 min pymt + $97 Amex mid-month amt + $168 Amex end-of-month amt + $265 fed student loan) each month toward it! I'm expecting to have it paid off by November of this year.

I'm also planning to apply for a 0% interest balance transfer card in a couple of weeks to use for at least part of the Chase Sapphire balance. I do have an offer from my current Discover card for a balance transfer, but I need to find out how they apply payments, because I don't want to get stuck owing money on an older balance transfer if they're applying payments to the newer transfers. That is a problem for future Tex to figure out!