I Can't Believe I Paid it Off!!!!!!

Wow!

I'm done!

I have successfully paid off every penny of my Mastercard. I haven't used the card for about five years. It's taken a long time, but now it's done.

I got the card my freshman year at Clemson. It was one of those spur of the moment credit card applications to get a free shirt or a hat, etc. At first I used the card wisely, but then it took a turn for the worse. I began using the card to pay for summer semesters and books. At the worst point, I was actually writing checks from it to try and help my parents through some trouble they were having at the time. These checks are bad news. They have a much higher interest rate! At the time, it didn't seem so bad. I saw my balance getting higher and higher and I knew my student loans were also growing, but I had the attitude that I would worry about it later.

And worry about it later I did! At the final point, the balance on my card was $13,000 with a 19% interest rate. I have put sooo much money into paying off this card. And now it's done!

Yippy!

My 2nd Trip to France

I went to France week before last. This was my second trip to France. I went for work each time.

On my first trip, I went with Mieke and Marshall. Mieke took us to work for the first half of the trip and Marshall and I toured Paris for the second half of the trip. We stayed in Paris the whole time and took the trains or subways to wherever we needed or wanted to go. I'm so glad I got to go! I spend absolutely no money on ANYTHING while I am there (except for personal souvenirs). It's so nice. I eat there like I never eat at home. Appetizers, main courses, deserts, and wine....at almost every meal. So wonderful! We toured all over Paris....the Louvre, Eiffel Tour, many other museums, etc. Very nice trip.

This time I went with Scott, Melvin, Dan, and Dana. It was a completely different trip. This time, we had a car and drove everywhere. We had a GPS system that we named Ms. Suzie. Without Ms. Suzie, we would have been hopeless, helpless, and completely lost! This time we did "the tourist thing" first and then worked for the second half of the trip. We went to Normandy instead of Paris this time. It was wonderful. I really enjoyed it. We stayed in a hotel on Omaha Beach and we took the "Band of Brothers" tour. We went around a saw all the actual battlefields, etc that were portrayed in Band of Brothers. I had an excellent time.

PS - The American Express is not readily accepted in France! Carry backup!

ING Direct

Two weeks ago, I opened a new savings account.

I've only had my BB&T savings account for about two and a half months. I was getting 0.25% interest. I didn't really mind at all about the interest rate when I opened it. I knew it was low, but that wasn't really a problem to me. My only reason for opening the account was to have two accounts....one to use and one not to use. I was going to automatically draft $100 from each paycheck into the account. I've also placed $20-50 here and there into the account.

Two weeks ago my savings account was up to $700. I know, it probably doesn't sound like much, but it's very exciting for me!

I've been reading some financial blogs. I really like one called "I will teach you to be rich." The website is http://www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com/.

Anyway, he had written some great information on starting out and the best routes to take. He told me the when's, the why's, and the how's.

One thing I immediately learned was that I need to open another savings account. He suggested either ING Direct or Emmigrant. I went with ING Direct. It's No fee and No minimum balance!!! And, believe it or not......the interest rate is 3.80%!!!! I couldn't believe it.

Also, for the next two months (it ends in April) they have a 4.75% interest rate.

I opened the account with $250 from my BB&T savings account. I put this much in because I got a $25 bonus for doing so.

I now have two savings accounts. I plan on keeping both of them with immediate money remaining in the BB&T account and the bulk of my emergency savings to go into the ING Direct account.

My Net Worth

Well, I've been calculating my net worth now for less than two weeks. I've become a wee bit obsessed about it. I'm just having fun though.

Currently I am at -33,603. When I started calculating it (only 10 days ago), I was at -34,940.

That's a positive increase of 1,337 already. I've only had one pay period during this time. How exciting!!

I know the graph at the top is not very clear. It's the best I can do for now. If you click on it, it's easier to see.

I'll be updating this blog regularly with the changes.