Into the future

I don't have a lot of discretionary income, so tackling this debt won't be easy. I will get into my budget in future posts, but for the time being, know that I live in Los Angeles and make $40,500 a year. Yowza!

I am currently only sending the required minimum payments on my student loans, which amounts to $87.18 per month to Loan #1 and $93.64 per month to Loan #2. I hope to tackle these debts more aggressively in the future, but for the time being I will see a greater return on my money by funneling it toward my credit cards. I am also building my emergency fund with whatever I can manage each month.

My AMEX card has an interest rate of 5.99% and my BoA has an introductory rate of 0% until June 2011. Thus, my energies are focused on AMEX and I only pay the minimum $19 a month on my BoA card (I also have a SmartyPig sub-account dedicated to the BoA debt; more on that next time).

However, this is where things get tricky; I am also saving for a trip to Ireland in October. I am going for a friend's wedding and am SO excited for the eight-day trip. The plane ticket is paid for, as are $200 worth of hotel costs. These hotel costs were paid by reward miles from my Capital One Venture card, which I use for all my purchases and pay in full each month. I am trying to save $600 for the rest of my travel expenses. I currently have $275 in my SmartyPig sub-account allocated for Ireland, and I plan to throw $300 more in there in September. Thus, my AMEX pay-down will suffer until November, when I can start putting even more toward it. I anticipate only having $125 available to pay it in September.

Short term goals
Enjoy Ireland without creating new debt (October 2010)
Pay off my AMEX card (March 2011)

Long term goals
Pay off BoA card (before 0% APR ends in June 2011, or ASAP after that)
Build E-fund to $1,500 (August of 2011)
Create SmartyPig sub-account to grow the $3,000 required to open my Vanguard Roth IRA (end of 2011)

Long, long term goals
Build E-fund to $7,000
Fund Roth IRA to max of $5,000 each year
Aggressively attack student loans