2 years and 3 months

That's how long it will take me to pay off my credit card debt. Pathetic, isn't it?

I could blame my generosity or my trust in people to actually pay off their loans. But I won't. Ultimately I am responsible for the mess I have created. It's really quite embarrassing to owe that much money for...for what? I look around my house and certainly don't see $18K worth of merchandise. Or anything even remotely close to that.

It's going to take some serious discipline, but I'm determined to stick to my newly devised payment plan and get this weight off my shoulders. As well as the weight on my fat ass, but that's another story. Following the advice of Suze Orman, I'm focusing on the card with the highest interest rate (14.9%) first. Luckily, I was able to transfer the bulk of that one to a very low rate card, but there's still several thousand left on it.

And as per Suze's first Law of Money: truth creates money, lies destroy it. So here I am, being honest with myself (and whoever else happens to stumble across this). I cannot afford to use my credit cards. For anything. I'll never make any progress if I continue to do so. I also can't send every dime to my credit card only to leave myself broke every month either (law #3: Do what is right for you before you do what is right for your money.).

So I've come up with a realistic amount that I believe I can afford to pay each month as long as I stick to my budget. Sadly, it rivals my house note. But I'm not going to keep beating myself up over it. By October of 2007 I can (and will) be rid of this nightmare. There is just no other option. I've talked about it long enough. It's (way) beyond time to get serious.

On a brighter note, my blogroll is back. Not sure what that was all about.