There's a (potential) buyer for our apartment!

miclason · #1 (**permalink**) 10-29-2004, 04:57 PM

Our apartment (my ex-husband's and mine) is up for sale, and, we have a very serious buyer!!...it is a small apartment, and, once we pay the remaining debt on it, I will have about $5100 left ...I KNOW I want to use ~$4000 to pay off 3 credit cards (all belonging to 1 bank, these are the ones with the highest interest rates)...but, I'm uncertain about the remaining $1,100....part of me wants to put this in the company's co-op and keep it there for about 8 months, then use it to enroll my daughter at the school I've chosen for her (no, public schools are not really an option where I live...not if you want your child to actually learn something!)...
Part of me tells me it would be wiser to use those $1100 to pay off another credit card, but I'm afraid I won't have the will power to put away the $90/month that I'm currently paying towards that cc into the co-op account...Please, someone, tell me I can do this, and make me accountable!!....

terry1156 · #2 (**permalink**) 10-29-2004, 08:16 PM

First, a big congratulations on the apartment. I will keep my fingers crossed that it all goes well and finalizes without any problems.

I would approach it in one of the following two ways. Although the extra money is a great surprise and will help you pay down your current debt a little quicker, it is not time to ease up and relax on paying off the remaining portion of the debt. The extra money helps a lot, but keep focused until all the debt is paid off.

Since you will have paid off 3 credit cards with $4000 of the money, that should free up the money that you were paying towards them. What is your plan with this money?

Although the best use of the other $1100 would be to pay off more credit card debt (if looking strictly at interest), if you think you will need it for your daughter's school, you can use the snowball technique and use all the money that was being sent to the 3 other credit cards to bundle it all together and make payment to the other credit card. This should pay off that much quicker.

There must be a reason that you feel you "won't have the will power to put away the $90/month that I'm currently paying towards that cc into the co-op account." I'm not sure if you want to share that reason or not, but if you have been managing to make the payment toward the credit card all this time, it seems that the will power to pay for something as important as your daughter's schooling can be managed.

globetrotter · #3 (**permalink**) 10-30-2004, 05:08 AM

I think this is the way I would approach the situation. I would use the other $1,100 to pay off my other credit card and do everything I could to make sure that the money was there for my daughter's school. I would not close the credit card account. If for some reason I could not save the money for the school, then I would use the credit card at that point to pay for it, but only as a last resort and safety net.

lieweheksie · #4 (**permalink**) 10-30-2004, 01:50 PM

I also live in a developing country so I know what you mean by schooling- some of our govt schools are very good but they cost money. You are obviously worried about your daughters education- if it makes you sleep easier at night then put the money into the school fund and commit to allways having enough to pay for each years tuition- once you've paid off al the debt- you could use your payments for this
Good luck

miclason · #5 (**permalink**) 11-03-2004, 06:59 AM

Thanks to all. Terry, the money I'd be "saving" by paying off those 3 credit cards is about $300/month, which I have already decided to use to pay off other credit cards - but, this $300 right now are going to turn into $200 next January (it's a small aid I'm getting from my parents now that they sold their farm, but, only for 2 years: $300 the first year and $200 the next one)...I'm doing magic right now to pay off all minimum payments each month and still live on cash only, without touching the credit cards!, so I don't know if I would have the will power to keep those $90 and put them away, as opposed to using it to make more payments...(I know this sounds crazy)...I thought it over during the weekend, and have come to a decision: I will use $700 to pay for (yet another) credit card, and will keep the $400 in the co-op...then make an arrangement with the co-op to have them deduct the $90 directly from my salary BEFORE it is paid into my account...
Will let you know if the apartment sells, and how things go...

terry1156 · #6 (**permalink**) 11-03-2004, 06:18 PM

It sounds like a good compromise and, most importantly, a set up that you have decided will work for you. And it doesn't sound crazy at all...money does that to us all

I'm very impressed with the way you are approaching the payoff of your cards. it is not an easy thing to do, but you are doing a great job. You are making headway and you should congratulate yourself on that. I have my fingers crossed that the sale goes through as hoped for. Keep us up to date on how things are going.