Decisions, Decisions

I desperately want to be debt free. So much so, that I've been thinking about suspending my automatic savings deposits. I've been considering it a while, but at first, the interest rate on my savings account was pretty decent. As we all know, though, interest rates for savings accounts have been in free fall since last year.

My idea is that rather than that amount going into my savings account, I could put it toward my debt. While it's not an insignificant amount, it would go a decent way toward helping me knock out the debt a little sooner. Of course, it would definitely affect my savings goal of $10K for 10/10/10.

My fear, though, is that I'll get out of the habit of saving. And I like seeing my savings grow. I really do.

Maybe I could make myself a deal -- I can suspend my savings deposits but only after I have a certain amount socked away.

So ... what to do? I don't know, but I welcome your suggestions.

On the Good Foot

This month is a three-paycheck month. That means I have the opportunity to start making things right -- to, as James Brown sang in his inimitable way, get on the good foot.

More than half of the first paycheck is going into savings, with the bulk going into an account I don't have the easiest access to. These deposits have already been scheduled. I've also scheduled the payment for the Little Beast, so that account will be back at zero by the weekend.

So, yeah, I'm starting June out on the good foot. :-)

P.S. While this isn't technically a "monthly update," I'm tagging it as such since it's really like the second part of yesterday's update.

June 2009 Monthly Update

Let's get straight to it, shall we:

Big Beast: $10,405.24
Little Beast: $68.00
Total Debt: $10,473.24

Total Savings: $4,682.82

Yes, I know. The Little Beast is back. But there's a reason: I bought a shirt. I'm going to do what I do when I use the Big Beast card: Pay it off immediately. I get the rewards from using the card (in this case, a rebate) without carrying a balance. I had been using the Big Beast for such things but then the bank changed my interest rate for no reason, so I'm not using it ever again.

The savings isn't as terrible as I'd feared, but it's not pretty. I will be making up for it this week, so next month's update should be much improved. (In fact, I'd almost considered not updating this month on the 1st and instead waiting until those savings deposits went through, but I decided to stick with the original plan. The first of the month is the first of the month.)

So ... that's it. Here's hoping June finds me regaining my footing.