Thank you all for the warm welcome back!  

I wanted to describe my debt consolidation.  Over the summer, I was so overwhelmed by my credit card debt, and did not have an avenue to consolidate it myself (personal loan, HELOC, etc).  I had been getting lots and lots of mail from companies offering to consolidate and had spoken to one or two of them, and finally decided to give it a shot.

I went with JG Wentworth, as they had strong name recognition, and felt that the weren't pushy with me (some of the other companies very much were).  Basically, they took 12 (no, that isn't a typo, yikes) credit card accounts, and consolidated them into one balance and presented me with a plan to pay them off in 3 years.  It's certainly work I can do on my own, but the structure and streamlined nature are definitely making it easier to stick to.  

The total balance of accounts originally placed with them was around $35k.  I pay $700 a month, and then they prioritize paying off accounts.  My updated balance is currently around $31k, and two accounts have been paid off.  I expect that one or two more will be paid off within the next few weeks.  Ten to go!

It's not the most ideal way to handle the situation, but it's where I ended up.  My credit score has taken a massive hit, but I expect it to rebound within the next year.  Thankfully, I don't need to be approved for anything big before then.  I'd like to refinance my mortgage sometime in 2022, but we will see where everything lands in between now and then.

Long time lurker/blog reader here.  I briefly had one of my own, but was bad about updating.  Plus I used my usual social media handle, and I'd like to fly a little more under the radar.

So I've decided to start fresh with a slightly more anonymous handle

My story?  Almost 42.  Single.  Bought my first home at the end of 2019, right outside NYC.  Have found myself in debt again.  Getting my sh*t together over the next few years (again).

"Bad" debt:

*Credit cards under consolidation - about $35k (will be paid off Aug 2023)

*Active credit cards - about $11k (focusing on those over the next few years, plan isn't really fleshed out other than get rid of these balances!)

*Car loan - about $15k (will be paid off Aug 2023)

*401k loan 1 - about $8k (will be paid off Feb 2023)

*401k loan 2 - about $6k (will be paid off Oct 2023)

*Mom debt - about $17k (will be paid off sometimes in 2024 at latest, firming up my plan for this)

"Good" debt:

*Mortgage - about $150k (payoff fall of 2049, but unlikely to go that far, this is not a priority at the moment)

*Student loans - About $4k (not sure when these will be paid off, again not a priority)

I've been projecting my overall plan to tackle all of this and more over the next few years - as you can see, 2023 is when I get a lot more breathing room.  I'll go into more detail on that in future posts!  For now, hello and glad to be joining you on the blogging side.  Please be nice - not looking for any judgement here!  Just looking for a place to share my journey honestly.