Debt Elimination Update: January 2021

Everyone who hoped for a better, more promising 2021 felt deeply betrayed by the opening month of this year.  January brought a lot of chaos and hope with an attempted coup on the Capitol building and an historic inauguration.

Meanwhile, the pandemic continues to rage, claiming the lives of thousands in the U.S. every day. Winter makes Covid-safe activities more challenging.

Masked, socially distant hike with friends is the best we can do these days.

In personal news, my mother continues to make progress in her stroke recovery. She tries to score elusive vaccine slots every day to no avail, but it keeps us looking forward. My job has required in-person reporting, but my doctor is quite concerned about what we have learned about how Covid poses many risks to the immunocompromised. Now I'm in the process of requesting ADA accommodations until fully vaccinated. I'm struggling a lot with my feelings about internalized ableism, and will probably try to write it out later.

Financial progress from January:

• Got a second stimulus check. Our second stimulus check is going towards debt repayment (see below), charitable giving, and increased emergency cash reserves. Will we get a third check? Time will tell. Our family isn't hurting as much as some, but since I'm blogging this massive debt repayment and would qualify for the full amount under every proposal made to limit income, I can tell you we would greatly appreciate the stability booster.
• Waited patiently for mortgage Refi--still not processed. I hate feeling like I'm in transition here, but paperwork processing has slowed to a crawl in this environment.
• Filed taxes early! We will qualify for a large refund this year, owing to 1) my desperate fear that my withholding was being miscalculated, 2) not having a second job or freelance work for most of the year, and 3) Maryland's student loan program.  More debt payoff is on the horizon for 2021
• Debt Progress: Here are the numbers for the end of January:
  • Balance Transfer 1 (0% through March 2021): $1,500
  • Balance Transfer 2 (0% through April 2021): $4,700
  • Balance Transfer 3 (0% through August 2021): $5,200
  • Grad School 1 (5.5%): $1,588.57
  • Grad School 2 (5.5%): $4,218.43
    TOTAL Remaining: $17,207.00
    Amount paid off this month: $1,526.20
    Amount paid off TOTAL: $27,048.78

When I include mortgage debt and my undergrad student loan (very low interest rates), I've paid off $38,744.44 since starting this whole endeavor in January of 2018.  Not bad for just three years!  I'm hoping some expected windfalls in the first half of this year will allow us to finish paying off those credit cards and grad loans before the end of this calendar year.  It will be close!