I'm Credit Card Debt Free!!!

So I caved and I transferred the money from my regular account and E Fund to pay off my credit card and I can gladly say I'm Credit Card debt free, all that's left is to pay the last $200 from my parents loan and I'll be completely debt free.

This means I'm going to be living tight for the next pay fortnight with the majority of my pay going towards rent but I'm happy to do this for the joy of being Credit Card Debt free and being able to start my holiday savings plan sooner then expected!

If you want to know the reason for this change of mind from my last post, I partly blame the 5 day long weekend in Australia which has allowed me time not to do anything and to be to in my head thinking about my credit debt. I've also been bad with my money this pay and spent my entertainment fund 3 days into the fortnight. I was sitting on the couch tonight, stressing about the spending and decided rather then spend anymore money this fortnight I'll just put it all onto the credit card instead. It's a bit stupid, actually probably a lot stupid but I'm so happy to be Credit Card debt free so I can stop stressing about my money and start SAVING my money.

Yahooo!!!!

I'll update the sidebars once the payment clears my bank fully and the balance shows $0

Sidebar update

It was payday on Wendesday and I transferred money to my debts and into my savings.

Current levels

Credit Card - $722.89

Parents Loan - $200

Emergency Fund - $300

I am so close to paying my credit card off I can taste it, I even have enough money in my bank account right now that I could transfer it all onto my credit card and it would be paid off! I was very tempted to do this on Thursday but I realised it wouldn't be a good idea because it would leave me with around $10 for the next fortnight and I would still be in the cycle of living from paycheck to paycheck.

I'm steadily paying everything off and paying all my bills on time and at the current rate I'm on track to be debt free by the end of July!

Updated sidebars/Down to 3 digits!

So I noticed my pay came in early tonight so I decided to pay my bills so I could update my sidebars!

I would really like to bring to your attention to my credit card debt which is now $972.89, I've broken the $1000 barrier!!!

It was easy to get the debt down to this much, I always do this, I've been doing this for the past 6 years, running my credit card debt up and then paying it down, my real challenge this time is to keep it down for good, no more one off "small" purchases and my credit card stays at home. I've decided for know to keep my limit at the $1500 mark and keep the credit card around because I am going to need it in the future to buy overseas plane fares and things like that.

I'm also happy I have $300 left to pay back my parents on their loan but I've decided to pay back an extra $200 which my mother gave me as a gift to pay for misc items I needed for my new place. I figured it's time to stop relying on my parents for everything and my Mum could really use the money right now.

EDIT

I've decided to change my savings account right now to an emergency fund. Once the emergency fund reaches $1000 I will start a separate savings account for travel savings. Eventually when I go to travel I will roll my emergency fund into my savings account or keep it as an emergency fund to have while I travel and maybe have enough for a ticket home or something in there.

Current Situation

I got a bonus pay this week at work.

When I saw the amount of money in my account I instantly thought "Great I can finally buy a DSLR" after half a second though I realised I can actually put everything straight onto my credit card and pay a whole hunk of it off!

So without further ado I present to you all....

My Current Situation

Credit Card Debt $992.85

Centrelink Debt $517

Travel Savings $1004.97

Do you see that! My credit card debt is in the 3 digits! Now I can focus on paying a smaller steady amount off my credit card without being stung to hard by interest rates, everything seems a bit more do-able right now.

Since I made the lump sum payment onto my credit card I've been looking back on my purchases and what I've used this credit for and I've been unable to account for anything substantial to show for it. My brother who's horribly in debt has things like a big TV, laptop and a new couch, instead my purchases have been trivial entertainment based things like Going to the movies 1 day before pay day and paying it on credit and then saying "I'll pay it tomorrow when I get paid" except I never did.

I'm not saying my brothers debt is somehow better then my debt I just wish I had something to show for it all instead of a statement showing "$4.80 to Starbucks".

Paying off your credit cards

Is it better to spend a quick hard slog of time and focus on paying everything off your credit cards in the shortest amount of time possible without putting any money aside for savings or rainy days? Or is it better to gradually pay off your credit cards while establishing a savings account and a rainy days account?

I've read a fair amount of personal finance blogs and money articles that advocate both ways. Personally I'm leaning towards option 1, however I worry if by doing this I'm leaving myself open for trouble in the future Say for example if an unforseen expense comes up like a doctors visit or a higher then expected phone bill which leads me to then have to use my credit card to get through.

Hmm... I think now I'm leaning to option 2 instead.

What do you do?