So, I finally worked out a budget for myself, based on my current income and the income I need to be making.
I took the average of my last 4 paychecks, nearly choking in the process! It was a bit of a "come to Jesus" moment for me, seeing where my income stands. There is some work to be done to generate more income.
Then I tallied all of my expenses from January. This was the fun part! Food is my biggest expense, between groceries and eating out. I realized that I need to cut down on the eating out-the coffees, the lunches, the delivery. I also need to pay more attention to what I spend on groceries, start doing some comparison shopping, and getting my boyfriend to help out a little more. (He actually splits many of the grocery expenses, but the little things I contribute really do add up.)
I made out a list of all my fixed expenses, my credit card payments, food, entertainment, misc. items, tallied it all up and figured out that I don't make enough money to cover everything! Uh oh.
Soooo, I created a budget based on the bare minimum I need to make to cover all of my expenses. I also started looking for a second job.

This card I had actually paid off late last fall. Then the bull%$&* with BoA started, and then I was broke, so I made some balance transfers and put a balance back on this card. Boring but true.

I got this card with a gorgeous 0% introductory rate, a little over a year ago. I transferred some balances, promised myself that I would just pay it down, then bought my birthday dress and fabulous shoes! What can I say, I'm weak! I also charged some groceries, I believe.
In one of my many efforts to get my debt under control, I enrolled in automatic payments from my Chase account. Then in a moment of...I'm not sure what it was...I opened a checking account with Bank of America. The next time a payment was due for this card, no auto-withdrawal from Chase! Uh oh.
I called and managed to get the late fee taken off, got scolded for not scheduling my payments to be withdrawn on time, and discovered that my new checking account had disabled the auto-withdrawal. I also got stuck with a new interest rate because I had "defaulted" on the agreement. Rather than call back and argue, I decided to do some balance transfers and stop using the card. As soon as I can, I'm going to cancel the card. I hate Bank of America.

I suppose this isn't a credit card account, technically speaking. However, I have an APR on it (19.9%) so it sure freakin' feels like a credit card account!
When I was at my previous job, at an art college in NYC, I opened a checking account at Chase bank. A very smart move on my part, considering Chase is literally everywhere in the city. There's even a branch in my 'hood! Very convenient pour moi.
At the time I opened the account, I applied for and received this overdraft. You know that rush you get when you're approved for credit on the spot? Amazing, right? Like you just received a very high honor for having decent credit. I was quite proud of myself.
For a while, about a year, I barely noticed the account. I wasn't in the habit of overdrawing my account or bouncing checks, so I was comfortable. Then I went back to school, and there were days when I just needed to have cash, so hello overdraft! And it was great. Chase would take from the overdraft only what was needed to bring my checking back to zero. Then one day, they started drawing off the overdraft in $50 increments. No explanation, that's just the way it was. And no, I did not inquire. Please see my previous entry on my decision to ignore what was happening to my credit.
So, here I am today. Hello overdraft. I haven't actually overdrawn my account in over a year, so I'm strictly in payoff mode.
My Goal: Pay off this debt with my tax return.

Okay, so I laid out my credit debt in my first post. Now I'm going to talk about how I got there.
My first experience with debt came with a Citibank card I obtained in college, with a $800 limit. I immediately began spending on it, the most memorable purchase being about $100 worth of music cd's. Awesome! Fast forward to 2 years after graduation (1999)...I now have 2 department store charge cards, a student loan, and I've overrun my credit limit on that Citibank card. Oh yeah, and I've defaulted on paying each debt. Some harassing phone calls and letters, and I put myself in a debt paydown program with Union Financial. Pay monthly, yadda yadda, it's 2001 and I am debt free! How cool is that??? I'm also living in NYC with my boyfriend, my rent is ridiculously cheap, and I finally have money to play with.
Okay, so 2002, I decide it's time for me to get back into the credit game. I apply for a Providian card and I get it! It is such a nifty card- translucent green, sparkly-I'm hooked. $1000 credit limit. My first expense is an emergency trip to England, boyfriend has an ill mother.
Without going into details that I frankly can't remember, let's fast forward to 2005. I've managed to obtain several more credit cards, and have balances on all of them, mostly from balance transfers and some spending (some foolish like trips to Sephora, some necessities like groceries). I decide that I'm going back to school for massage therapy. How am I going to do that? Student loans to cover some tuition, credit cards to cover the balance, and pay for supplies. My paycheck is being used to cover my rent, my partying, and my credit card bills. As I'm charging away from 09/05 to 12/06, I consciously choose to ignore the credit card situation and just get through school, which I do. I graduate in 2006, and 2007 is my year to clean everything up.
Well, let me tell you that waking up in January 2007 and looking at the state of my finances was no fun at all! I had 7 cards, over $20G in debt (which I still have), and my highest interest rate was 29.99% (thank you, J.P. Morgan Chase!).
Over the next 12 months I somehow managed to get up to 9 cards, increase my debt, and find a job where I'm barely making enough money to eat. Excellent, really excellent.
So, here I am, 2008, worse off than last year. Well, maybe not worse. I'm down to 7 cards. I paid off the other 2 through balance transfers and scrimping. My highest APR is 19.9%, my lowest is 0%. I've been communicating with my credit card companies and requesting lower APR's (I'd just like to send a big "#*!^ you" to WaMu for not honoring my request to lower the APR). What else? I am somehow managing to pay my rent and my bills.
The downside is that I don't really have a plan for paying down my debt because I don't have a budget. I don't have a budget because I don't know what my paycheck will be every two weeks. I work as a massage therapist, and get paid by the type and number of massages I do. For example, I make $35 on a 50-minute massage, $52.50 on an 80-minute. Type and number changes every pay period, so I NEVER KNOW.

CC #1: $931.40 (19.9% APR)
CC #2: $5,297.57 (14.24% APR)
CC #3: $1,009.71 (12.99% APR)
CC #4: $1,410.22 (12.99% APR)
CC #5: $4,146.24 (9.99% APR)
CC #6: $4,706.87 (0% APR)
CC #7: $6,284.70 (0% APR)
Total Credit Card Debt: $23,786.71

I've begun this blog in an attempt to "shame" myself into a debt diet. I hope that by putting my credit card debt out there, examining it (and letting others examine it too!), I'll finally be able to slay the dragon that is (drum roll...) MY DEBT!
I'll be dealing pretty exclusively with my credit card debt, as opposed to my student loan debt. Also, any mention of the following-student loan debt, savings, retirement-will be peripheral to the main theme of this blog.
In general you can expect to read about the number of cards I have, the balances and interest rates I carry on each one, how I got into debt in the first place, and what I'm doing to either decrease the debt (or contribute to it!). I expect I'll ramble on a good deal about my emotional relationship to money,my parents' relationships to money, and things of that personal nature.
If you, the reader, wish to comment or criticize, I ask that you do so in a constructive manner. Flaming or harsh criticism would be counter-productive and just plain mean!