Mid-Month Update

I just made my credit card payments for the month, bringing my debt total down to $28,396.67, which means I've paid off $4,403.77 from the original debt.

For the last two or three months, I've only been paying the minimums while I treaded water through a work slow-down and tried to channel any money I could find to my e-fund. My e-fund now stands at $1177.95, which leaves me roughly $400 away from the baby-step goal of being able to cover one month's mortgage payment.

I'm now considering switching back from savings build-up to debt paydown mode. I have a heavy workload lined up for July and reason to believe that the rest of the year is likely to be fairly busy (or at least there shouldn't be any dramatic slowdowns). That could allow me some time to let my savings coast for a bit while I work on paying off my highest-interest debt ($2,954.55 @ 8.9%).

I'm also doing some research to figure out if it would be worthwhile to sell my car and buy a used car that gets better mileage. My car, which I estimate that I could sell for maybe $9000, is only getting about 20 mpg. I was hoping that I could find something like a used Toyota Echo for less than $8000. That would give me at least a few hundred extra to throw at my debt, plus I'd have a more fuel-efficient car--and still no car payments. As it is, I'm driving my car as little as possible, and I need to see if I can get an insurance deduction for the reduced usage.

I also need to start building up my tax fund again. I'm behind in my estimated payments for income tax this year and want to get caught up on that. And then property taxes are due in just six short months. It never ends!