Brushes & Budgets

A makeup artist on her journey to debt freedom!


My Mix of Debts

I thought it might be helpful to share what my mix of debts are for each year because it changed…a lot. For 2019, the top 8 are credit cards, the bottom 4 are loans with fixed interest rates:

2019

NameInterest RateHighest BalanceEnding Balance
Synchrony Home
(Mattress Firm)
0% Intro$1,624.95$0
Capital One (Visa)25.15%$280.86$0
JC Penney27.99%$1,808.89$0
Capital One (Master Card)24.65%$4,470.02$0
Shop Your Way (Master Card)27.49%$4,967.43$0
Coastal Credit Union Visa9.99%$2,282.14$1,081
Discover (Balance Transfer from JC Penney)0% $1997.09$0
Walmart Credit Card24.90%$1,190.78$0
Ed Fin (Student Loan)4.04%$7,273.86$6,830.68
Local Gov’t FCU – Personal Loan10.75%$13,206.66$10,909.60
Miller Motte College (Student Loan)8%$1,149.73$0
Local Gov’t FCU – Car Loan5.25%$16,321.96$13,527.99
Coastal Credit Union – Personal Loan8.50%$8,600$8,600
The last is the loan rolled my Capital One Master Card and Shop Your Way Master Card into to help with how much I was paying towards interest. Best decision ever. It ended up boosting my credit score by roughly 100 pts.

2020

NameInterest RateHighest BalanceEnding Balance
Discover (Balance Transfer)0%$1,081$0
Synchrony Home0% (Intro)$1,148.65$0
Care Credit (Boob Job)15.90%$8,400$6,858.26
Local Gov’t FCU – Personal Loan10.75%$10,909.60$0
Coastal Credit Union – PL8.50%$8,600$0
Local Gov’t FCU – Car5.25%$13,527.99$0
Ed Fin (Student Loan)4.04%$6,830.68$6,181.37
Coastal Credit Union – PL5.99%$15,388.61$14,631.09
Coastal – Car3.39%$13,297.58$11,632.29
I refinanced my car and two personal loans.

2021

NameInterest RateHighest BalanceEnding Balance
Discount Tire0% (Intro)$820.11$0
Synchrony Home0% (Intro)$1,002.14$700
Shop Your Way Mastercard (Balance Transfer)0%$2,985$2,985
Care Credit (Boob Job)15.90%$6,858.26$0
Discover (Acupuncturist)24.49%$1,847.48$0
Coastal – Car3.39%11,632.29$9,336.24
Ed Fin (Student Loan)4.04%$6,181.37$5,457.77
Coastal – PL5.99%$14,631.09$12,313.90
The beginning of my balance transfer worries. I pay them off before interest is due but you’ll see in the coming days what the entire picture looks like.

2022

NameInterest RateHighest BalanceEnding Balance
Synchrony Home0% (Intro)$700$0
Shop Your Way Mastercard (Balance Transfer)0%$5,379$5,379
Care Credit (Wisdom Tooth & Lock Jaw)0% (Intro)$1,503.64$636
HELOC6%$3,000$0
Coastal – PL5.99%$12,313.90$7,855.03
Ed Fin (Student Loan)4.04%$5,457.77$4,915.07
Coastal – Car3.99%$9,336.24$6,961.14

It’s so embarrassing to make this visible to the public because I can see where I screwed up big time.

Thank you internet for showing me that I’m the problem…



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About Me

I’m a licensed esthetician and free lance makeup artist that has a full-time career at a local credit union in Raleigh, NC. Personal finance has become my second love next to makeup, as well as an unhealthy addiction to Excel. The plan is to be debt-free by late August 2024. New posts will be available between Monday and Thursday at 6 AM. To watch my debt balances go up or down, check my Money Moves Monday/Month-End posts. 😊

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