Increasing My Networth

Net Worth, to me,  is the total of assets minus total debts.
In my Saving for a Rainy Day blog, I mentioned my current financial situation, "My Savings minus My Debt equals Debt". But assets are more than just savings.  They are income,  savings, property, investments,  and retirements. Or anything that serve as a resource to increase one's livelihood.

I would like my situation to improve to  "My Savings minus My Debt=Savings". I understand that I have to seriously work on this. I created a plan.  I have not been successful in implementing this plan. I need to approach my plan from a different angle.

My daughter looked at how much I make in a year and said, "Mom you will probably be comfortable in life if you did not have so much debt."  Hmmmmmm!  This leaves me no choice. I have to seriously look at my debt.

MY DEBT- Car note, Car note, Car note, Car note, Car note, Car note, Car note, Car note, Car note, Car note, Car note; Student loan, Student loan, Student loan, Student loan, Student loan, Student loan, Student loan, Student loan, Student loan; Medical bills, Medical bills, Medical bills, Medical bills, Medical bills, Medical bills, Medical bills, Medical bills, Medical bills, Medical bills; Credit card bills, Credit card bills, Credit card bills, Credit card bills, Credit card bills, Credit card bills, Credit card bills, Credit card bills, Credit card bills, ETC.ETC.ETC.ETC.ETC.ETC.ETC.ETC.ETC.ETC.

I want to reduce my debt by 12%. Even in making this statement, I remember creating this goal back in July 2014. Getting caught up in everyday life and work pressures delayed my memory of ever creating this idea.  I think giving my plan a percentage for debt reduction is a great way for me to measure how I would save money. How will I do this?

Plan Within a Plan:

Idea 1: Find a way to pay off my car note early so that I would have more money to pay towards other bills and/or to add to retirement or savings.

Idea 2: Pay a certain percentage monthly to reduce medical bills.

Idea 3: Take on my debt one step at a time while making a commitment to address all current, past due, and delinquent bills.

Painting the  Picture:

Idea 1:

• Know the balance of my car loan principal
• Know my interest rate  and how much additional money is added to my car loan each month
• Know that paying whatever % more on my car loan and applying it to the principal amount reduces the interest rates and the amount of time in which I would have to pay.
• Make a payment that equals to .25% of my current principal each month to reduce my remaining time (which is now 2.5 years).

Idea 2: 

• Tally all my medical bills 
• Pay anywhere from 10-12% each month; but no more than $50.00/month.
• Contact creditors to create a line of  open communication about my intentions.

Idea 3:

• Understand that I am committed to reducing my debt.
• Write down my successes and my failures for evaluation of my progress.
• Be willing to increase or decrease my debt percentage to fit my basic living needs or unexpected emergencies.

Looking at the Big Picture:

Making .25% payments on my principal each month will reduce my time by at least one month. This does not seem like a lot, but I can see the money that I will save .