TheTravelApprentice.com's Blog

Pre-Travel Debts

Credit Cards

My credit card is on the brink of getting maxed out. I’ll need to free-up some space in order to have some credit for traveling and start paying it off.

If you’ve never had a credit card before, read this article 2.2 - Credit Cards for Travel.

The main reason I’m in the hole is due to creating thetravelapprentice.com. I was unemployed for most of 2010 and spent most of my credit on web-developing classes at BCIT while looking for work.

I’ve been working full-time since Mid-May and although i’ve been making payments, my total doesn’t seem to be going down.

Responsible Priorities

I have 3 priorities at the moment:

1. Credit Card Debt.
2. STILL Paying off Student Loan debts from 2005.
3. Saving for Thailand.

Saving for Thailand:

The last 4 paycheques I’ve put away $250 each for $1000 total so far. This is the Thailand flight fund and as soon as my girlfriend and I have enough we’ll be ready to buy our flights. This is the saving for Thailand part, the fun part, the kind of saving I love.

Student Loans:

As for the other two, these are real bills that require monthly payments. The student loan has been on hold due to my previous unemployment but I’ll need to start paying $300 per month starting in October (this month).

Credit Debt:

My credit payments are a minimum of around $120 per but I’ll never pay it off with that, (credit card companies love it when you have a debt, make payments, yet never pay it off. That’s how they make their money) so I think $300 per month leading up to my trip should clear some extra space on the old credit card.

Conclusion

Not using a credit card is also important, and easily my biggest problem with not paying it off lately and maintaining a constant debt on my credit card. I’m expecting a Valentine’s Day card from Visa this February too.

So between those 2 debts and the Thailand fund I’m looking at $850 per month, not including all my other life expenses like rent, food, fuel, bills etc…

All that aside, I believe it’s important to have credit while traveling and I must now go out of my way to create some extra credit space before departing.

Updates: I’ll keep you up to date with my debts too. Perhaps understanding my debt payment strategies may help you solve yours. I’m not sure when but I’ll be sure to post an update on my debt situation in late December/early January if i don’t before then.