jconcilio wrote:

So here's my April 2015 update:

Discover card: $5,180.00 (Down $57.82 since last month.)
Goal: Get this below $5,000 by the end of April. While I've already made my regular payment, I get paid once a month on the last day of the month, and on that day, I'm going to shoot over an extra $200 on this to meet that goal. This is the only card I currently have open (I do monthly recurring subscriptions and Kindle book purchases on it, and then use the Cashback rewards) but I want to carry a much lower balance, or none revolving at all, eventually.

Union Plus Mastercard: $5,746.29 (Down $62.48 since last month.)
Goal: Yeah! I hit my next goal, which was to get this below $5,800 before the end of March. Next up, to get below $5,650 by the end of June. This card is closed and just being paid off at a low APR.

Citi Visa: $3,524.33 (Down $346.75 this month.)
Goal: My goal is to pay this card off before the end of this calendar year, which is a little bit of a stretch but doable. I'm paying about $300 above the minimum on it every month. My next-step goal has been to get its balance below $3,500, which is so close as to be silly, so I will also drop an extra $50 on this on payday to make that happen.

Honda Financial Lease: $17,281.18 (Down $430.27 this month.)
Goal: Not actually related to the lease, but my hope is to have two of the three credit cards paid off when the lease comes up for purchase in two years.

Overall: Down $467.25 on the credit cards this month; 29.13% credit card debt free (from starting balances on all three of these cards).

Keep at it, it gets better...I promise.

It was kinda weird getting used to operating on cash only.  The urge to overextend yourself doesn't stop right away.  Sometimes I found myself very short between paydays.

Things are much, much better now.  Even started making increased payments on the car. (my demon is unsecured credit).  
 

jconcilio wrote:

Try having a baby and being hospitalized for a month with no health insurance. It adds up fast! Actually, I don't recommend that AT ALL!

Sadly, there's actually very, very little consumer purchasing that went into the debt - it's about 90% healthcare and 10% home repair, like when our heat pump went out last December. I'm glad that I now am in a position to have both the savings and the insurance that, when such emergencies come up, I don't have to charge them, but that wasn't the case in the past for sure!

Health care without insurance has caused many bankruptcies. You at least seem well on your way to digging yourself out and sounds like the new job, etc will not only provide you with a decent wage but hopefully good health insurance as well. 

Keep up the good work on your financial goals. It WILL payoff.