The Ultimate Coconut Kona Mocha Frappuccino in Hawaii

I know, I know – didn’t I just say “goodbye” to good old Starbucks coffee? Well, after making that no-more-coffee commitment, I just got a flashback of my favorite frapuccino. No, it’s not from Starbucks! It’s from Island Vintage Coffee at the Aloha Tower in Honolulu, Hawaii. If you ever get to land in Hawaii for whatever odd reason, stop by this coffee shop and get the Coconut Kona Mocha Frappuccino.

Back to reality: it is still kinda hard for me to say good-bye to frappuccinos and mocha lattes everyday. I would always tell myself that I need coffee badly because I don’t get enough sleep. I should start breaking this insomniac habit so that I can resist the urge to buy coffee. I also have to pinpoint what keeps me up at night. While I don’t think about my debt in the wee hours, perhaps staying up late is my way of subconsciously coping with stress. Either way, I need to find ways to go to bed early so that my body can recover and get its 7 to 8 hours of sleep. Right now, it’s already 3:05AM. Not getting enough sleep and not getting any caffeine are a bad combination. Tack on a liability of about $100,000.00 in credit card debt, and you can bet that I’m on the right road to depression.

No, I will not allow myself to lose hope and fall into a depressed state! So…aside from saying “goodbye” to my daily caffeine, I shall also commit to getting some shut-eye no later than 9:30PM everyday (since I have to be at work so early).

Maybe I should still get me a good cup of coffee to reward myself at least once a month–that is, if I were to faithfully stick to my commitment of: no Starbucks  and bedtime by 9:30PM everyday.

Am I making it harder for myself or what? Let’s just say, I’m paying it forward.“

 

Saying Goodbye to Starbucks…

I love coffee. I love good coffee…and it has to be the mocha ones from Starbucks. I always go for Venti, and anything below $4.00 isn’t worth the coffee run.

So I started a new job very recently…no free coffee here…at least, not the good kind. Starbucks happens to be downstairs…hence the beginning of my daily coffee run. Not good…at least, not good for the wallet.

After seeing my debt balance yesterday (no, coffee isn’t to blame for that because I just started), I’m ready to give up my daily caffeine dose. I really hope I’ll be successful this week: no more Starbucks.

I also stopped brown bagging lunch everyday since I started this new job. Until I become successful at not running to Starbucks at all for at least the first two weeks, I will not commit to not brown bagging everyday. I do not want to overdo it, break down, and then give up. I can’t over-promise and under-deliver. However, I shall still do my best to brown bag everyday AND skip the coffee.

It will be interesting to see how this week unfolds. What little things are you doing right now to reduce your debt?

 

So I Owe $100,000 in Credit Card Debt…

Hi, my name is Jade, and I just realized that I now owe almost $100,00.00 in credit card debt ($99,724.00 to be exact).

Pretty soon, I’ll be 30. Two years ago, I had no credit card debt with a credit score of over 750–thanks to a fixed equity loan that took care of it all. Now a single mom with two young children, I have relocated quite a few times in the last two years and have held a couple of jobs while in transition. Then, I became unemployed…for ten whole months!

For a while, paying my bills–though not necessarily a breeze–was a no-brainer. When I became unemployed, I watched my savings go down the drain…fast. Living on credit cards followed soon after. Now that I finally got a good job, I’m playing catch-up. The process of bill-paying still makes me want to throw-up until finally, I decided to face my fears. After adding it all up, I just realized that my credit card debt is high enough to buy property somewhere out there.

I’m not passing out…not yet. I decided to start blogging and tweeting about this (follow me on Twitter @JadesJourney) so that I can keep myself accountable–and you can help me stay on track! I am not losing hope–it does not matter if my salary is currently not enough to meet my monthly obligations. There is always a way, and I can’t lose hope now.

Please join me in my journey as I slowly but surely pay off my $100,000.00 credit card debt.