December Update

It's a bit early, but we have already received our December pay and paid our bills. It was better this month than last, but could have been even better still. I always get a little bit carried away with christmas because I LOVE to give. I LOVE to spend time pouring over that perfect gift for a loved one, that perfect "I always wanted but would never get for myself" gift that will bring about the biggest smile. Unfortunately, I can't always bank-roll my ambition. Getting out of debt is so important because, to me, giving is SO important. It's how I best show love. It's not always about spending money to give, but right now, that seems to be my go to. I made dinner for a few friends, but even that ended up costing a pretty penny (and took sooo much time). At any rate, here we are:

• Capital one             3000/3100
• Lowes                        370/500
• Capital one             1600/2250
• School (mine)         1195/11,100
• School (hub)          7,550  /17400
• Van                            11,000/21,000
• House                       96,165/99,000

 For a grand total of:

I really wanted to pay off the smaller cap one, but I don't want to run our budget too close to 0. It makes for a very stressful few weeks. I was able to scrape together a little bit extra for my student loan, and can clearly see the end :) 

Down by $1,246! Much better than last month's 400 :) January is an extra check month (WAHOO!!!) I'll be in the teens!!

Something has to give

I cannot park in my garage so that my things can stay warm.

It takes me a long time to dress my kids in the morning because I can never find anything.

I have to replace items when I need them because I cannot find them.

I throw away food because I can't see it in my fridge to use it (yes, clutter exists their too).

My entire life, I have battled clutter in my room, my home, my car, my purse, and much like debt payoff, I have often resolved to be better. Do better. I can learn how if I stay with it...I have tried time and time again, but I have failed just as much.

Don't worry, this is not another "Life changing magic" post. Though, maybe I'm the only who has had her fill of this. I love me some konmari, I'm just tired of reading about it.

In fact, this post won't teach how to make changes, but rather, it's my why.

It's my "I'm sick and tired of it" post.

My "Give me back my life, time, and place of rest" post.

It's funny how debt pay-down has rolled into other areas of my life. How getting control of one area leads me gain control in another.

It's truly a total life makeover. I am moving toward simple wherever I can.

I'm not organizing, decluttering, or otherwise....It's time to:

November Update

November....not such a great month. December "looks" better, but then, so did November on paper. I'm not sure what happened outside of just not sticking to the budget. This is a depressing month, so short and sweet post it is....

Here are my numbers:

• Capital one             3100/3100
• Lowes                        446/500
• Capital one             2250/2250
• School (mine)         1250/11,100
• School (hub)          7,800  /17400
• Van                            11,000/21,000
• House                       96,300/99,000

For a grand total of:

ONLY $399.00 FOR AN ENTIRE MONTH...ah geez....

Goals start NOW

I have been thinking through my goals for the upcoming year, and once I finally had them at a point that I felt I could actually achieve, I could not WAIT until January to get started on them. 

This. Was. Dumb. 

Why on earth would I wait a full month before starting to plan out how to achieve my goals? 

2016 promises to be an amazing year, and so long as I stay the course, I should be able to achieve each of these. 

1. I can do this within 6 months IF I can manage to stick to my budget. This obviously does not include the house. That will come later. 

2. Transition from soda to water. This is a big one for me. One that I have often tried and failed at. I drink a disproportionate amount of water in comparison to my Dr. Pepper. It's also MUCH more budget friendly to drink water. 

3. This would happen after (and if) goal number 1. Again, totally attainable so long as I stick to my budget. 

4. We are planning a trip to Brazil to see family next Christmas. We would need to purchase tickets next summer, and have agreed to set money aside to pay for those in cash. 

5. This one may be a bit trickier, but we have NOTHING in savings. I know, Dave would be so disappointed in us, but it's the truth of where we are and what we'd like to fix. 

6. My husband desperately needs a new car. I don't actually mean new, but rather 'another' car. We are coming up on 9 years with this already loved car, and it's getting expensive to fix it. 

7. This one is just a duh. Why don't I have one of these?? Or my husband who works in finance from crying out loud. 

8. I love books. I love them. I feel like I never have time for them though. I can manage at least one a month...I hope. I am really excited about this goal. 

9. I'm really not sure how I will know when I have hit this goal. I just know that it needs to happen. Like, we cannot park in our garage because (apparently) it's more important that our possessions stay warm :/. I live in a constant state of chaos and miss out on precious time with my family because I am always tidying/cleaning. 

10. Oh the side hustle. I have often wanted to start something on the side, but fear of failure always stops me. I don't know that I'll find one thing, but I may try multiple avenues of bringing in some extra money. 

11. Every single month I sit down to look at where our money has gone, and without fail, it goes toward eating out. It's 10 here, 20 there, and before I know it, I'm out nearly 500 dollars for the month. I need a bank of quick, family, and budget friendly recipes to pull from.  I can do this one throughout the year. 

I geek out a little about fresh starts, new journals, fresh planners, and goals :) here's to accomplishing what I set out to do! 

Debt Inspiration Roundup (Part 1)

Some days it's difficult to continue the course. 

This is especially true when the little and quick wins are things of the past. 

I am only 20ish-K away from being from of all debt except for the house. I know that this is a different baby step, but it's important to us that we remove our mortgage immediately. 

Nobody knows what tomorrow holds, and to know that our children will always have their home (no matter our circumstances) is of the utmost importance. 

I am such a visual person and seeing the success of others is often the only thing that keeps me moving forward with this. So I thought it might be fun to show you some of my go-to posts for inspiration. 

Please remember that these reads meet me where I currently am. Not all will be as applicable to where you are, but no less...

I hope that you too glean inspiration from their trials and triumphs! Click on the photo from their site to read the awesomeness for yourself.

AffordAnything

My all-time favorite go to is over at affordanything. Seriously. It's like motivation on speed. They have lined up multiple folks who killed their debt, why they did it, and how they did it. It does not dissapoint! 

Debt Free After Three

This next blogger is a big dose of reality for me. I always tell myself that when X happens, then my life will be perfect. She beautifully writes that money ( having it or not) does not bring joy in it of itself. I especially love when she writes that, 

"Spending money will not make me happy, it will not distract me from my anxieties and it will not make me feel whatever I want to feel."

On Tithing
 To tithe or not to tithe written by Molly over at Still Being Molly. She shares her personal story with making the decision to tithe. This is something that I too struggle with regularly. She acknowledges that she is in debt, but felt led to give anyway. It's a great read for when I want to give into that small voice that says, "Just keep it". I encourage you to head over if you too are fighting a similar battle. 

LoveBakeBread

This girl is keeping it real! She writes about how hard it was, but is writing from the perspective of being on the other side. 



TrueGoodandBeautiful

I am fairly certain I could spend all of my free time in this blog. The debt-free story is amazing, but don't stop there! Every article posted on all things money inspires me.  



Andrea Stewart
Just. Yes. These two did things right....that is, they are DOING things right. They paid off their mortgage! This is like the pentacle of achievements in my world. Read now. Thank me later. 




Money Peach
All things Money Peach. This family moved fast. Like....in my dreams fast. It's not just their story that I adore; it's their entire site. Inspiration overload. 

oh, Mohela...

For some reason, I have a block when it comes to this loan. As student loans go, it's not too bad. 

I am at approximately 1300 dollars away from being free of it. Perhaps this is why it frustrates me...being so close, and not being able to cross it off. The interest rate isn't exactly devastating, and logically, I don't see that it needs to be put before other debts; however....logic won't win the race. Right?

Cue these charts. I am SO in love with anything that will visually help me see my progress. I'm sure you have seen this (they are all over the internet these days...and with good reason!)I love that I get to add a line with every payment I make. It gives me a sense of a 'win' even if I haven't technically won over it...yet. 

 

Click on the above photo to go get your own :) I am SUCH a visual person, that this has been so helpful in my journey!  The creator of this is a GENIUS!

October Updates

Baby blues hit. Hard.

I have been in surivial mode for the past 5 months, and while I have been hitting my debt (marginally), I will admit that my addiction/quick fix is shopping. I am all about a great deal, and I feel great after finding the best deal and taking it home. This means that I have been frequenting the goodwill and garage sales a bit too often in hopes of just....feeling.

As a result, my finances are not where they could be, and my home is in a constant state of chaos. Did this make me feel better? No. Quite the opposite. I am now feeling worse about where I should be in my debt progress, and the fact that there is too much crap in my house.

No less, my family and I have managed to pay off roughly 12,000 total. Also, I have decided to write off my sallie mae loan as forgivven. Well, I have some level of decision to make, it's not like I could just wave my magic wand and call it forgiven.

I am a teacher in a title one school, and if I stay in this building for 5 years, they will write off  up to 17,000 of my loans. I am in my 3rd year now, and because of the way time from my graduation to now, I will have one year to make payments (of about 2,000), and the rest should be forgiven. I would just like to see it gone, but would rather put my money at another debt that doesn't have the possibility of just going away (mostly).  So for now, it goes off the list.


Here is where I currently stand...

Radiology    0/50
Fines          0/100
Old cable bill  0/200 
Hospital    0/339 
CC1            0/300

CC2              450/950

Stormont   0/514.57

St. Fran    0/1882.71

CC3             2250/2250

CC4               2900/ 3000

School (mine) 1325/11,100

School (hub)      7,900  /17400

Van                    11,000/21,000

House               96,700/99,000