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!!

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! 

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!

Ground Zero...Again

I have struggled for most of my adult life with staying on track when it comes to financial goals. I have tried and failed to break away from debt more times than  can possibly count. I have come so close, and then given up. Time and time again I repeat these patterns, and every year, I swear it's going to be different.
I think this is usually triggered by filing my taxes and realizing that I actually made a decent amount of money...and where on earth did it go??? I don't know how to make it different, but I'm not going to give up. I'm going to keep getting up and remaking up ground lost due to debt fatigue (is that even a thing?).

This is actually going to be the first time I see these numbers (at least in a while). I have been avoiding them, actually.

Please note that every single one of my credit cards have also been maxed out. Spending has always been my main means of dealing with my anxiety (which is a different conversation). At the heart of this, I have a lot to work on!

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

CC2              800/800

CC3             2250/2250

CC4               3000/ 3000

School (mine) 5245/6000

School (hub)      8,800  /17400

Van                    13,000/21,000

House               97,000/99,000

For a grand total of