Earlier this year, I set a goal to pay off $23,000 as we worked towards becoming debt free. Paying down $23,000 may or may not seem like a lot to pay depending on where you are in your steps to financial freedom. We just started taking our debt free trip seriously at the beginning of this year because we are just plain tired of paying out an enormous amount of money each month to feel like we’re not making any progress. And to be completely honest, $23,000 is the most we have paid out to debt in a single year. For us, it’s nearly half of our current take-home income. That’s a significant chunk!
So how far did we come in our debt free progress for December?
Mortgage: $500.00
Student Loans: $349.59
Credit Card 2: $205.00
Car Payment: $264.80
This month we lowered what we normally pay by quite a bit. We did pay more than the minimums on our student loans and credit card, but because it’s a holiday month, I wanted a buffer for any additional travel expenses, short notice expenses {such as class gifts, class party expenses, etc}, and any general expenses that would arise throughout the month.
Overall, I think we did really good on our progress. I set our goal of $23,000 simply because it was more than we had paid in a single year before. Throughout that process, we’ve not only paid over $27,000 in debt this year, we’ve paid off one credit card, had cash funded birthdays and holidays, as well as paid for our car repairs using cash. For us, that’s a huge change in how we’ve handled finances. I’ve started running scenarios on how we can improve our finances in 2016, as well as what we can get paid off and how much we can put away in savings. I hope to have that post up soon!
How have you done on your debt free goals for the year? Have you thought about what your goals will be in 2016?
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