• About Me
  • Disclosure
  • Shop

Making Cents Matter

  • Home
  • Resource Library
  • Budget
    • Budgeting Tips
    • Our Monthly Budget
    • Meal Planning
    • Free Printables
  • Debt Free
    • Debt Free Tips
    • Our Debt Free Journey
    • Free Printables
  • Saving
    • Ways We Save
    • DIY
    • Free Printables
  • Recipes
    • Recipes
      • Breakfast
      • Lunch
      • Dinners
      • Instant Pot
      • Slow Cooker
      • Soups
    • Meal Planning
    • Preserving Food
  • Garden
    • Gardening Tips
    • Preserving Food
  • Shop

May 29, 2016 · Leave a Comment

May 2016 Debt Free Progress

This post may contain affiliate links for your convenience.
Click here to read my disclosure policy.

Debt Free· Our Journey

0shares

2015 was our second year as home owners, and our first year we got serious about trying to get out of debt.  When we got serious about our debt payments in 2014, we had a total of 4 credit cards, 2 store cards {only one with a balance}, a car loan, a mortgage, and 4 different student loan payments.  This was on top of our regular bills and a monthly orthodontist payment.

We set a goal in 2015 to pay off $23,000 in debt, which was more than we had paid in a year up to that point.  Throughout the year, we eliminated three credit card balances, consolidated student loans, finished paying the balance on the orthodontist bill, and reduced some of our monthly bills.  We wound up putting $27,035.16 towards our debts last year, which was more than half of our take home income.

May 2016 Debt Payment

This year, we want to pay $24,000 in debt, but what we really want is to get rid of the rest of our smaller debts.  This means: 1} terminate our lease on Bookworm’s trumpet, I tackled this at the end of January, 2} own our car outright, 3} pay off my small student loan, and 4} pay off my credit card.  These are our last debts we have before we get to what I call our “Big 3”: Hubs’ consolidated student loan, my consolidated student loan, and the mortgage.

So how did we do on our debt free progress for May?

Mortgage: $500

Student Loans: $160
Our student loan payments will be smaller while we finish up the rest of our consumer debt.  I am up for my annual income based repayment reverification, and I’m currently waiting to see what the verdict is.  Since Hubs’ income increase slightly last year from the previous year, my payments may increase.  Hubs is up for reverification in August.

Credit Card 2: $400
Because of due dates {the credit card is due before the car}, and because interest varies up until a certain day, I wasn’t able to get an accurate payoff amount on the car until the due date on this had come and gone.  So I compromised.  I paid more than the minimum due, and made sure to give enough of a buffer just in case the car payment was way out of my estimated range.

Car Payment: $472.67
This is our final car payment on this loan, and our last car payment since we took out our first car loan in August 2010.  It’s very satisfying to be done with it, and we’ve freed up $264.80 to go towards our debt snowball.

Debt Payment May 2016

How are you doing on your debt free goals this year?

Related Posts

  • January 2019 Meal PlanJanuary 2019 Meal Plan
  • Create A Monthly Meal Plan In 5 Easy StepsCreate A Monthly Meal Plan In 5 Easy Steps
  • How To Use A Budget CalendarHow To Use A Budget Calendar
  • What To Buy At Aldi, And What To Pass OnWhat To Buy At Aldi, And What To Pass On
  • How To Determine Your Budget CategoriesHow To Determine Your Budget Categories
  • Garlic Chicken RotiniGarlic Chicken Rotini
0shares
Previous Post: « Homemade Granola
Next Post: Debt Update: Summer 2016 Update »

Reader Interactions

Want access to our resource library? Sign up for our free email list!

* indicates required

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

CommentLuv badgeShow more posts

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • YouTube





makingcentsmatter

This is what school looks like when it's a hybrid This is what school looks like when it's a hybrid model, and your house does not have unlimited space. I was standing in our kitchen when I took this picture, the kids behind me making lunch.
.
Our district is carefully monitoring our local infection rates, and we are currently in a hybrid form. That means they divided the district into two groups; half are in school on Monday and Tuesday, the other half on Thursday and Friday. They are offering an all remote option, but Verizon for some reason supplies our house with speeds so slow that it would shock a tortoise. Remote was a no-go.
.
This set-up has taken some trial and error to get to where we currently are. Because no matter how prepared you are and how much you've planned, once you're in the weeds, actually doing it, there is no telling how your best-laid plans will work.
.
Our home is a 1800sqft one-story, open living area, 4 bedroom, 1 bathroom, ranch-style house in a very rural area. It has no home offices. No guest bedrooms. Yes, that is a desk in the corner of our dining room. 🤣
.
Each kid gets their own color bin for their school work. This includes school-issued Chromebooks and other standard items they need to get work done - headphones, pencils, and so on. When we are done for the day, we clean up everything, place them neatly in these bins, and place them in cubbies (on my current left) at night while the Chromebooks charge.
.
I do NOT bother to clean up at lunchtime. It would take us more time to clean up and reset everything than it takes us to eat lunch. So we only pack it all up for the day and call it done.
.
During the day, I sit between my younger two and field any questions they may have, troubleshoot technical issues we all have, and be the overall bouncer when things get off-topic. My high schooler will occasionally emerge from his bedroom, which opens to the kitchen. So he is close by when he has questions.
.
Please remember that with all things in life, you need to work with what's available to you. And there is no shame in that. Don't ever feel like you're not doing good enough because it's not picture perfect. Work with what you have available to you, and you'll do amazing things.
School is in session, the garden is slowing, and I School is in session, the garden is slowing, and I’ve finally realized I haven’t shared our payoff numbers for July or August. Yeah……
.
Please keep in mind, we are paid monthly on the 15th, but we don’t go by a “monthly” budget. So I have to go back and look at these numbers based off their due dates in the calendar. Because our pay falls in the middle of the month, I can’t tell you what portion of our income went to debt. It’s going to vary paycheck to paycheck anyways because our priorities vary with each check. Nothing is ever the same month to month, and pay to pay.
.
That said, inJuly we paid off $2,694.43.
In August we paid off $1,673.40.
.
The difference here is that our priorities shifted between the two months.
.
During August, we were doing more prep for whatever school would look like this year, and we had some savings goals make their way to the top of the list as well.
.
Of those goals, in August we made progress!
EF Reimbursement: $146 / $1,200
Checking Buffer Reimbursement: $227 / $500
Vet Sinking Fund: $40 / $200
.
Remember this is a journey, not a race. There is no point wearing yourself ragged and still making no progress. Make progress where you can, and celebrate it. Even if it’s $5.
.
It’s progress, and that’s what matters!
While I wait for the canner to finish the last rou While I wait for the canner to finish the last round... I rearranged our recipe binder. It's only taken me 8 or so years. 🤣😶😭
.
I miss the days when zucchini was my problem. Now it's tomatoes. I can only find so many ways to use up spaghetti sauce! So the next 50lbs or so will be chili base and unseasoned sauce.
.
On top of this school is starting with a hybrid in building & online system. And I'm seriously slacking on some things I need to do. I'm not good at juggling multiple things and the balls are falling. But I keep reminding myself... be patient. This too shall pass. This is only a phase. So I pick and choose what's the most important, focus on that and go from there.
.
So if you feel overwhelmed with your current phase, remember, this too shall pass. It's okay to rearrange priorities. It's okay to take a breather.
.
This too shall pass.
If you didn't start finding interesting ways to ge If you didn't start finding interesting ways to get rid of the squash, can you say you even planted any?
.
Good news, I'm almost caught up! Bad news, the garden has more.
Super busy here... but I wanted to share that wins Super busy here... but I wanted to share that wins can come in super small packages. I thought I'd spend $380 to clean the band instruments in this house. I ended up spending $234. So the remaining $146 can go to reimbursing what I pulled from our EF.
.
No matter the win, celebrate it!
.
What are some wins you have had lately?
In total we have 15lbs green beans, 10lbs cucumber In total we have 15lbs green beans, 10lbs cucumbers, 5lbs blueberries, and countless zucchini and squash with more on the way! My weekend is spoken for... and this isn't all of it. 😳
Rather than looking back through all our non-month Rather than looking back through all our non-monthly bills for the year and try to remember what I paid and when I paid it, I make a note of how much it was on our bill pay tracker. That way I can easily tally it up at the end of the year, set our sinking funds next year accordingly, and not spend more time than is necessary on this... because kids and all.⁣
.⁣
Anyone else do this? Do you have a different method of tracking these expenses?⁣
.⁣
This particular printable is in my Etsy shop here: https://www.etsy.com/shop/MakingCentsMatter⁣
It's also part of my budgeting workbook, also in my Etsy shop.⁣
Good news though... there's a very similar free version in my resource library as well. Links are in my profile.⁣
.⁣
.⁣
.⁣
.⁣
.⁣
.⁣
.⁣
.⁣
.⁣
⁣
#budget #budgeting #sinkingfund #savingmoney #savings  #cashbudget #cash #cashisking #frugalblogger #frugalmom #frugalliving #financialgoals #budgetprintable #personalfinancetips  #personalfinance #debtfreejourney #debtfreecommunity #debtfreeprogress #bs1 #bs2 #bs3  #makingcentsmatter #financialfreedom #debtfree
Probably an unpopular opinion here... but these tw Probably an unpopular opinion here... but these two things are NOT the same to me.⁣
.⁣
𝗟𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 paycheck to paycheck means that you're using all of your money for expenses with none left over for savings. This usually happens when you're not aware of where you are spending your money, and how much you are spending. For us, this happened in the form of those tiny expenses that can add up to even larger expenses, and then an unexpected bill comes and you have nothing left to cover it.⁣
.⁣
𝗕𝘂𝗱𝗴𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 paycheck to paycheck means that you are giving every single cent you earn a job to do that aligns with your priorities - like in sinking funds, savings, expenses, debt payments, etc - until the next paycheck. You have the money on hand to cover some unexpected expenses, and you are mindful of your spending so that you're not leaking money through small purchases.⁣
.⁣
This doesn't mean that there still aren't bad months. Murphy's Law does happen. But you are aware of the spending, aware of the priorities, and where your money needs to be allocated.⁣
.⁣
So... just because you're budgeting paycheck to paycheck doesn't mean you're living paycheck to paycheck.⁣
.⁣
.⁣
.⁣
.⁣
.⁣
.⁣
.⁣
.⁣
.
June's paycheck was a doozy! I haven't looked forw June's paycheck was a doozy! I haven't looked forward to a paycheck since we first made the switch to monthly pays. It was so bad we've got a new order to things.⁣
.⁣
Good news is that if our state keeps closing things down, we should hammer this out in no time!⁣
.⁣
To see the full breakdown of how bad June's paycheck was, check out the June 15th Budget Review on our YouTube channel here https://youtu.be/gXoEo33hIYQ. Link is also in the bio.⁣
.⁣
.⁣
.⁣
.⁣
.⁣
.
Load More... Follow on Instagram


Gymboree Sale On Now!

Copyright

I love it when you share our content! Please keep in mind that all content, images and text on this site are property of Making Cents Matter. Feel free to use no more than two photos on your own site, provided that a link back to my original post is included. Do not crop, edit, or remove any watermarks from any of my images without obtaining written permission from me first. Thank you!

Copyright © 2021 · Captivating Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in