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November 29, 2015 · Leave a Comment

Our Journey to Becoming Debt Free

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Click here to read my disclosure policy.

Debt Free· Life

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Becoming-Debt-Free

Google tells me that the average credit card debt is nearly $15,200, and an average student loan debt of $116,000 {at a cost of $29,000 per year over four years}.  That’s a lot of debt for one person!  Sadly, I am no exception.

There was a time I was putting fuel and school related purchases on my credit card left and right assuming the money would come from “somewhere” to cover it later.  Later being the same time I would be able to pay off my student loans.

Anyone see the problem there?  If not, it’s okay.  I didn’t see it at first either.  While my credit card balance is under half of the national average, there is still a problem with the mentality of using borrowed, non-existent money.  I knew the money would need to be paid back, but the “when” to being debt free was never forefront in my mind while I was working hard to finish college.

The moment it clicked…

It wasn’t until I had been on the job/career search for well over a year with no such luck.  It wasn’t long after we had gotten our estimate on Bookworm’s orthodontic work either.  But this particular day I was waiting at Bookworm’s elementary school with Monkey and Lady Bug in tow.  While we were waiting, I was listening to the laments of a friend when that something finally clicked.

They had been trying to selling their home for a few months while trying to buy another house at the same time.  Her husband was offered a new job 17 hours away with the potential for more income and better insurance coverage.  She talked about how their credit cards were near maxed out, as she talked about how stressful it was to deal with the selling/buying aspect while they were packing for their latest vacation.  She went on some more that she, similar to me, couldn’t find a job in her degree field.

Hindsight is always better when it’s someone else’s problem and not your own.  Listening to her helped me realize how much I wanted us to be debt free.

Our debt was not wracked up on vacations, the latest fashions, or making sure our kids had every extracurricular activity out there.

Our debt was accrued by attempting to finish graduate school while raising a family.

Our debt came to be when we took out a car loan because it was theoretically cheaper to deal with smaller monthly payments than the major payment to fix our current car.

It came about by paying some medical & surgical bills for Monkey, as well as some furniture purchases to accommodate Lady Bug.

But ever since that talk with my friend, I have tried to be more aware of our debts because I don’t want to be that person living paycheck to paycheck well into our 50s, and yet still trying to keep up with what everyone else tries to have.

Goals for the future…

I would like to be able to take the kids on vacations, but pay cash for it all.  But the reality is that these vacations aren’t very memorable for our kids while they’re this young.  While they are young is the perfect time to work on becoming debt free.

I would love to know that there is money in the bank for when our spare fridge breaks, or something goes wrong with the car.  I want there to be money for retirement and spend time with my husband as we travel across the US, and possibly the globe.

Most of all, I want our kids to see their parents having a strong grasp on their money, and being able to save it, and not treading through debt.  I’ve seen my parents struggle to raise three kids on a small income, and it gives me a little bit of perspective.  I want my kids to see that positive influence so that they can do the same later in their lives… that they can learn from our mistakes.  Being more aware of our finances is how we can do that.  Becoming debt free is how we can do that.

Our debt free journey…

We both would like to become debt free sooner rather than later.  I started my accountability at a separate blog name, but decided that this is blog is where I can continue to be accountable and make our income work for us.  Making our cents matter to us.  This is a continuation of our chronicles on how we have been cutting costs, our progress throughout or debt repayment, and what we’re doing to keep on trudging along the way while still having some fun.

Please keep in mind that as of writing this post, we have been working at this for the last 30 months {the beginning of 2014}, and as a result three credit cards have already been paid off!  After consumer debt, our largest balance is on our combined student loans; it’s more than our mortgage.

On this blog, I hope to show how we are progressing towards our financial freedom, and yet still taking the time to enjoy the simple and fun things in life.  There have been some wonderful blogs that have inspired me along the way, and I hope I can be one of those inspirational blogs for you and your journey.  It’s a long road ahead, but my hope is that if seeing our journey helps inspire you to begin, or gives you the confidence to continue along your debt free journey as well, I’ve done my job!

Do you have any goals you are working towards?  If so, let me know in the comments!

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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.
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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.
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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.
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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. 🤣
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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……
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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.
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That said, inJuly we paid off $2,694.43.
In August we paid off $1,673.40.
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The difference here is that our priorities shifted between the two months.
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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.
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Of those goals, in August we made progress!
EF Reimbursement: $146 / $1,200
Checking Buffer Reimbursement: $227 / $500
Vet Sinking Fund: $40 / $200
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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.
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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. 🤣😶😭
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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?
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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.
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No matter the win, celebrate it!
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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.⁣
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Anyone else do this? Do you have a different method of tracking these expenses?⁣
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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.⁣
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#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.⁣
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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.⁣
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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.⁣
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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.⁣
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So... just because you're budgeting paycheck to paycheck doesn't mean you're living paycheck to paycheck.⁣
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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.⁣
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Good news is that if our state keeps closing things down, we should hammer this out in no time!⁣
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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.⁣
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