May’s budget

Goal: Pay off last personal credit card debt by January 2020 (Currently, this debt is about $10,000.) *** Bills *** (Numbers are rounded down or up for easy reading.) Car payment: $290 Health insurance: $300 (Julep's health insurance is covered through his work.) Home insurance: $125 House payment: $500 Credit card: $290 (Minimum payment) Verizon: … Continue reading May’s budget →

A step backward

Our focus is now on our last personal credit card debt. Currently, it has about $10,000. This card has been like gum on our shoes for the better part of a decade. The minimum payment a month is close to $300. This month, I made our first extra payment on this card. In addition to … Continue reading A step backward →

Greetings from the frying pan!

After sharing the news on social media that we were three debts lighter, an acquaintance cautioned that we need to be ready to end up back in the frying pan. I think it was her take on the saying, "Out of the frying pan and into the fire." Right now, we're definitely in the precarious … Continue reading Greetings from the frying pan! →

The link between my weight and my shopping

Historically, I've gained anywhere between 10 to 15 pounds every winter. I'm a short person, so this amount makes a huge difference in my appearance. In the fair weather months, I love to walk about 3 miles a day, and I work on our farm, sometimes from morning until night. So, by around July of … Continue reading The link between my weight and my shopping →

3 debts down!

The big moment finally arrived! We paid off our first debt. Actually, our first three debts! We paid off a high-interest Home Depot credit card that burdened us for about three years, as well as a $2,000 credit card, and the remainder of our student loans (about $2,000). We've been on a budget lockdown since … Continue reading 3 debts down! →

The big damage of ‘small’ debts

Our tax refund total is on track to wipe out three "small" debts. These debts total about $5,000. The first debt is a Home Depot credit card. That's the one we've been rolling into the Dave Ramsey debt snowball these past few months. The second debt is the remainder of our student loans. These have … Continue reading The big damage of ‘small’ debts →

Budget paranoia

We recently switched from paying bills every couple of days, as they came due, to paying bills in two batches. The first batch at the start of the month, and the second batch mid month. Before the new system, I logged into our accounts daily, paying bills, monitoring balances, and projecting checking account totals before … Continue reading Budget paranoia →

Missing out

Today was the first time we really missed out on something fun because of the budget lockdown. For Saint Patrick's Day, friends were kissing winter goodbye at an indoor water park that's about an hour from us. Just the tickets alone for this outing would have set us back well over $100, not to mention … Continue reading Missing out →

Building a brand new budget

MARCH 2019 This post is premature, but this entire debt-burying plan hinges, in large part, on optimism. So, please indulge me in this glass-half-full musing. We’re hoping to start April with a brand new budget, minus two, if not three of our debts. (You can find our previous budget in earlier posts.) This year’s tax … Continue reading Building a brand new budget →

Sinking more into the sinking funds

We’ve set aside money for our twice-a-year real estate tax bills for some time now. We categorize this money as a "sinking fund" in the budget. Each year, those real estate bills total about $2,400. However, after a closer examination of our year-around finances, it was apparent that we needed to factor in more sinking … Continue reading Sinking more into the sinking funds →