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 →

25 years vs 1 year

We’re still working on our taxes. So no update yet on how exactly this will impact our debt snowball progress. Our personal taxes come together smoothly, but the farm's taxes take longer because there's a lot more to figure out. However, optimism is our friend, so, we’re hoping that our tax refund, along with our … Continue reading 25 years vs 1 year →

Making plans to roll our tax refund into the debt snowball

MARCH 2019 One night in late February, Julep started our taxes. Now that I’m physically drawn to the clacking of a calculator, my ears perked up from the living room, and I sat in for part of the process. A preliminary completion of our taxes shows we may get back more than $4,000 this year. … Continue reading Making plans to roll our tax refund into the debt snowball →

Staying home to put water on the fire

After reading my way through the entire Mr. Money Mustache blog in a couple of weeks, one message in particular lodged in my brain. If you have debt, Triple M says, you need to imagine that your head is on fire. Debt is toasting your noggin like a marshmallow. This helpful image – my head … Continue reading Staying home to put water on the fire →

2 batches of bills

FEBRUARY 2019 With the budget lockdown in place, we have a clearer vision of what the month will look like, as far as spending is concerned. By now, we've fully transitioned to me being the bill payer. I decided to divide the bills into two chunks, rather than paying them one by one, throughout the … Continue reading 2 batches of bills →