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
Category: Optimism
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
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
freshMint 