Snowball Effect, pt. 2.

Debts to Pay	August 21, 2018
Credit Card	758.87
F	2,748.40
B	3,162.20
A	3,517.61
C	4,495.04
Car Loan	6,502.80
P	7,185.79
E	8,320.70
G	8,782.38
Total	45,473.79

Amount Paid Off This Week: $670.18
*Current chart shows adjustments for interest, pay downs, and pay offs.*

This week, I started a debt snowball chart.  I found a basic one on Pinterest that I thought was simple enough for me to keep up with.  As I shared before, my husband and I would like to be debt free by the time I turn 30.  That is in less than three years!  So how do we accomplish this in only 28 months?  Well, we set a few guidelines to follow.

First of all, if we purchase another home, we won’t count that in our debt load.  That would simply be unreasonable.  And given our track record of moving frequently, it’s a safe bet that when we do buy our next home, it will be another flipper.  So although we will be responsible and pay our mortgage (plus some) every month, we don’t really see owning a home as a debt that needs to be paid off immediately.

Secondly, our vehicle falls into the same line of thinking as a house (at least for us).  My husband will be starting a new job soon and we will need to purchase a vehicle for him.  Again, we will continue making payments on these, assuming we have to borrow money for his car, until they are paid off.

Third, our main goal is to be student debt free.  Collectively, we owe $38,000 in student loans.  These have no value to our lives anymore, unlike a home or vehicles.  I have my degree, I paid way too much for it, and I don’t use it for my current job.  My husband did not finish his degree, and while he wants to go back to school some day and finish, it’s not his top priority, and that is totally ok!  So you see, we have debt for something that isn’t being utilized by us on a regular basis.  That seems pretty silly to me.

So if we look at our debt as just being what we owe in student loans, that gives us a little more wiggle room.  We still have $38,000 to pay off in 28 months.  Truthfully, I don’t know if it can be done.  I hope that we can do it, but I’m just not sure.  I do know, however, that we will get close. 

Currently, I have deferred payments on my student loans because I work for a non-profit.  I have been able to do this for the last 3 years, and it has been helpful because of all the other things we had going on to not have to pay for these.  But now, I am choosing to make payments anyway.  My statements show I do not owe any monthly minimums, but I am paying $250 month to try to knock some of this out.  At this rate, it will take me roughly 11 months to pay off my first loan.  But with any luck, we will have it paid well before the 11-month mark.  There is always tax time, right?!

As I buckle down for the next 28 months, pray for me.  You may not be a person of faith, but I am.  And I fully believe that God is sufficient and wants my family to be debt free.  It takes discipline that I don’t have yet, but am working on.  So if you are a praying person, remember me and ask God to guide me on this journey to a debt free life.

--chloe.

17 Months Later.

It's been a minute or two since I've made a post.  Yikes.  Our family went through some stuff that was incredibly difficult and as a result, I have been in a pretty deep pit of depression and anxiety.  However, I am pleased to say that I am doing better, and so are my husband and our now adopted son!  We are a family of three now, not fostering at the moment, and somehow through all the madness, we have much less debt than we did last spring!

Debts to Pay	August 13, 2018
Credit Card	992.35
P3	1,637.21
P1	2,795.71
P2	2,843.56
F	2,998.40
B	3,158.91
A	3,517.61
C	4,495.04
Car Loan	6,607.55
E	8,320.70
G	8,776.93
Total	46,143.97

Amount Paid Off Since 2016: $63,401.66
*Current chart shows adjustments for interest, pay downs, and pay offs.*

We have paid off nearly 60% of the debt we had when we first started to buckle down on becoming debt free!  We don't currently have a mortgage, and that may change soon.  We paid off one of my highest-interest student loans, made a large payment onto our car, eliminated one of our credit cards, and are making extra payments on my husband's student loans.  I can't even describe how amazing it feels to have come this far in just two years.  Although the last 17 months have truly been some of the worst of my life, there have been little pockets of sweetness here and there that have made all the pain worth it.  We got to adopt our son, buy and flip a house, build our marriage, and truly lean into each other.  To say it's been an emotional roller coaster would be an understatement.

I am planning to update our budget, as we have not kept up with it at all during all of this.  I know, I know.  My goal is to get out of debt, yet I didn't keep up with my spending for over a year.  I see the hypocrisy in that.  But I have decided to give my family (and myself) grace in this area and not stress out so bad about the mistakes we made.  All we can do is do better in the future.

I am excited about how far we have come, despite the obstacles.  Many financial hurdles have been crossed and we are in a place of feeling more peaceful.  My husband believes that if we work hard enough, we can have our student loans paid off by 2020!  I am a bit more skeptical, but I then I see how much we have paid off already, and yes.  That dream seems all the more possible each day.

So, I am looking forward to jumping back into this blog.  I have missed doing this so much!  Bear with me as I find my footing again.  And hopefully my next post won't take me another 17 months!

--chloe.