fbpx
Real Life Budget

December 2016 Budget

Are you ready for this? We paid $5,000 of our student loan debt in one month.   That’s crazy even for us! We were able to do this for two reasons: the budget and some discipline. UPDATE: As of August 31, 2017 Travis and I are STUDENT LOAN FREE! We paid off $77,646.54 in 23 months! We never have the perfect budget. In the 14 months we've been doing this we've always had to tweak here and there to make it work but paying off our student loans is the priority and that puts all spending into perspective. Over the last…

Read More→

My New Favorite Planner For my Money & my Life

Want a peek into my life? I am notorious for having a separate monthly and weekly calendar, notebook for to-do lists, meal planning, and grocery lists, and that’s just what’s at my bedside. I also have a scrap piece of paper with our debt pay off goals/progress and I am constantly scribbling on whatever I can get a pen on. The Struggle is Real And I’ve never been into big, beautiful, personalized planners. They sound nice, but with everything I’m trying to keep track of, I’d still need my scraps of paper to keep everything recorded. But when Lauren Greutman…

Read More→

How to Lift the Weight of a Heavy Debt Load

Despite our best intentions, personal debt sometimes grows beyond comfortable levels. Unexpected expenses, holiday shopping, a family vacation, and other spending obligations can cause financial imbalance, calling for changes to the way you manage your household finances. If runaway debt has you looking for a way out, restoring financial stability starts with your commitment to smarter spending and a balanced budget. With discipline and minor lifestyle changes, your debt will start shrinking, but don't expect it to disappear overnight. It took time growing card balances and accumulating your debt load, so a slow and steady approach will turn things around.…

Read More→

6 Finance Lessons I Wish I’d Been Taught Before College

When I graduated high school I thought I knew everything. Much to my disdain, I realized I didn't, especially when it came to money. My mistakes left me with $60K in debt and no clue how to or why I should pay it back. If there's someone in your life you can save from these mistakes I encourage you to share this with them. And if there's anything on this list you're still unsure about make it a priority to educate yo' self on these finance lessons. 1. Budgeting When I was in school I thought a budget was what…

Read More→

Free Printable Thermometer to Track Debt Payoff!

When we started paying our debt off there were a bunch of things I could say about how it sucked. But somewhere along the timeline of the last 12 months, I changed my mind. I used to complain about wanting to take a vacation (specifically a cruise) and not wanting to cook at home every night. I even had to unfollow friends on Instagram because watching their adventures was making me miserable. I don't know when it happened but I noticed it on my anniversary weekend. Everyone asked me what we were going to do for our first anniversary and I…

Read More→

October 2016 Budget

Today is our first anniversary! I remember thinking the day would never come and now it’s been a year. Crazy. Our first year has been pretty great. I only cried a few times and they were both on our honeymoon so I got it out of the way early. Related: 3 Habits for Blissful Money Management I started this blog last month to keep me motivated and help people who want to get out of debt. When I started I didn’t even know what financial freedom was or what it looked like. I want to help you discover that there’s…

Read More→
Secondhand Clothes

Buy Clothes, Save The World!

Get ready to feel really good about yourself. I know you’re concerned about your carbon and slavery footprint (You are, right? Good.) but just don’t have the time, energy, and resources to buy locally sourced and stitched clothes to cover your body. It’s hard enough to remember which produce to buy organic, then we have to figure out which blouses are organic cotton? The struggle is real. But you know what’s also real? We consume 80 billion pieces of new clothing every year.   Fast fashion has made design turnover faster than a server at Chili’s. And it comes at…

Read More→
Back To Top