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Our Debt Free Family

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The Current State of Student Loan Debt

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<p>America has reached a new economic milestone – or maybe a millstone – of $1.52 trillion. Which of the following does this number represent?</p>::Pexels

America has reached a new economic milestone – or maybe a millstone – of $1.52 trillion. Which of the following does this number represent?

1. The latest contract for a professional athlete
2. Your current credit card balance
3. America’s collective student loan debt

While the first choice sounds strangely plausible, and some days you may feel like the second choice is correct, $1.52 trillion represents America’s total outstanding student loan debt as of March 2018 – according to the new consumer credit report from the New York Federal Reserve.
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You Might Be Underinsured. Ethos Can Fill in the Gaps.

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Helping the Underinsured, Ethos Makes Term Life Insurance Affordable

<p>No other financial product provides the kind of security you get from life insurance. It helps beneficiaries during truly painful circumstances. Sadly, most adults either don't have life insurance or have insufficient coverage for all of the things that arise in bereavement and its aftermath.</p>::Pexels

No other financial product provides the kind of security you get from life insurance. It helps beneficiaries during truly painful circumstances. Sadly, most adults either don’t have life insurance or have insufficient coverage for all of the things that arise in bereavement and its aftermath.
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A Pathway to Freedom

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The following blog post is part of The Road to Financial Wellness blog tour. The Road to Financial Wellness is a three-month, grassroots campaign promoting financial empowerment on a national level and encourages people to pursue their dream lifestyle. Find out more about local events near you.

What were we going to do?

It hadn’t even been two months since my last day of work, and we saw that our savings we had built up to prepare for me to stay home was starting to disappear.

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Debt Update: June

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<p>It has been a little while since I posted a debt update on the site. As mentioned in my blog post "Is Your Outlook Holding You Back?" we've been able to pay down a significant amount of debt over the past year or so. Most of this has been done by snowballing our debt (to the best of our ability). Here's a debt update with detailed numbers...</p>::Pexels

It has been a little while since I posted a debt update on the site. As mentioned in my blog post “Is Your Outlook Holding You Back?” we’ve been able to pay down a significant amount of debt over the past year or so. Most of this has been done by snowballing our debt (to the best of our ability). Here’s a debt update with detailed numbers…

Debt Update

The major three things that have happened since our last debt update on the blog are…

  1. We paid off my husband’s car! That is $175 per month that we now have available to help pay off other debts.
  2. My N.C. state taxes has been paid off. This will free up about $463 per month.
  3. At the end of July, I’ll have paid off my higher-interest credit card. We’ve been paying $175 per month since April to get this done. So, the last payment in July will free up another $175.

Altogether, these three things will free up around $800 per month to go towards paying off other debts and saving.

On top of paying those three things off, we have decided NOT to pull out a loan for my wisdom tooth extraction. Instead, we’ve decided to save and pay in cash for it. With the additional $800 or so per month (starting in August), we should have the money to pay for that in the early fall.

Other “wins” when it comes to our debt freedom progress have been paying down the amount on my husband’s tool bills. Each of them has been paid down significantly each month. We should see them disappear in less than a year (nearly $600 per month). Now that a few other items are paid off, we should be able to reallocate the funds to get these paid off faster.

Earning Extra Cash

We’ve both been searching for ways to make additional money as we continue snowballing our debt as well. My husband has been picking up quick mechanic jobs within the community for extra cash (i.e. putting in a battery on the weekend, or jumping someone’s car).

I’ve been looking for things around the house to sell and picking up a freelance project from time-to-time. More recently, I discovered an old coal bed warmer we’ve had collecting dust. Online it says these can go for between $250 and $1,000. I’m hoping to visit an antique store and sell that soon. That extra cash will go directly into paying for my wisdom tooth extraction.

All in all, our debt update for June is looking pretty good. I’m happy about it and can’t wait to see how it progresses in the future. Of course, I’ll keep you all updated here.

Readers, do you have any easy side hustles that have really helped you decrease your debt? Let me know in the comment section below!

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Slow Progress is Better Than No Progress

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<p>When it comes to our debt freedom goals we are pretty far off from where we'd thought we would be a few years ago. Of course, life has thrown some unexpected curve balls our way. We moved to Atlanta for a job that didn't quite work out and then the COVID-19 pandemic rocked the entire world. Through it all, we have been able to maintain at least the minimum payments on everything and have avoided taking on new debts altogether. So, slow progress is better than no progress, right?</p>::Pexels

When it comes to our debt freedom goals we are pretty far off from where we’d thought we would be a few years ago. Of course, life has thrown some unexpected curve balls our way. We moved to Atlanta for a job that didn’t quite work out and then the COVID-19 pandemic rocked the entire world. Through it all, we have been able to maintain at least the minimum payments on everything and have avoided taking on new debts altogether. So, slow progress is better than no progress, right?

Our Slow Progress

If you read last month’s debt freedom update, not much has changed. We’ve made a payment on each of our accounts to stay current but there are not any huge changes. In June, we will make a little bit more money, but most of that will be stashed away in savings as we prepare for our firstborn child to arrive at the end of the summer. There are only 10 short weeks before she makes her appearance!

While the slow progress can be a bummer at times when we consider where we wanted to be by now, there are times we sit back and think to ourselves, “Wow, look how far we’ve come.” Just a little over four years ago we were living in a motel. We were trying to pay off rental debts to get into an apartment. Things looked pretty bleak and we were taking on new debt just to improve our lives.

Flash forward to now when the only significant debt we hold is our car and my student loans. We’ve paid off accounts in full, moved four times (once four hours away to a different state). Debt or no debt, we love the lives we are beginning to create for ourselves.

A Few Motivational Thoughts

Sometimes this slow progress can be discouraging. However, slow progress is better than making no progress at all. Or worse, we could be going backward. Thankfully, we are trucking forward. Here are a few reasons even slow progress is a reason to pat yourself on the back.

  1. Slow progress doesn’t mean you are failing. Progress is progress. You are not failing just because you are moving slower than the person to the left or right (or how fast you think you should be going).
  2. It adds up over time. As mentioned above, my husband and I have come a long way. We were essentially homeless living in a motel a little over four years ago. Every financial change we’ve made has been for the better, even if the progress has been slow for us.
  3. Slower progression allows you to adapt to more things. If there’s anything I can attest to it is that we’ve both become adaptable to changes as they come. We have a tight week financially? No problem! I’ll just trim the grocery budget. We’ve learned to roll with the punches.
  4. You become resilient. Slow progress will make you more resilient. You will learn not everything is the end of the world and that, eventually, you’ll reach the goals you have your sights set on.
  5. It teaches you not the give up. Most importantly, slow progress teaches you to keep pushing forward. Things don’t always work out according to plan and that’s okay!

Readers, how do you monitor your debt freedom progress? Share your methods in the comments!

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