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Our Debt Free Family

Commit. Plan. Take action.

How a Side Hustle Helped Melanie Lockert Break Up With Debt

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Have you considered adding a side hustle to help you break up with debt?

Well, in today’s video, we’ll learn how Melanie Lockert used a side hustle to break up with debt.

If you don’t know Melanie, she’s the personality behind the award-winning blog, DearDebt.com, where she chronicled her journey out of $81,000 in student loan debt. Through her blog, she inspires readers to break up with debt by writing their very own breakup letter to debt.

In 2015, Melanie (and her journey out of debt) was named one of the top five most inspiring personal finance stories of the year by Yahoo! Finance. She currently works as a freelance writer and event planner. Melanie and her work have appeared in Business Insider, The Huffington Post, Yahoo! Finance, INC, and more.

After graduating from college with $23,000 in student loans, Melanie had the opportunity to attend her dream school, NYU, to earn her master’s degree. There, she incurred $58,000 more in student loans for a total of $81,000.

Upon struggling to find a stable, decent-paying job after graduating from NYU, Melanie made some extreme changes in her life to pay off her student loans. In December 2015, Melanie made her last payment and became 100% debt-free.

She is also the author of a brand-new book, “Dear Debt:  A Story About Breaking Up with Debt” which shares her journey and her advice for those in the process of breaking up with debt.

In the interview with Melanie, she shares:

  • What drove her to rid herself of her student loans
  • How she cut her expenses and started side hustling to bring in extra income
  • How her side hustling has led to an unexpected career path
  • Her best advice for how to find a side hustle that’s right for you, and
  • What to do if you want to get out of debt but feel overwhelmed and don’t know where to start

Melanie has an inspiring story that I think anyone struggling with debt needs to hear, and she shares it all in this interview. So here is my interview with Melanie Lockert from deardebt.com. Enjoy!

Thanks again to Melanie for sharing the good, the bad, and the ugly about getting out of debt with us!

[bctt tweet=”How a side hustle helped Melanie Lockert (@DearDebtBlog) break up with debt” username=”MonicaRLouie”]

I hope you pick up her book, “Dear Debt:  A Story About Breaking Up with Debt.” I know it will help you break up with debt once and for all.

I encourage you to check out Melanie’s blog at DearDebt.com and consider writing your own Dear Debt letter to break up with debt.

For others that have got out of debt check out these articles.

How Alice and Scott Paid Off $200,000 of Student Loans in Less Than 7 Years
From Credit Card Debt to Loving Her Money with Sarah Li Cain
How Lauren Greutman, The Recovering Spender, Paid Off $40,000 of Debt

Now I’d love to hear about you!

What did you learn from Melanie’s story? Have you started a side hustle yet so you can break up with debt? Please share in the comments below.

Have you joined our free community yet?

Join me in our private Facebook group called Your Debt Freedom Family, where we’ve got an awesome community of people who are breaking up with debt so they can break free and live life on their terms.

Click here to join the fun!

I’d love to see you there!

Keep moving forward toward your goals. You really can live the life you dream about!

Get Faster Broadband For Your Family

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Having trouble with your broadband? You’re not alone. These days, having a good internet connection is as important as having running water. Even though tons of different internet service providers SAY they’re the best – they can’t all be, can they?

If you’re looking to switch broadband providers and get the best value high-speed internet possible, then you’re in the right place.

In this article, we’re going to look at how to find the fastest broadband – so that whether you’re considering the best satellite internet options in your area or settling with the greatest wireline internet services you can find, your family can download, game, and stream to their heart’s content.

Put a stop to arguments over slow download speed

So many different things rely on a fast internet connection these days. Gone are the times when you’d fire up your dial up connection just to read a few pages of text.

Now you can stream TV shows, play high-spec games, shop and more. And often, in a family household all of this is happening at once. Fed up of the complaints from your son about the lag time on his games? And fights over slow Netflix streaming?

You need faster broadband.

It’s understandable so much demand on the service you need a better internet connection at home. While one PC might have been hooked up to the web in the past, now you’ve got multiple laptops, smart TV and phones all accessing the internet simultaneously.

That’s why considering speed when looking for a broadband supplier is so important.

Mbit per second, Ping & Contention Rates

When you have a look at switching broadband providers from your current provider to spectrum internet, for example, look at overall speed. This is normally represented in mbit per second. While it’s a hugely important factor in choosing a good broadband provider – it’s not the only one.

Those speeds generally refer to how quickly you can download data. Whether it’s something quick (loading a page), or something slower (downloading a film).

However, that’s not the only measure of speed that’s useful.

If you play a lot of online games, you’ll also want a low ping. That’s the speed it takes for a signal to bounce back to you, and it has a huge impact on how smoothly most online games perform.

You’ll also need to consider contention rates. If lots of people in your area use the same broadband provider, will this slow down your activity?

How to find the best broadband supplier for you

Thankfully, it’s easy to find good deals for broadband in your area. You can start with price comparison sites online and have a look at reviews. You might also want to consider how good the customer service ratings are and look at any other issues people might have had with a particular ISP.

The right broadband comparison service could save you a lot of money.

Some broadband suppliers use the same line

Just because you switch broadband providers, that doesn’t mean you’re getting a new line put in. Many of these ISPs (internet service providers) will use the same telephone network but simply package and charge differently.

If you want to take things to the next step, you can consider getting fiber installed to make your connection even faster.

How hard is it to switch suppliers?

Switching is easy these days. All you have to do is phone up. You shouldn’t notice any downtime and should be able to start using your new connection straight away.

10 Fun Budget-Friendly Family Vacation Ideas

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Everyone needs a vacation once in a while, but a family vacation shouldn’t put a huge gap in your wallet.

You deserve a vacation that is relaxing and not going to be a financial strain on your family.

Whether you plan on traveling near or far keep reading to see a list of 10 fun budget friendly family vacations.

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Cheap Kids Birthday Party Ideas for This Summer

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If you’re like many parents, then you try your best to make your children feel special on their special day. Every year when their birthday rolls around, you take stock of what they like, look at what’s trendy, and put together an invite list for a birthday party.

However, there’s often one thing in your way, your budget. And you’re not alone. Despite what they show on reality television, the average American just doesn’t have the money to spend on elaborate celebrations.

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Do You Celebrate Your Pet’s Birthday?

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celebrate your pet's birthday

In the debt-free community, it is frowned upon to spend money on things that aren’t absolutely necessary. However, I tend to think that if you don’t allow yourself any fun you’re more likely to stray away from your debt freedom goals altogether. One fun thing we do every year is celebrate our dog, Enzo. He has been our first “child” for four years now and, even with the arrival of our baby in a few short months, we wanted to continue his birthday celebrations this year. Do you celebrate your pet’s birthday?

What We Do To Celebrate

Now, we don’t do anything too extravagant. We simply make sure our favorite pup in the world has the best day ever. After all, he has brought us so much joy since being a part of our family. This year, we bought him some special treats, a new toy, and made him some homemade whipped cream (which he loves). Altogether, it cost us about $20 to help make a special day for our dog. His reaction, on the other hand, is always priceless, as depicted by the photo of him and his new toy below.celebrate your pet's birthday

Ways to Celebrate Your Pet

That being said, you don’t necessarily have to spend $20 to celebrate your pet’s birthday. They are simple creatures. Here are a few low-cost (or no-cost) ways we’ve celebrated Enzo in the past.

  • Go to the park. This is one of our favorite things to do on Enzo’s birthday. A quick trip to the dog park is absolutely free and they’ll have the time of their lives. If you have a cat that likes to be walked on a harness, consider taking them for a walk.
  • Set up a playdate. Our Enzo loves playing with other dogs so setting up a playdate with one of his favorite doggo friends is always a good no-cost way to make his day great.
  • Cook something special for them. There are a number of things you can cook that your pet will enjoy. They will love the change in food. Just be sure you are giving them something that is 100% safe and healthy for them to eat.
  • Do some of their favorite things. Whatever their favorite things may be, try to take time to do them. Enzo loves a good car ride, trip to the park, and even just a walk. All of these things are 100% free.
  • Give them extra attention. Simply giving your pet some extra attention on their birthday can be enough to may their day special. Best of all, it’s free.

Do You Celebrate Your Pet’s Birthday?

With a rise in the number of people who have pets in general and many of those individuals choosing not to have children, celebrating your pets has become more normal than you’d imagine. People truly treat their pets like members of their family, which they should. Every dog (or whatever your pet of choice may be) deserves to have its day and you don’t have to spend an arm and a leg to give them a good one.

So, readers, what do you think? Do you celebrate your pet’s birthday too? How do you celebrate? 

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7 of the Best Money Management Tools You Need to Control Your Finances

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In 2019, only 29% of people in America considered themselves financially healthy.

The good news is that there are several things you can do that will help you save money and improve your financial situation – and one of those things is using the right money management tools.

If you want to learn how to manage money in the easiest of ways, keep reading and discover more about seven useful apps!

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3 Ways to Hack the 52-Week Money Challenge

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hack the 52-week money challenge

Have you ever heard of a money challenge? It is something the internet thought up a few years ago that helps people meet savings goals (usually within a specific period of time). The original challenge, the 52-week money challenge, helps people save right around $1,400 over the span of a year. However, that method and timeframe don’t work for everyone. If that includes you, here’s how you can hack the 52-week money challenge…

About the 52-Week Money Challenge

First, before we talk about hacking the challenge, you should have a good understanding of what the 52-week money challenge actually is. It was created online to help motivate people to increase and track their savings. Along with it came message boards and forums for support with people doing the same thing. Pretty cool, right?

The challenge also introduced free printable tracking sheets where you can record your weekly savings. It also walks you through how much should be saved each week.

With this challenge, you save an additional $1 per week (i.e. $1 on week one, $2 on week two, $3 on week three, and so on). You can see how this adds up in the graphic below (via Saving Advice).

hack the 52-week money challenge

How to Hack the 52-Week Money Challenge

“Hacking” an internet challenge like this is fairly easy. All you need to do is figure out what needs to change for the challenge to better suit your financial needs. Here are three ways you can do it…

  1. Change the contribution amounts. For instance, if $1,400 over the span of the year is too little for your savings goals, increase the weekly amount you deposit into savings. If the amount is too much, you can also decrease your contributions. Similarly, you can also switch around your contributions. Many people do the 52-week money challenge in reverse to account for holiday spending at the end of the year.
  2. Switch up your goals. You can also hack the 52-week money challenge by changing its objective. For example, most people use the challenge to save money. Instead, you could use the challenge to pay off debt. So, instead of saving $1 the first week, you’d add $1 to your current debt payments.
  3. Hustle. Lastly, you can “hack” the challenge by creating money to save. Let’s say you’re living paycheck-to-paycheck and there’s absolutely no way you are saving $1,400 this year. To hack that problem, you just need to find a hustle or sell things to create the cash to save.

Other Challenges to Try

Throughout the article, I’ve been referring to the 52-week money challenge, but that is far from the only internet challenge out there to try. No matter what your goals are, financial or otherwise, there is probably a challenge out there for you. Take a look at these other money challenges you may want to try…

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The Second Best Time to Make a Change

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Here at Our Debt Free Family, our motto is “Commit. Plan. Take action.”

The first step before committing is to decide that a change is necessary.

Maybe you know that you could be smarter with your money. Or perhaps you recognize that if you lose weight, you’ll be able to lead a healthier, more energetic life. Maybe you realize that there should be more to life than counting down to the weekend every day at work. It could be there is a relationship with a loved one that needs some extra TLC.

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Reviewing Our Family Finances

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<p>There is just a little more than a month left until we get to meet our new addition! While we have most of what we need for our little girl material-wise, we still have a bit of planning to do. There are a lot of things we now need to take into consideration with our little one. Here is a quick review of what we’ve been looking at.</p>::Pexels

There is just a little more than a month left until we get to meet our new addition! While we have most of what we need for our little girl material-wise, we still have a bit of planning to do. There are a lot of things we now need to take into consideration with our little one. Here is a quick review of what we’ve been looking at.

Upcoming Expenses

Of course, having a baby costs quite a bit of money. In the first year alone, parents can spend up to $2,000 on diapers. Just diapers! However, that isn’t the only thing you’ll be spending money on. So, we’ve been trying to plan for some of the following upcoming expenses…

  • Delivery hospital bill: Around $5,000 out of pocket
  • Health insurance for the baby: Around $300/month
  • Clothing (new monthly budget item): $100/month
  • Car registration and taxes: $500
  • New computers for home office: $3,000 total for two
  • Life insurance: $70 per month
  • Dental work: TBD
  • Rental renewal: TBD

Looking at the rest of the year, we have some hefty expenses coming up. First, my insurance has a maximum out-of-pocket cost per year of $6,000. I have already paid a little over $1,000 out-of-pocket for prenatal care, so when the bill comes for the hospital stay for delivery I expect to pay around $5,000. We will likely make payments on this.

We also need to renew the car’s registration and pay taxes in North Carolina in August. This will likely cost around $500 total. We will want to prep for this cost annually. Another one-time expense we are prepping for is the cost of two new computers for our home office. Because we are both working from home, it is important that we have reliable machines to work on. Right now, we both work on rather spotty laptops. Better performing machines will open more opportunities for us.

Two more one-time costs will be dental work (I desperately need some teeth removed and a deep clean) and our rental renewal. The exact cost of these has yet to be seen.

Lastly, we have some new budget line items to add to our monthly expenses. We will be getting life insurance for ourselves. Now that we have a child, it is important to us that we be prepared in case anything happens to either of us. We also need to get our child health insurance, which will likely cost around $300 per month. As you know, kids grow fast, so we are going to add clothing to our monthly expenses as well.

Planning for the Future

There are a few other financial things we’ve discussed in preparation for the baby as well. Both of us would like to send her to a private school. The public schools in our area aren’t the best and we want her to have a good education. This will cost around $6,000 per year in elementary and climb through middle and high school. We’ve been looking at educational savings plans to help us mitigate some tax liability for paying for her education.

Both of us are looking into starting other savings accounts and opening IRAs for the future as well. Something about having a baby has put us into full preparation mode for retirement and savings. We will start a family vacation fund, Roth IRA, first home fund, and savings account for our little one too.

Main Debt Focuses

Now, let’s shift our focus to our remaining debts. The biggest thing we will be focused on paying off now is our car. The monthly payment on our vehicle is $488. If we were able to eliminate that monthly payment, we will be able to have a lot more wiggle room in our budget and improve our finances significantly. Once that is paid off, we can focus on some of our other smaller debts and begin saving for a down payment on a home.

That’s a lot to think about at once and, sometimes, it feels a little overwhelming. However, both of us are looking forward to a bright future for our family.

Readers, how did you financially prepare for your firstborn?

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