It is super easy to look at your financial situation and feel a bit down, especially when you’ve been in a situation like we have been. There’s no doubt that most of our finances haven’t been easy in the past two years or so. However, we’ve finally gotten a bit of a break and I’m feeling extremely optimistic. So, here’s the latest on how we’re one account down, employed, and feeling awesome!
Paid Off: One Account Down
The first piece of awesome news is that we have paid Rent-A-Center off completely! If you’ve ever bought anything from them, you know what a terrible mistake it is (stay tuned for a Rent-A-Center hate letter). Obviously, we won’t be buying anything from them again, ever.
We made our last payment of $205 on Monday and were ecstatic. That will save us nearly $300 per month that we can now put towards our heftier debts.
New Job!
Another way we’ll be able to save more next month and in the months to come is that we no longer have to pay storage on my other half’s tools and toolbox ($50 per month).
He starts his new job on Monday! It is a substantial pay raise from his previous position and, of course, after being out of work since June, it will be a huge help financially. More importantly, he will be doing what he loves again. So, things will be getting back to normal around here pretty soon.
Making Plans
Almost immediately after getting the great news and the progress of being one account down, we started excitedly talking about being able to pay off other items at a quicker pace. Our current credit card debt is sitting at about $2,000 collectively, which we aim to have paid off by the end of the year.
Not to mention, I’ll begin making payments on my student loans again in December and, once those credit cards are paid off, I’ll be able to through more money on my car loan each month as well. On top of all of that, we also will have Drew’s car paid off pretty soon ($650 left on the loan).
However, we both realized that maintaining focus at this time will be important. Although we are both ecstatic with the new job and being able to get back on top of things financially, we are still focusing on small goals to make sure we stay on track. As you may have read, our first goal is to get $1K saved. We should have that done by mid-November. Then we will really be able to start making serious progress on our debt free journey.
Do you have any advice for us? If so, I’d love to hear about your progress on your personal financial journey!
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