We could definitely tell it was a leap year as the month of February was full of nothing but ups and downs for my household. We went into the month with a positive outlook. We knew that if all went as planned we’d be paying off our first student loan on the Debt Snowball moving on to the second. I’m happy to say that in spite of everything that went on we were able to achieve both of these goals. The 1st Student Loan which had a starting balance of $21,000 was officially paid off on February 11th. It took us 6 months to make this happen. After I made the final payment I called my Mom to share the great news and instead of feeling overjoyed I felt drained and exhausted. Why would I feel drained and exhausted after completing such a huge milestone in our debt payoff journey?
The truth is this journey is both physically and mentally exhausting. Yea we make a budget that we work hard to stick with and set goals but that’s only half of it. No one really sees what goes on behind the scenes. The juggling act of balancing life, the sacrifices, the trying to explain to family and friends that we can’t afford something, the late nights and ridiculously early mornings all to hand the hard earned money away. I don’t want people to be like us. I don’t want people to have to postpone life because they have so much debt that they can’t breathe. This is why I’m pushing Broke on Purpose so hard, this is why I want families to talk about finances and to teach their kids to have a healthy relationship with money. I don’t want any of the future generation to have to walk in our shoes knowing it could have been prevented.
Living Broke on Purpose Creates Financial Peace
This month we also experienced Financial Peace first hand. If you’re subscribed to the newsletter you’ve already heard about this, but for those who aren’t our dog was diagnosed with a tumor that needs to be removed. Long story short the cost breakdown for surgery ranged between $1400-$1800. Even though we budget for our pet expenses we did not have this kind of money available to just pay for a surgery. As I brought our dog home I realized that something was different about this situation. I wasn’t panicking or having an anxiety attack. I was perfectly calm. I was experiencing financial peace. Even though we didn’t have the money to pay for the surgery right then (I mean we’d just paid over $2400 towards a student loan) I knew we would have the money the following month. That’s the beauty of living Broke on Purpose because we’d paid off so much debt in the past 11 months we no longer had to worry about large amounts of our income going towards minimum payments. We could instead choose to put that money towards other things, like our dogs surgery. On a good note I got a second opinion from another vet and was quoted a cost of $855 which we can defintely live with.
The Breakdown
Alright so lets get to the February 2016 Debt Payoff Report Breakdown.
We started this month off with with a remaining Student Loan Balance of $2462.00
The minimum Payment on this loan is $385
Extra Payment from Debt Snowball: $1000
Add On Payments for the Month $1980
Total Debt Payoff Amount $36,309
We had $500 left over in our budget this month even after paying for two vet visits that totaled $345 so we applied that money to our debt snowball. The remaining $1480 came from income I earned working as a digital media influencer and freelancer. After paying off the 1st student loan we applied all extra money towards the next debt which is my Navient student loan (both my husband and I have one) which now has a balance of $3678 down from $4643. Our goal is to pay off this particular loan by the beginning of April!
As I mentioned above my husband and I work hard to stick with our budget. One of the ways we do this is by writing things down. The Broke on Purpose Financial Worksheet Kit contains 7 amazing worksheets to help you and your family plan out your finances. Plus the best part is you can print them as many times as you want! If you want to learn how we went from from almost having to file bankruptcy to getting rid of $36,000 in debt pick up the Broke on Purpose Ebook and Worksheet Bundle where I get real and transparent about how we handled our finances.
Awesome progress! My husband and I have paid off $15k in the last six months by living broke on purpose. We definitely understand the whole feeling of debt fatigue. Sending well wishes for your dog.
This got me so teary eyed and I am so grateful that you’ve chose to share. Folks don’t realize that clearing up debt is another full time job. Yes the steps seems easy when you put the budget on paper howver going through the steps, boy oh boy. I’m a single mother with a child in college. I have to say no a lot and yes family & friends dont get it. I just keep telling them i waited late in life to get serious about this debt and be damn if i take it with me into my retirement years. GOD WILLING AND GOD BLESS. Thank you for all that you share. Bravo and big hand clap to being closer to living a debt free life.
Berta clearing up debt is a full-time job. The benefit is that you get your life back. That’s what keeps me going, knowing that my husband and I will have our lives back and be able to seriously live the life that God intended for us to live. I’ve lost several friends because I don’t go out and I can’t spend money like that anymore, but guess what, if you stop talking to me because of that you were never my friend in the first place! Thank you so much for sharing your story. We are sisters in this debt free journey!
This is awesome. I was totally having this “get my life” feeling. But the peace in knowing that you have broken that “paycheck to paycheck ” living is indescribable.
I paid off $1000 in debt last month, and by the end of the month I was really broke on purpose. So broke that I had to pay for gas in $5 increments every couple of days. It’s really hard. My next goal is to pay a line of credit for $1500 and close that account completely so I won’t have it as a crutch. We are going on vacation at the end of the month and I had to put the plane fare on credit, but when my tax return comes back, the check will go right toward that debt as if I never even charged it. (We are staying with my parents, so there are no hotel costs). I have been really working my wardrobe too. I rotate everything in my closet and I found a top I really liked at a re-sale shop for $8 and that was my big clothing expenditure for the month. It helped to weed out my closet too. I sold some clothes I never wore and made some cash that way. I haven’t stepped into a mall and don’t plan on shopping. My urge to pay bills is greater than my urge to shop since paying things off. It’s hard. It’s really hard when we live in a society of “I want it now”. I’m continuing to work hard!
Yes!! You are really living Broke on Purpose! I’ve been there. I ended my first Broke on Purpose month with only $24 in my account. The struggle was so real. I can relate to everything you’ve written here. My urge to pay off debt is more important than going out, shopping, or having the latest anything. The latest thing I want is the next bill so I can see how much my hard work is paying off. Thank you so much for sharing and keep coming back and sharing how well you’re doing!
Great post and great progress. I am very close to paying off the last of $20K off Credit Card debt ($2300 left), Then off to tackle NELNET!
The part that stuck with me the most from your post is, “all to hand the hard earned money away”…that part of debt pay off really is the hardest. It is truly hard to hand $500, $1000, etc off to debt but at the end of the day, I always remember that I racked up the debt so I have the responsibility to pay it off.
From $20K to $2300 talk about progress! You go! When I look back at how much we’ve paid off I do get discouraged because I think about everything else we could have done with that money. You’re right, though we racked up the debt so it’s our responsibility to pay it off. It just sucks lol.
Wow! Great POST!!! I am currently paying down my last 2 credit cards in hopes of having them both paid off by the end of this year. 😉 With God all things are possible and I can see the light at the end of the tunnel !: 🙂