As I type this, I still can’t believe we’re already into September. Like most people, I keep asking myself where did the time go, and then I inquired about my whereabouts when it was flying by. Was I even present? Why does it seem like time flies by when we have a boatload of stuff to do, but then seems too daunting when we look at it regarding how long it’s going to take us to pay off debt.
This is why I don’t concern myself with how much debt we have left to pay. Don’t get me wrong I am FULLY aware of what that number is, but for me to be able to do this consistently each and every month I have to trick my mind into thinking that I’m going after a smaller goal, one that won’t cause my psyche and willpower to shut down.
[ad name=”HTML”]So we’re breaking our student loan debts down into chunks. We first started by catching up on all the interest. Next, we’re going to start dissecting out individual loans from the bigger ones. We’re lucky that our Student Loan company will let us pay extra towards whichever loan we want as long as we’ve satisfied the minimum. Using the debt avalanche method, we’ll pay off the loans with the higher interest rate and work our way down from there.
August 2016 Debt Payoff Report
We ended August with $15.14 in our joint checking account. It’s the smallest amount we’ve ever had left over since living Broke on Purpose. We owe this to several unexpected things popping up this month.
- Amazon came like a thief and a robber in the middle of the night and took out payment for our Amazon Prime Subscription catching us completely off guard.
- Our water pump for the AC decided it no longer wanted to be a part of this world.
- I was forced to pay student activities fees, which are usually covered when I waive my student health insurance, but due to a change are no longer being covered.
Instead of using our Emergency Fund to pay for these things we went ahead and took it out of the money we usually would have left over at the end of the month to throw at our debt. This month I also pulled back on freelancing so that I could appropriately put my time on other important things. Money from the side hustle contributes significantly to how we’re able to pay off so much each month, but with being only one person, having several irons in the fire, and trying to protect my mental health, it’s important that I properly appropriate my time. Another caveat of being a freelancer is sometimes payments that you were expecting can be delayed which definitely happened this month. All in all, we’re still on track to have the Student Loan interest paid off by the end of the year. Even if we don’t make that goal, it’s still okay because we’re still moving forward.
The Debt: We’re still tackling our Student Loan Interest Transfer that we put on a 0% credit card.
Starting Balance: $17,674.00
August Starting Balance: $10,545
New Balance: $8661.23
2016 Payoff Amount: $25,260
Amount Paid off since living Broke on Purpose ( 17 months): $54,622.77
Living Broke on Purpose has become a lifestyle for us. Some people call it a challenge but challenges end. Once we’re debt free we don’t ever plan to go back to our old ways of thinking that debt is okay as long as you can make the payments. We’ve been doing this for 17 months, but it doesn’t actually feel like it. The thing I feel the most is the peace of mind. It’s such an amazing feeling to not have to worry about making a car payment, repairs, or how we’re going to be able to afford an unexpected bill. We have that luxury all because we cut back and truly started living within our means. I believe without a shadow of a doubt that our lives have been forever changed because we made the choice to be proper stewards of the money that God gifted us.
If you’re reading this and haven’t started your own plan don’t look at our journey and say “oh that’s too extreme, I can’t do that!”. Everyone’s journey is going to be different, but it all starts with a plan and the firm decision that you want to make a difference in the way your finances look. Granted we’re all in every single month, but it’s because we know that if we keep going hard the finish line will appear that much quicker.
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I’m in agreement with being debt free. I don’t have any credit card debt but I am working on tax debt. I trimmed my food expense too and created a successful site to help others do the same. So glad I saw you on Rachael Ray this morning. Inspiring!