by Ashley
I feel like lately I’m all “fight, grind, repeat.” (quote credit: Bobby Bones).
Sure I’ve had some times out last month, but to be 100% honest and open, they aren’t events I would have chosen to group together into a single month for spending purposes. In choosing how to spend that money I would have preferred, for instance, a date night out with the hubs.
And in spite of these times out, I have maintained a pretty steadfast focus on chipping away at my debt. Slow and steady, slow and steady, slow and steady. It’s like a mantra that keeps playing in my head.
It was so much easier last year when our income started to sky rocket during the summer. We had two months where we actually made over $10,000 in a single month! That’s more money than we’ve ever made in our lives and it felt so great to be able to throw it at debt and completely eradicate our $10,000 worth of credit card debt in just a few short months! Living the dream, friends! (side note: I just re-read the post where I wrote about making that final credit card payment. Put a smile on my face just re-living my little dorky celebration dance! 😉)
So this year’s tax bill has certainly made me feel a little “blah” about the summer. That, coupled with the fact that our income has most certainly not gone up so far this summer…at least not to the extent that it had last year at this time.
But then today I got a piece of good news that puts me in a more positive head-space.
I got an email from my boss at the teaching university. The department has decided to do something a little unusual. One of my classes is completely full and they’ve received a lot of requests from students wanting to add it. There’s not enough interest for a full second class (classes are capped at 30 students), but they’ve decided to do a half-section (capped at 15). My boss asked if I’d like to take it on. Since it’s half the students (and, therefore, half the grading), it will be half the pay of the 30-person class. But, again, it’s a class I’m already teaching (just a second mini-section of it), so it’s incredibly easy for me, as it’s already completely prepped and ready to go. OF COURSE I jumped at the chance for some extra cash this summer! I feel so grateful that this extra money is coming at a time that we need it more than ever (with the IRS breathing down our necks). So, I’m not sure this will really translate into a big boost in income with the figures I report on the blog (since I’m taking out tax debt off the top instead of including the debt in my monthly debt update), but it will certainly provide a nice buffer to pay off that debt and still be left with a nice, solid income over the summer months. Thank goodness!
Nothing like a little good news on a Monday! ; )
Have you had any good news today (or lately)? Share!
Hi, I’m Ashley! Arizonan on paper, Texan at heart. Lover of running, blogging, and all things cheeeeese. Freshly 40, married mother of two, working in academia. Trying to finally (finally!) pay off that ridiculous 6-digit student loan debt!
Our good news is 1. My son finally got his permit to drive after 9 times. He is a horrible written test taken too. 2. Hubby got a job offer and he wasn’t even trying. Either today or tomorrow we’ll be more secure on when he starts etc and the finer details of the job. Now I’m just waiting to see if I get an offer from 2 interviews I did last week. I should be hearing this week they said.
Great news Ashley! As you said, it won’t be too much work for the extra pay since it’s the same class anyway. The only extra work will be the grading. Woot!
That’s great news, Ashley. You certainly don’t have to disclose the amount of the pay for this, but is there one particular debt that you want to divert all of this bonus income toward?
I’m afraid it will probably get sucked up into the tax debt we have. But I’m planning just to treat it as regular income, so I’ll be taking the normal bills off the top and any extra will go toward the car debt : )