by Adam Dawson
Ok Ok…when we started this blog I planned to update the debt balances every month, on the 1st of the month. Obviously that hasn’t happened. The best laid plans, I suppose.
The past few months have been very difficult for us regarding debt payback. I explained in a comment that for the first 3 years, we were essentially on autopilot. We made our snowball payment every month, and added in our $7000 extra per year out of our tax returns, bonuses, and extra paychecks. Then, we started blogging….and for the first time since we started on this journey, we missed some snowball payments. We are still paying the minimum payments, but accelerating our payoff has been eluding us.
I have been thinking about why this may be. Maybe it’s the blog’s fault. I joke, I kid. I can’t be sure, but I think it’s mainly due to the big change of buying our house this spring. Since we rented the last 3 years, our monthly payment was steady and we didn’t have to worry about maintenance. When we bought the house, our monthly payment jumped about $350, but the readers of this blog know we’ve already been hammered with maintenance. With the septic pump, the well issues, the tenants’ washer and dryer, and then some deferred car maintenance (2 new sets of tires and some new brakes), we have shelled out a few thousand dollars – the recent months have definitely been the most expensive months of our lives.
I think the house has effected more subtle changes as well. We are spending more on gas than we were before. Our highway has notoriously bad traffic and I think the extra commute time is contributing to our eating out habits – especially breakfast. Finally, there have been some expenses related to moving – the cost of the move, plus those little things you need in a new house. Home decor, tools, etc.
I’m not making excuses, really, just speculating about what has changed that’s made debt payback so much harder in the last few months. We’ve noticed the comments where readers are wondering if we’re really serious about getting out of debt. The comments baffle us because we’ve been on this journey for 3.5 years now and we’ve made progress. But just through the lens of this blog, I can understand why it might look like we’re less than 100% committed. You’ve caught us at a bad time, for one. Also, some of our spending increases, I guess you’d call them, have been somewhat planned. We’ve fought and pinched and cut our way to this point so that we can be on our 7-year debt payoff schedule, and we always planned to be able to do a little bit more with our money if our income ever went up like it has this year.
So it makes sense why some might see the spending and think we’re not serious. Please don’t misunderstand – we are deadly serious about the big picture…being debt-free except the mortgage by age 35 and unshackled from the golden handcuffs so we can pursue our collective dreams, which are always growing. But we also know we have serious changes to make with regards to our finances. Our spending is not sustainable. Eating out as much as we do is not ok, for our bank account or our health. Entertainment spending also has to decrease. We realize this and because of this blog, we are working together for the first time on these issues, with very slow progress so far.
I also saw some people asking – if we have a plan and don’t intend to accelerate it, what is the purpose of our blogging? This is a fair question. Well, I think you are seeing the purpose unfolding before your eyes. We are going through a lot of life changes. A new house, a new job (for the 2nd time this year), planning to start a family, beginning some of our homesteading dreams, and still trying to make our finances and debt payoff work. Your advice and tips, and your life experience/wisdom really has been valuable for us as we work through these things. Some have mentioned that we are defensive and don’t listen to advice. I think we listen to advice that comes across kindly, but also – we are working on the defensiveness too. You wouldn’t be the first person to tell me that.
I promise I will update numbers as soon as some of the payroll changes and payments post. I hope this post has answered some questions and I hope you’ll stick around a while as we keep trying to make our debt plan work.
Hang in there. I think you guys are doing well. Follow your own path to debt free. Some achieve the goal quickly, sometimes with great sacrifice. Others go more slowly. I am of that group myself. The detractors have had negative comments for the bloggers before you. Please know there are many of us cheering your progress silently from the sidelines.
Just started following your journey to becoming debt free. Keep going, I have no doubt that you will be successful! I’ve just started my own journey to become debt free and I look forward to reading about your progress.
It works for me. I respect anyone who’s willing to put themselves out there for folks to see, all the good and bad, and how you handle your payoff is impressive. Wanting to be debt free by 35 – wow. Go go Adam and Emily! Whether some agree or not, it’s not all about rushing through the debt so you can begin living your life. It’s about making the changes necessary to live the way you want to, now AND in the future. Mind your spending. Keep watch over where the money goes, and whittle down the excess, while still having some fun. You can do this. 🙂
I find you two a refreshing change from the previous three bloggers. So please keep at it. I think the issue with seriousness for some readers is an appearance one and isn’t so much your actions as how much introspection and struggle you are sharing (or not sharing). Just my thought about that. You don’t have to wait for a final decision to share your angst.
I have an idea for you guys. Shopping list: 2 packages of flour tortillas, 3 cans of refried beans, 1 lb block or 16oz shredded bag of mild cheese, 1.5 dozen eggs, 1 box of ziploc freezer bags, optional jar salsa, I’d toss in a mild onion but I’m an onion loving fiend. (total grocery bill $22-26)
Shred the cheese if not shredded, break the eggs and beat with a fork along with a quarter cup milk, scramble in a pan, dice the onion. Make an assembly line and fill and roll the tortillas and put into ziplocs. Roll the ziplocs and seal with as little air as possible. Freeze. Voila! Pop in the microwave for a few seconds on the way out the door. Hearty breakfast on the go for 16 meals at less than $1.50 per meal.
This is BRILLIANT. I’m doing this. I will eat anything easy, especially before 8am, and this sounds healthy-ish and like zombie morning me could figure it out.
I do want to talk through more of our decisions here as we’re making them. Partly because we’re constantly in the process of making decisions, because that’s just our life right now, and also raise its nice to get outside perspective.
Glad you like the recipe. “Healthy” for me is knowing all the ingredients and whatever keeps my blood sugar and energy level on an even keel throughout the day and for me that’s protein and soluble fiber, and lots of them. No sugar, very little carb. But YMMV.
Do you buy anything repackaged or ready to eat? I’ve been looking for some things to add to our menu that are grab and go or that don’t have to be prepared or cooked. I buy a lot of salads, soups, Greek yogurt, lunch meat, and wraps that are low carb but I’m just hoping to add in some variety. 🙂
It is hard at times when hurdles are near and seem to be every where. Keep up the good work though, and your debt will decrease. Take a look at what you have all ready accomplished.
You have shown that the past few years you have worked hard to pay off a large amount of debt and I don’t think some readers take that into account. Four months ago, my husband and I moved 3,000 miles cross-country – we saved money, sold things, even sold a car, to fund the move and our savings has taken a big hit. I try to look at it positively: we paid cash for our move and have no credit card debt which is awesome. But, the downside is, while my husband was able to have a job lined up prior to the move, I am still jobless (not due to lack of trying, I’ve *literally* applied to almost 100 jobs) and I have student loans coming due in the next few months – PANIC ATTACK!
So I totally get why things are not exactly going so smoothly for you at this time, and to be honest it is inspiring to read about your struggles. I hope you don’t take that as me being amused by your hardships, I just mean this is a debt blog for the real world and you two are experiencing things that a lot of readers could relate to. I really hope you are able continue blogging successfully, because you do have an interesting story.
There will be bad and good months, don’t get discouraged. From what I can see in the right debt list, there’s a lot of stuff being ‘cut down’, which means debt is being taken care off. Hang in there, you’re on the right path and no one said it’s an easy tasks. As long as you’re focused and serious about it, everything will finally fall into place 😉
I understand your situation. You need to be very patient with your debt. Keep going. Best of luck.
I’m really enjoying following your blog. House repairs are always like that, unpredictable, irregular and difficult to forecast. There’s nothing for a year or two – then bam a new roof or HVAC system. I found this one difficult to predict.
I’m inferring from your posts that maybe you live quite a distance from town and commute a long way. I would really suggest looking hard at the trade-offs and costs of that type of situation. Everyone does it, and it seems normal but really it shouldn’t be. That seems to be one area where unintended spending creeps up, not to mention the cost of time. Some suggestions – inquire about flexible hours or occasional days working from home office. A 30 minute commute means 5 hours of drive time each week, and lots of money in cars and fuel…Check out Mrmoneymustache.com for some ideas about that.
Good luck!
DH and I have paid off his car, both our student loans, funded a major home renovation and paid for a wedding. By all external accounts, we are doing pretty good. We have the car and mortgage left and had planned a five year plan to eliminate these. While it seemed ambitious, I still wondered if it was the best we could do. After a long exercise of downloading as many records as possible from our bank account and credit card statement, it became extremely clear that five years is too long for this objective. If we just buckle down (and address our $750/month in grocery, dining out, and coffee expenses) we can easily eliminate both of these debts in under two years.
It’s pretty amazing what can happen when you analyze transaction and come to terms with your own numbers.
Thanks for staying proactive with your blog! Always a good resource for ideas on how to protect the family budget.
Glad to see the progress you two are making. We found as part of our debt elimination that new lifestyle patterns, including healthy eating as we planned food and meals to fit budgets all improved. This was a good area in your previously listed budget for making improvements and am glad to see you’re taking full advantage of this and being creative in the process. Nice that your employer offers the snack area and gym perks!! Keep up the good work!
I have a negative networth of around $35,000.00
It was nearly $50,000.00 but I have had some written off.
Most of the remainder is bank loans.
I also don’t have any assets and I think that is why my creditors are stalling they finally realise there just isn’t any money.
I offered the banks a settlement figure but they declined.
I’ll try again then I can work on building income instead of debt.