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Archive for January, 2022

Just Hit the Send Button!

January 28th, 2022 at 01:25 pm

I don't know why I struggled today but I did. I did not want to send/pay anything towards the student loan, but I pushed through and paid $422.23 bringing my new balance just below $15k. 

I haven't struggled with this decision before and I'm not sure why I did today. I was like just hit the send button already. Weird 

I also contributed $25 to the IRA, not much and I'm not worried, I should be ble to contribute  the max amount in July. 

That's it for me 

I Had an Ah-ha Moment

January 22nd, 2022 at 02:09 pm

After looking at the mortgage πŸ‘ I realized I have not made any traction in the four years that I've had this loan. This was my ah-ha moment. 

 

In December I decided to make one extra mortgage payment πŸ’°  a year. Today I decided that every month, I'm going to round down my mortgage, so today I paid $75 towards the principal and my new balance is $114,600. 

 

I'm 48 and I've set an aggressive goal to have this loan paid off by my 55th birthday πŸŽ‰

 

I know Dave says you can't save and pay down debt, well time is not on my side so I chose not to listen to him. I add to my IRA since I'm self-employed, working on my student loans and mortgage at the same time, I'm just more aggressive with the student loan. I also save money for a rainy day. Yes, I'm making good money πŸ’΅  right now; however, either one of my clients can say, hey we're done. Makes no sense to only have $1k saved. With my total savings, I can pay one year's worth of expenses. 

 

I just realized that I'm back to blogging. I hope this site stays up and running 

Wow, I Am So Excited

January 22nd, 2022 at 11:48 am

I'm so excited, I thought budgeting monthly was going to be hard. When I started working for myself I completely stopped, didn't even try. I continued to knock out my student loans and save a nice chunk but I also spent a little more in a few areas. 

 

Well, I decided to get back at it, I started back using the cash envelopes and when I tell you I killed it, I killed it. I pay myself about the 20th of each month, monthly, this is also new. Anyway, I came in well under budget, this budget period and had a ton to roll over in my cash envelopes. I usually roll over twice before throwing at debt. 

 

I also do these money-saving challenges (e.g. 52 weeks) ad love them.  every year that I do these challenges I say I'm getting a new bedroom set, well the money always goes towards my student loans. Last year June, I took half and threw it at my student loan. Then in December I took a little, even though I have a Christmas fund, and used it towards Christmas gifts. Well, I have $955 left of that money and that will pay for my ten days in Greece (housing). My plane ticket was paid in cash last year. I'm so excited. 

 

For 2022,  I started the savings challenges again and I have $365 saved. This money will be my spending money while in Greece. I'm thinking by the time we go, I’d saved about $1200. Everyone on this trip is just as frugal as I am and I love it. I'm certain I'll probably come home with a ton 

 

I'm so excited about my journey. Never in my life would I have saved to pay cash for a trip, under any other circumstances this would have been on a credit card. I've never been able to afford COBRA and here I am seven months in and haven't missed a payment. I've never had more than a few thousand dollars saved and here I am close to 30k saved. I just can't believe this  

Student Loans, Just Venting

January 21st, 2022 at 08:25 am

 

According to my 2020 student loan statement I owed $72,431.53, for some reason I thought this number was much higher. So I took a look and according to my numbers, my balance was 83,248.27, strange, I can never figure this thing out. 

 

Anyway as of today the balance is $44,133.09. Just under two years, I’ve paid a total of $28,298.44, if I go with the $72k balance, just under half is paid.  

 

I’m going to go back and look at my totals. My records show just over $83k was owed. Last year I know I paid over $15k and the year before I paid off one loan that was just over 8k, bringing my total paid to $22,014.76 plus if I add the interest paid on the third loan, it’s about $7k so my total should be almost $30k paid in student. I’m just estimating here.  This is the issue I have, trying to figure this out either way though the numbers are going down. 

 

I tell ya, had  COVID not happened I’m certain this loan would be at at least or close to $90k. Student loans are similar to loan sharks. I’m all for paying what you borrowed; however I do believe that there needs to some significant overhaul on how these loans operate. The inability to pay on one’s principal is disgusting, the loan is guaranteed and compounding sucks. 

 

I know COVID has negatively impacted a ton of people; however for me it was a blessing. The freeze on interest was a game changer, I’m praying someone (or more) who can make a difference has an ah ha moment and not only say but do something about this. 

 

I’m not eligible for loan forgiveness and I’m happy for those who are and who have received it. I’m not sure why people get pissed off about this, it’s ridiculous. Yes I’m paying my loans, no I’m not eligible and no I’m not mad if loan forgiveness is afforded to others and not me. We forgive so much for so many any not for these kids. I’m just thankful I was able to pay such a significant amount, and not getting myself whined up about someone’s blessings. 

 

I’m floored, happy, disgusted, sad etc. basically my emotions are all over the place. I want these loans gone so bad, I can scream. In the end, I’ll keep plugging away as much as I can. 

Yay Student Loan is Decreasing

January 19th, 2022 at 05:58 pm

 

It’s official, I’ve paid off the interest on student loan number three and I can now start tackling the principal. I’m so excited I can scream! 

 

Principal balance is $15,421.43. Hopefully, when I get my check from my client next week, I can pay the $421.23 to make things an even number. 

 

I’ll have to see. I have an eye appointment next week so I’m sure I’ll need new glasses. So I may not be able to add anything. 

I’m just so happy to finally see some traction. 

It’s My Birthday!

January 18th, 2022 at 01:00 am

In honor of my birthday and turning the fabulous 48, I decided to pay $48 on my student loan. 

Normally I'm out and about for my birthday but today all I wanted to do was rest. Unfortunately, I worked, well I'm thankful so I shouldn't say unfortunately. I work for myself, and my clients needed attention, and I'm thankful for the opportunity to serve. I am heading to Greece for my birthday later this year, that's my a gift to myself and  I've paid cash for this trip 

In financial news, I've reworked my budget and I should be able to pay the final amount in interest on my student loan, #3, next week, this will allow me to start tackling the principal. With student loans, you must pay the interest before paying the principal. Fingers crossed that I can have this loan paid off before the interest starts back up. 

Student Loan

January 11th, 2022 at 09:52 pm

My brother paid me back, $150. I took this money and threw it at my student loan, and the new balance is $17,500 (student loan #3), I'll update my sidebar later.

Looking at my budget, I may be able to add $2000 at the end of the month, fingers crossed. 

It's a Wrap, the 2021 Numbers Are In

January 9th, 2022 at 07:11 am

After balancing my final account, I've been waiting on the statement, the numbers are in. Sadly, overall I spent 14% more than the previous year( 2020).

 

First, my savings accounts increased by $6789.87; liabilities went up by $2400.07. Last month I used the CC for dental work, I'll be paying it off this month, I wanted to use the CC for points, that equal cash. 

 

I paid off $15,429.81 in student loans; decreased the mortgage by $3455.10, and my net worth increased by$2306.14. 

 

Where I spent my money the most was student loans, up 269% (payments); entertaining, up 101%, I bought season tickets to football games, dental up by 125% and personal care, up by 86%, I started back going to the salon and I'm now cutting this out, so my personal care line item should decrease. Clothing  was also up, 26% 

 

I didn't see much decrease but the mortgage decreased by 7%, auto registration was down by 9%, cellular down by 9%; and miscellaneous spending down by 4%  

 

Looking at these numbers really put things in perspective. I'll admit, I lost focus in June and hadn't started budgeting again until December. 

 

Some things I'm doing to ensure this is a better year:

  • Started the cash envelopes back up
  • Started budgeting again 
  • Cutting my salon visits 
  • Will not buy season tickets to the games this year 

That's it 

Happy New Year!

January 1st, 2022 at 07:42 pm

Though I am not finished, I crunched a few numbers today and in 2020 I saved over $10k and paid off $20k in debt. I'll complete my year-end round-up later, I just felt great about 2020 and needed to share 

 

Happy New Year πŸΎ πŸŽ†