Last I wrote on the topic of our finances we were smooth sailing toward a debt-free life. Five months later, things are a little bit bumpier, but I think we’re doing a stellar job of keeping the lines of communication open between us.
Our Emergency Fund
By the end of our 9-week class in March, we had the recommended $1,000 in our emergency fund and had checked one step off our FPU timeline. The following month, we had every conceivable car issue known to man, completely drained our savings and got behind on a few of our student loan payments. In June, a wedding and some minor traveling continued to set us back. To date, we’re one month behind on two of our loan payments and on Chuck’s car payment. Fortunately, having been at my employer for one year means I get a decent raise. We’re planning to apply the extra funds toward catching up on these payments, as well as putting $25 per paycheck back into our emergency fund.
Credit
Although, we’re still paying off both my credit card and Chuck’s mom’s (we paid Chuck’s 2011 taxes on it), I threw that evil thing in the shredder and haven’t looked back. Although it hasn’t always been easy, it’s been a really good thing to not have it anymore to fall back on. We make do with what we have and if we don’t have the moolah for it, we don’t buy it! I don’t want to keep accumulating debt when we’re working so hard to pay off our existing pile- this is one of the best decisions we’ve made!
Our Debt Snowball
As I mentioned before, our snowball is not accelerating as quickly as we would like. But in the spirit of looking at what we’ve accomplished thus far, in the last five months we’ve paid over $6,200 toward our student loan debt. That is serious progress, folks!
Budget Committee Meetings
We stopped paying for our groceries with cash. We still splurge when we shouldn’t. And I haven’t temporarily stopped paying money toward my retirement fund. But I think Dave Ramsey would be glad to know we still take our Budget Committee Meetings very seriously. Chuck and I get together at least twice a month (usually on the weekends when we’re well-rested and not irritable) to pay our bills together. It’s so helpful for us to know exactly where our money is going each month and what we can and can’t splurge on (this usually means Hubby needs to stop picking up a 12-pack on Friday nights and Wifey needs to leave the chips and cookies where they are in the supermarket). I know it’s helpful for both of us to be on the same page in regard to our finances.
How do you keep on top of finances in your home?
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Ugh, dealing with finances totally sucks. I just paid off our credit card this morning! Feels gooooood. :)
ReplyDeleteGlad you are still continuing towards your goals despite the inevitable set backs. It's rough but it will be worth the effort once you are where you want to be. I'm pretty much in charge of the finances in my house. We don't meet about it but if I ever have anything to say about our spending I feel very comfortable doing so.
ReplyDeletegreat work with paying off your debts! i really would love to step it up with my student loan payments a bit. we were just starting to get better with spending/budgeting, but then had house issues at the beginning of the summer. things are calmed down a bit now so hopefully we can get back on track asap!
ReplyDelete-- jackie @ jade and oak