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Emilie Burke

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Q3 Spending Ban (& a recap on Q2)

// Finances

Reading Time: 6 minutes

Just over a year ago, I moved for the third time since graduating college. (For the record, I’ve moved again since, but it’s not like I’m counting or anything.) It was in that move that I realized how many book I had accumulated over college. I say “accumulated” because I hadn’t read them; I just accumulated them.

That was the realization that prompted my first ever spending ban leading into the Q3 2016. After a whole year of categorical spending bans, I’m excited to be diving into my fifth quarter- the beginning of a second year. The idea of categorical spending bans was to start being conscious of my spending behaviors in areas of my life where I was careless. After a failed No Spend Month back in January 2016 (okay, arguably not too bad), I decided that was not a strategy that would work for me. In that first categorical spending ban, I started with books. I’ve slowly expanded to more and more categories, a trend that I hope to continue going into the next quarter. Before moving forward, though, I think it’s important to reflect on where we’ve come from.

Books

Books were and have always been the root of my spending ban.
Last quarter I gave myself permission to buy ONE book and I did. I originally laid out three possible books, and I know myself well because I ended up picking right off the list I laid out. I bought Rachel Cruze’s Love your Life, Not Theirs on Audible, but then ended up with BOGO situation and also got It Starts with Food on Audible. I’m not super into audiobooks because I consume so many podcasts, but I enjoy Rachel on podcasts, so I figured it’d be worth a whirl.

Otherwise, I’m glad to say that I have been successful at my spending ban. I have still accumulated books, primarily through the generosity of friends and my clout with this space (the opportunity to review books prior to their publication is preeeetty cool, not gonna lie), but at least I haven’t spent any more money books.

I’m also doing well at reading books, the other half of the process of getting rid of book. As I write this, I’ve finished 16 books this year. This puts me one book ahead of where I need to be for my goal of 30 books this year.

Cosmetics

Honest question: What are cosmetics? Is it all beauty supplies? Is it make up? Meh, not really sure.

This quarter I bought two new nail polishes. I used to never do my nails. When moving to North Carolina, though, I thought this would be one of the few “lifestyle inflation” things that I was going to indulge in. That was the plan and I did execute on it for a couple of weeks. Then I decided it was too expensive and stopped getting my nails done.

In January, when my friend Blair came to visit, she emphasized that I could do my own nails. Listen: I never did my own nails before. It was just not something we did growing up and not a habit I developed. Since then, I had been doing my own finger nails. I only had the one nail polish, though, so going into summer I wanted more options. Plus, I’ve proven to myself that this is a thing that I do use. In some ways, it’s even an investment because I’m not spending money on getting my nails done by doing them at home by myself. I bought one nude and one bright pink/coral-ish color. I’m sure that over time I’ll start to get better at my nails.

I also splurged on a pedicure for my birthday. Just a pedicure, because I did my manicure myself.

The other thing I bought, which to be honest, I vacillated on whether or not to list here, were two new conditioners. I ran out of the usual conditioner that I use, so that needed to be replaced. I also got a leave-in conditioner because this North Carolina summer is no joke on the hair follicles.

Finally, I bought a couple of new essential oils that I need to replenish oils I had finished- lavender, joy, and fitness. These are all part of my regular EO routine, so this is replacing things I’m actively using, as opposed to spending for the sake of spending.

Clothes

I question sometimes if I think through the things I write. When I said that I wasn’t going to spend on clothes, I said/wrote that in large part because I hadn’t been spending on clothes. I hate shopping and my wardrobe was doing the job.

Well, unfortunately, my wardrobe is just not doing the job anymore. Especially with the season change, I realized that I didn’t have crucial summer items. I have, much to my chagrin, worn a whole into my favorite jersey dress. I actually did wear it so much that a wore a whole into it. Bummer.

In addition to being out of my current fave casual do-anything dress going into my favorite dress-wearing season, I also found myself out of key staple pieces. For example, I didn’t have any sandals. While maybe wearing flip flops all the time is acceptable as a teenager, I can’t get away with it now. I bought a $25 pair of black and gold sandals from Target. With no bikinis going into bikini season, I also needed a new bikini. I bought these two sets off Amazon (1 & 2) for $28.

For my birthday, I also got a StitchFix box. In that box, I specifically asked for white jeans, a leather jacket, and the emerald dress from Erica’s box. I got the white jeans and the leather jacker I wanted, but only the jeans matched my style. The jacket was just… odd. I love these white jeans so much. I wore them last weekend when Casey and I went out to dinner. These pants are perfect.

Fitness

When I hastily decided to ban the category of fitness, I laid out a definition for what that meant, aiming to not set myself up for failure. I specifically banned Fitness Clothes, Gear, Supplements, and Coaching. And… I did it!

The only real patterns of spending behavior that would mention is that I got a couple of WODBody sports massages. I also spent some money (from the grocery budget) experimenting with protein-packed food like OatsOvernight, these Kodiak Minute Muffins, and BuffBake’s Cookie Almond Butter. These were not banned; in fact, they were explicitly okay’ed, but I thought I’d mention it anyway.

Violations Recap

To recap, here is what I did buy that I shouldn’t have:

  • Love Your Life Not Theirs by Rachel Cruze (which was okay)
  • It Starts With Food by Melissa and Dallas Hartwig (which was also kinda okay)
  • Nude Nail polish
  • Coralish Nail polish
  • Pedicure for Birthday
  • Conditioner
  • Leave-in Conditioner (This is the one I bought, but I got it at Walmart.)
  • Young Living Lavender Essential Oil
  • Young Living Joy Essential Oil
  • Young Living Fitness Essential Oil
  • White Jeans through StitchFix
  • Black & Gold Sandals (Similar)
  • White Bikini
  • Blue Bikini

While that looks like a long list written out like that, it’s really only 14 things over the course of a whole quarter. Three months! Even though the idea of a ban is to not spend anything, the intention of my categorical spending ban is to force me to be more conscious of my spending habits. It is with that in mind that I consider this ban a success to this point.

Next Quarter

Looking forward to the next quarter of the year- July, August, and September- I am going to continue to push on with the no books ban, making an exception for audiobooks through Audible if they’re one of the perks at my new job. Also, I must finish one audiobook before getting the next one.

Again, no cosmetics. In fact, I would like to actually push to finish at least one of my face masks and two other “beauty things” (purposefully vague). I may need a new moisturizer. If I run out of my current one, I am giving myself permission to replace it.

For clothes, I am aiming to add five new pieces of quality to my wardrobe, assuming my StitchFix stylist comes through. This means I will not have a ban in this category this month.

The fitness ban will roll over to this quarter as well. I will need to buy Whey protein (in fact, it’s now part of my Subscribe & Save from Amazon), but I won’t have to take any action on it.

This quarter I’m not going spend on Etsy, something I’ve really been tempted on lately. I don’t know what it is, but I find myself on Etsy way too often probably because we’ve been decorating the house and I want to buy all the things.

That being said, I’m also not going to be spending on decorating the house! We’ve got the big clock. We’ve got the bible verse and the family calendar. There’s the collection of photos and some art. Two afghans, a tapestry, three diplomas, a commissioning certificate, multiple Baltimore prints, a collage of photos, a bible verse, and some printed canvases cover our walls. I don’t need anything more.

In summary, this quarter I will not be spending on:

  • Books, exception for audiobooks if they are a work benefit and only after finishing ones I have
  • Cosmetics
  • Clothing, except for 5 pieces
  • Fitness (Clothes, Gear, Supplements, and Coaching), exception for whey that I’ve already ordered
  • Etsy
  • Home Decor

Let’s chat: Have I inspired you to start your own categorical spending ban yet? 

Emilie

Emilie is an Army Wife, Data Engineer, and CrossFitter with a love for working through her thoughts in this space on the internet. She lives with her husband Casey and their pup Bo in Savannah, GA.

June 2017 Debt Repayment

// Debt Repayment, Finances

Reading Time: 3 minutes

Welcome to June’s debt repayment update where I show you the progress I made on paying off my debt over the last month.

If you’re new to Burke Does, you may be wondering why I would want to share these very real and personal numbers on the blog. You can simply skip to the next section if you’re not new here.

This all started soon after college when I tried to build my first budget and had no idea how to do that. While it too me a while, I did successfully start budget and get a grasp on my debt. In January 2016, I shared my financial status. At the end of the year, I shared my Financial Year In Review. I try to be as transparent as possible in my successes and my failures. We’re just real here, no fluff or BS here.

[table caption=”June 2017″ colalign=”center”]
, May, June, Change, Percent Change
Car Loan (USAA), 14866.31, 14617.03, 249.28, 1.68%
ECSI, 7825.17, 7764.77, 60.40, 0.77%
Upstart, 3026.61, 2658.89, 367.72, 12.15%
Combined Debt, 25718.09, 25040.69, 677.40, 2.63%
,,,,
Retirement,,,,
Traditional IRA,,1566.91,,
Roth IRA,,8165.08,,
Combined Retirement,,9731.99,,
[/table]

Not. too. shabby.

Overall, not a bad month.

My mouth has been incredibly expensive lately and it’s complicated but basically I’ve just decided to avoid the whole situation right now. I just can’t go get the work and end up putting myself into more debt for it. I need to have it liquid before I go back to the dentist.

Ignoring that, I had a family member start paying me back on a significant amount of lended money. It’s small payments of $50/week (roughly $200/month) but every penny count when life has been killing me lately.

Notice that I added retirement? Well, I finally rolled an old 401K and Roth 401K into my Betterment account, so now I’ve got it all in one place. I think that once the Upstart loan is paid off, I might consider rolling the Traditional IRA to a Roth IRA. No decision there. As a friendly reminder, I’m not contributing to retirement right now as I’m focused on paying off my debt.

I also had a small change of plans. When I set my goals out for the year, the plan was to go to my cousin’s wedding in Brasil in September. In March, I said that I wouldn’t be going because I knew that the numbers just wouldn’t work. Well, a couple of weeks ago, I signed up for Scott’s Cheap Flights (just the free version). Trips to Brasil are generally $1000 + bags. Last weekend, I snagged a flight from Orlando to Rio for $464 Round Trip! Isn’t that insane?! It’s less than half of what some of my family members paid. I will book a round trip flight to Orlando with Southwest points I’ve accumulated, so I’ll likely pay $20 more. This was still such a deal. I’ll still need to set aside close to $1000 for the trip.

 

If it sounds like I’m kinda waffling right now it’s because I am. There’s just a lot going on and yadda yadda yadda (insert rest of excuses here). Maybe I’m experiencing from fatigue but the intensity and focus is definitely waffling.

Here are the priorities. I’m hoping that setting these will help set the ground work to being back on the wagon.

  1. Set aside $1000 cash for September trip to Brasil.
  2. Set aside $1500 for dentist appointments.
  3. Pay off Upstart loan!

How’d you do this month? Anything special come up?

2017 Financial Goals

  1. Build emergency savings fund to 4K.
  2. Be financially prepared for Ricardo’s Wedding ($2000 by August) and FinCon ($1500 by October).
  3. Pay off 20K of debt [Current running total $7,275]

Current Debt-Free Date: November 2018.

Emilie

Emilie is an Army Wife, Data Engineer, and CrossFitter with a love for working through her thoughts in this space on the internet. She lives with her husband Casey and their pup Bo in Savannah, GA.

Apps I Use for Real Cash Back

// Finances

Reading Time: 6 minutes

The internet is an interesting place. There are lots of promise for “free money” out there that are nothing. I really wonder if most of those do our surveys for money opportunities are just email address collectors. Whatever the case, I’ve now developed a serious thick skin before diving into the FREE-MONEY-NOW tagline that I see on apps and on Pinterest.

I don’t think you’re going to find a get rich quick app, but I do use some of them for a little extra money. Get real cash back with these apps, and use that money towards paying down your debt a little bit faster or just to have some extra spending money without having to invest a lot of your time.

Chances are you spend quite a bit of time on your phone, so why not download a few apps and make some money while you’re at it. A lot of these apps are going to make you money based on things you already do like shopping, working out, and, yes, even eating.

Achievemint

You walk. Achievemint gives you points for the steps you take. That simple. Okay, more details.

This app is going to pay you for achieving fitness goals. Achievemint is a website that connects to apps you already have. Fitness apps are great for keeping you on track and you likely already have them on your phone.

Achievement is great because you don’t need to start over with a new fitness app. It syncs to fitness apps that you probably already have on your phone. This includes Apple and Android friendly apps such as MyFitnessPal, Fitbit, Apple Health, and Jawbone.

All you have to do is sync your apps to Achievemint and it will start collecting data. You collect points based on your daily healthy activities. You earn points for things like running, posting activities on your social media sites and logging meals. Earn up to 80 points per day for activities like biking, walking, and other forms of exercise. You can also earn up to 6 points per day for social activities such as logging meals and sharing your healthy activities on your social media sites.

Once you reach 10,000 points, you earn $10. You are given one year to get to the 10,000 points before your points start over again. It might take me all year to get $10, but that’s $10 for doing nothing different than I would have any way, so I consider it free money.

Achievement Referral Link: http://tinyurl.com/yaa7dqys

Signing up with my referral link will get you 250 points!

 Survey Mini

I like this survey app because the surveys are really quick. You only get surveys for shops you went to (location-tracking must be on), so no wasting time trying to find surveys you’re eligible for.

Once you download this app, check and see if there are any surveys available to take. There are not always surveys available, so you just have to keep checking back for ones that get added. I keep my notifications on, so that I don’t have to check.

The surveys are often based on places that you visit. After you visit places, you will receive a survey to take for that restaurant or retail store. If you’re like me, this won’t be difficult. I am always at different stores and restaurants.

You will earn points for the surveys taken and cash them in once you have 4,000 points. You can redeem your points for coupons or gift cards to popular movie theaters, restaurants, and stores.

I have gotten one $25 Victoria Secret gift card from Survey Mini and am hoping to cash in for another $25 gift card in just a couple of weeks!

No referral link, but you can sign up for Survey Mini on their site. 

Pact

Pact is another app that is based on fitness goals. This app is really great for two reasons. You have more to lose with it, but you also have a lot to gain. Not only are you working on your physical health, you are earning money at the same time!

While you can make faster money with this app, there is one slight difference that is pretty unique. You have to make a “pact” to meet your goal and if you miss it, you have to pay the app your REAL money.

You set the amount you will pay them based on what will motivate you to meet your goal, a $5 minimum. These pacts are for going to the gym, logging what you eat, and posting pictures of your fruits and veggies. Money motivates me to do things like these apps and it sure motivates me to not lose the money I’m earning!

I have been tracking my food for over six months now. I haven’t been using Pact this whole time, but I’ve been using it since January. I earn between 30 cents and 60 cents per week. You only have to reach a $10.00 balance before you are able to redeem your cash from this app, which you could achieve rather quickly.

Because I track my food anyway, keeping my Pact is easy and it’s another one that I consider free money. You can sign up for your own Pact on their site. 

Ibotta

This is another great app for making money from things you are already buy. A lot of the products on Ibotta are everyday items, but the categories cover just about everything from groceries and clothes to pets and restaurants.

Once you sign in start browsing the categories of products for things you use. All of these offers will have a cash back offer listed on it. Some products require that you watch a very short advertisement or answer a demographic question before allowing you to select their cash back offer.

Every time you buy products you select, just upload your receipts to the app. Within a short amount of time, Ibotta your cash back rebates your account. You can redeem your money by cash or gift cards once you reach a $20 balance.

Ibotta referral link: ibotta.com/r/fpsxbgs 

Signing up with my refferal link will get you a $10 bonus! That will bring you $10 closer to your own cashback! It’s paid through Paypal which makes it super easy.

 

Swagbucks

Immediately after taking this screenshot, I found a way to get 10 more SBs so that I had 1300 SBs that I redeemed for $13 in Amazon gift cards. (Erica’s got my hooked on her subscribe & save plan!)

You do different activities on their app or website to earn Swagbucks, which you cash in for real money. You could probably invest the most time of all of the apps on Swagbucks because there are so many opportunities to earn points.

One of the ways you can earn Swagbucks is to set it as your browser and earn points searching the Web. You can also complete surveys. The longer the survey you take, the more Swagbucks you can earn. Some other ways include voting in polls and entering in contests. Once you have accumulated enough Swagbucks, you can cash them in for PayPal cash, gift cards for popular stores like Amazon and Walmart, or make donations to charities. You really do not need very many Swagbucks to start collecting money or donating with this site.

I don’t have the time to dedicate to Swagbucks so I use it with their Swagbucks TV app. When I’m working and not using my hone, I will put the videos to run. You can only earn 32 SBs per day this way, but it took no more energy than opening the app on my phone!

Swagbucks referral link: http://www.swagbucks.com/refer/emilieburke

Ebates

This is an app that I use to get coupons and cash back for things that I buy. Like some of the other apps, this one is going to make you money on things that you were going to buy anyways. This site might seem counter-intuitive because you have to spend money to make money. Stores like Walmart and Amazon are on Ebates, so you can just buy the things you need while still getting your cash back.

I use Ebates by having their extension installed on my browser. Whenever something comes up that is Ebates eligible, I get a little pop-up that asks me if I want to load it through Ebates. I hit yes! Just like that! I have to let my screen refresh one time- that’s it!

My Ebates referral link: https://www.ebates.com/r/EMILIE1063?eeid=35022

Signing with my link will get you $10 once you make your first purchase!

 

Found money is money that you didn’t have before. It’s that same feeling when pull out the winter jacket for the first time and you find a crips $20 bill in the pocket. This is no different. When you can do nothing (Pact, Achievemint, or Ebates) or next-to-nothing (SurveyMini, Ibotta, or Swagbucks) for a couple of extra bucks, I find it hard to say no!

Any apps you think I missed?!

Emilie

Emilie is an Army Wife, Data Engineer, and CrossFitter with a love for working through her thoughts in this space on the internet. She lives with her husband Casey and their pup Bo in Savannah, GA.

May 2017 Debt Repayment

// Debt Repayment

Reading Time: 3 minutes

Welcome to May’s debt repayment update where I show you the progress I made on paying off my debt over the last month.

If you’re new to Burke Does, you may be wondering why I would want to share these very real and personal numbers on the blog. You can simply skip to the next section if you’re not new here.

This all started soon after college when I tried to build my first budget and had no idea how to do that. While it too me a while, I did successfully start budget and get a grasp on my debt. In January 2016, I shared my financial status. At the end of the year, I shared my Financial Year In Review. I try to be as transparent as possible in my successes and my failures. We’re just real here, no fluff or BS here.

[table caption=”May 2017″ colalign=”center”]
, April, May, Change, Percent Change
Car Loan (USAA), 15121.92, 14866.31, 255.61, 1.69%
ECSI, 7943.23, 7825.17, 118.06, 1.49%
Upstart, 3196.04, 3026.61, 169.43, 5.30%
Combined Debt, 26261.19, 25718.09, 543.10, 2.07%
[/table]

Last month was a big month. That is because I finally paid off all my credit cards! This left me just three, albeit much larger, debts. After successfully paying off all my debts, though, I found out that I had to drain my emergency fund for some electric work that needed to be done on the house- $982 worth of electric.

That meant this month my debt snowball was on pause so that I could focus on rebuilding my emergency fund.

I only snowball $700 a month, though, so trying to find $1000 was going to be a stretch.

And then I went to the dentist. You see, the dentist and I have an interesting relationship. I don’t go to the dentist because every time I go I get a big bill. Every time I get a big bill, I try not to go back. I have been in this cycle since I first lost my dental insurance in sixth grade. I had dental insurance again my senior year of college and I tried to take full advantage of it, but even with my insurance I had high costs that were a lot for my student budget.

The dentist told me I needed about $4000 of work in my mouth in order address some important things. Of that, half was pretty much an emergency. In other words, I was going to need to spend $2000 on my mouth ASAP and try to cashflow finding $1000 for my emergency fund, all while my snowball was only $700. Does your head hurt because I promise you mind did?

The good news: I DID IT!

I tutored, I babysat, I wrote more, I refereed, and I scrimped and saved.

I cashflowed $1140 of the first phase my dental work. I still have the second part that I am going into next week, that I will cashflow in April. I also stacked my Emergency Fund back to it’s $1000. Actually, to be more specific, I’m 20 cents short, but I’m giving myself a pass on those.

I only paid the minimums on my debts because of the circumstances, but I still knocked 2% off my debt.

In a planning sort of way, I think that if I’m snowballing about $700/month, I could get my Upstart loan, the next debt I’m focused on taking care of, in 3.5 months. To my knowledge, Upstart does not make it easy to pay down the principle early. I’ve already reached out to their support team to adjust my account. I’m bracing for this to be difficult.

Next month, I’m going to need to finish more of that dental work. Probably $1400 of things that need to happen. The good news is that this will end the urgency and should make it much easier to break some of it into smaller, more affordable gaps.

I’m considering starting a couple of sinking funds/specific savings accounts for medical bills. Has anyone done this at this stage of the debt snowball? I’d love to hear experiences.

I’m thinking about giving cash envelopes a try for my June budget. I know some people swear by this, but I’m not sure if it’s for me. I just want to mix it up to help keep my- and my budgeting- on my toes.

How’d you do this month? Anything special come up?

2017 Financial Goals

  1. Build emergency savings fund to 4K.
  2. Be financially prepared for FinCon ($1500 by October).
  3. Pay off 20K of debt [Current running total $6,598]

Current Debt-Free Date: November 2018.

Emilie

Emilie is an Army Wife, Data Engineer, and CrossFitter with a love for working through her thoughts in this space on the internet. She lives with her husband Casey and their pup Bo in Savannah, GA.

April 2017 Debt Repayment

// Debt Repayment

Reading Time: 4 minutes

Welcome to April’s debt repayment update where I show you the progress I made on paying off my debt over the last month AND BOY WAS THIS A GREAT MONTH!!

If you’re new to Burke Does, you may be wondering why I would want to share these very real and personal numbers on the blog. You can simply skip to the next section if you’re not new here.

This all started soon after college when I tried to build my first budget and had no idea how to do that. While it too me a while, I did successfully start budget and get a grasp on my debt. In January 2016, I shared my financial status. At the end of the year, I shared my Financial Year In Review. I try to be as transparent as possible in my successes and my failures. We’re just real here, no fluff or BS here.

[table caption=”April 2017″ colalign=”center”]
, March, April, Change, Percent Change
Loans,,,,
Car Loan (USAA), 15368.64, 15121.92, 246.72, 1.61%
ECSI, 7943.23, 7943.23, 0,0%
Upstart, 3359.43, 3196.04, 163.39,4.86%
Credit Cards,,,,
Southwest (Chase), 1218.35, 0, 1218.35,100%
Discover, 2048.50, 0, 2048.50, 100%
Combined Debt, 29938.15, 26261.19, 3676.96, 12.28%
[/table]

Did you see it? Do you see it?!

I PAID OFF ALL MY CREDIT CARDS! Yes, you read that correctly.

First, let’s review my debt minimums.

[table caption=”Debt Minimums”]
Debt, Minimum Payment
Car Loan, 289
ECSI, 93
Upstart, 188
Southwest (Chase), 25
Discover, 42
[/table]

If I just pay the minimums on my debt each month, I’ll pay just under $650 per month, but with my 30K of debt at varying interest rates, I’ll be paying stuff off for at least 48 months. That’s another four years of owing other people money.

via GIPHY
Thank you, Honey Boo Boo. You hit the nail on the head. The idea of owing other people money for the next four years PLUS all the interest that would accrue on that money make me nauseated, quite literally.

I knew that this month was going to be a big debt-payoff month. As I shared at the end of March, March was a three-paycheck month, meaning that I’d have 1.5  times my income. Along with that, I hit the 100K spending bonus on my Chase Sapphire Reserve card in March, giving me access to the bonus on April 4. I could have taken the bonus for travel credit which would have gotten me more bang for my buck or for about $1000 cash.

An extra paycheck, an extra cash bonus from my Chase Sapphire card, my regular snowball payment, and a couple of extra babysitting gigs and I did it! I am so relieved to have all these credit cards paid off! I have been carrying my credit card debt for over two years. Finally, it’s gone. I cannot tell you about the physical relief I already am experiencing.

That being said, this certainly wasn’t an easy month.

My student loan autopayment didn’t get processed and I didn’t notice until the 21st. When I reached out to my loan provider, they apologized but explained that a catchup payment could not be processed until the end of the month anyway. Next month’s payment will be two payments, in that case.

Also, we had to make some changes to the electrical in the new house. Some of the wiring needed to be fixed. Outlets and outlet covers needed to be replaced. Switches needed to be changed. After I had paid off all my debt, I had to drain my emergency fund down to 23 cents (not an exaggeration) to cover all those electric things that popped up.

That means that next month, I’ll be focusing first and foremost on rebuilding that emergency fund. With minimum debt payment of $570 and a snowball amount of about $800, this will likely only pause my aggressive payments for two months, at which point, I expect to be able to making aggressive debt repayments.

Despite not having an emergency fund at the moment (which is nervewracking in its own right), right now I’m still relieved to have all this credit card debt behind me.

Another big thing that happened this month: I decided that I would not be traveling to my cousin’s wedding in Brasil in August. After a lot of reflection, I decided that finding $2000 by August for that purpose just wouldn’t be possible. While I am bummed and will definitely miss my family, it’s the right money move for me right now. It will be a lot easier to go after I’ve got these next two debts paid off and have actual money to spend. Since this change knocks out 2K of my second money goal for 2017, I’m happy to say I’ve fully got that knocked out.

Interestingly enough, this month’s success does not particularly change my debt-free date. After revisiting my budget, I’ll be putting over 40% of my paychecks towards debt and financial goals this month. I’m really proud of that percentage! Can you imagine what putting 40% of my paycheck for the next 10 years will do for me?! Just the prospect is exciting! Despite gaining two months with the accelerated pay down of my credit cards, I lose two months having to rebuild my emergency fund. It is what it is. Overall, an extremely successful month that I’m very happy with!

How’d you do this month?

2017 Financial Goals

  1. Build emergency savings fund to 4K.
  2. Be financially prepared for FinCon ($1500 by October).
  3. Pay off 20K of debt [Current running total $6,054]

Current Debt-Free Date: November 2018.

Emilie

Emilie is an Army Wife, Data Engineer, and CrossFitter with a love for working through her thoughts in this space on the internet. She lives with her husband Casey and their pup Bo in Savannah, GA.

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