SpoonFullofJelly

This is it. We are now counting down the next four years! In four years, our first and hopefully not only child will begin Kindergarten. The first year of formal education is such an important year. The choices we make will decide how our child will learn. That year will begin to mode our lives as we will officially live on around a "school calendar". We sort of do that now that Hubby works in a school, but schooled student's don't get vacation days like employees. In four years, we will have to make a decision rather we will place our child in private school or homeschool them. This decision is so important and engulfs our moral decision making. This decision is also a financial decision. Today's actions will depict what will happen in four years. Since private schools and homeschools aren't free, Hubby and I will need to pay OFF our last debt- student loans. As Baby E creeps towards one year of age, the ever growing pile of student loan debt is gett...

If you have been following us for a while, you might be wondering, what happened with our debt. Our last update was March 2017. Well we have been super busy! From April 2016 - March 2017, we were very busy. We worked two jobs a piece and busted our butts to pay off debt. We wanted to clear everything before we got to the monster student loans. We paid off the following (most of these were not apart of our first list ):   Forgotten Medical Bill: $1,141 Surgery Bills Total: $1,618 IUI Medical Bill: $1730 Private Student Loan: $5,273.53 Car Loan: $11,818.01 We've Dissed another $21,581 Worth of Debt in 11 months!!! After we paid off our car in early 2017, life happened.  We adopted a baby! Now that we are on the other side of all that work, I have noticed how much disposable income we had in the household. If someone would have told me to come up with $20,000 dollars by the end of the year, I would have just laughed.  The day we started dissing debt in 2...

The best tip I can ever offer is to diversify and diversify. Diversification is often referred to investments, but I'm talking about diversifying your income. Hubby and I thought that it was a crazy idea to take on a second job, but we couldn't figure out a way to save $23,000 for an adoption. We quickly learned that we needed more income so we applied for other jobs for higher pay. We did get promotions and new jobs, but we made the most headway with our empty hours. Our second jobs were not tired to our main careers. Since the new jobs are separate, we are able to enjoy something new, challenging and short term. There are pros and cons for taking on a second job. Pros More Cash! Try out a new career field before investing too much Practice a new or forgotten skills set Receive much needed discounts Cons More commuting throughout the week Free time is consumed working Taxes can be thrown off without careful calculations Below are some ideas of how yo...

We have fun news! Drum roll please...... We paid off our car! And we paid it off 18 month early!! We have freed up $330 a month for the next debt in our snowball! It was such a freeing feeling pressing the Pay Now button. We worked so hard to pay off the car and it took us a couple months. We have been working overtime and two jobs for nearly a year. I would have to say that it was anticlimactic when we paid it. I thought perhaps the website would have falling confetti or a happy face, but it just simply said Thank You. It shows how much they care for our money.  It was very important for us to be debt free and this was the last piece before our massive student loans. I encourage you to take a second look at your car payments. It doesn't matter if you are buying or leasing your vehicles, you must have better plans for that money than to give it to credit company. We certainly have great plans for that money. We are still saving for our final adoption fees. Do you need a h...

The shortest month of the year deserves the biggest tip of the year. Beware of Saturdays!! American stores and restaurants work really hard to get your money on Saturdays. You will see Sales, Clearances, Discounts and even crazy Deals. Often times, these items are not great deals and on items that you dont really love. Businesses spend millions of dollars researching the type of deals, and prices that will make you spend your paycheck. The best items are often not on sale or barely 15% off. Often sales go on throughout the week but not advertised on TV, text messages or in newspapers. Protect your wallets! If you have a hard time walking away from deals then I have a couple tips for you. Find a better day to shop. You might think that you are getting the best deal on a Saturday, but the excitement of 20% off opened the door for you to buy one, two or even three times more.  Know what a REAL sale is. Most people don't know that 20% off is not a deal. Stores often sel...

Life gets busy for everyone after Halloween. There are so many social gatherings, gifts, and activities. To keep our budget intact during the last few months of the year, we estimate how much we might spend. This lengthy task happens in January and since I did it for a customer, I can show you. First Step - Total up the number of people you gift. We shop for 10-12 people and 2 Secret Santa. That is 12-14 gifts. We can sometimes trim it down if the gifts are for couples rather than individuals, but we at least know the max. Step Two - Calculate the total amount you want to spend on each person or total for all gifts. Our amount is pretty steady every year. Step Three  - Total the number of events, luncheons, dinners and parties that you will attend in 2017. We usually do two dinner parties each year. We then attach a max amount of money we want to spend at these events. Step Four - Total and divide. Add all the amounts and divide by 12 months. We save a small amount each ...

I pose a challenge for those that are trying to get out of debt. All summer long collect change. Dig down in the seat cushions of the couch and car. Shake your pants, go through your wallet and clean out the purse. Grab a jar and start collecting. You will be surprise how much change you can collect. When Hubby and I started doing this, we found 8 quarters and a handful of nickles and dimes. That was a nice dessert when money was short. Get your kids involved also. Show them that money is money no matter how small. Teach them by doing. They will catch on and their tiny little eyes will be spotting loose change all around town. Chose how you want to spend the money at the end of the summer. We are adding to our adoption and baby funds. We have a lot to save up for and we are starting small. So you might be wondering why we choose such a small challenge. Well the internet is flooded with a ton of challenges that can harm you or scare you. Well money is just as scary and harmful ...

We read Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeup in July 2015 after knowing about the program for a year. We have Dissed a good amount of debt over the past 9 months. We made every effort to cut expenses all around. We reduced our utilities, cut back on groceries and saved money in envelopes for common overly spent categories. This allowed us to place $500 on each current debt per month. Honestly this hasn't been easy. Dave Ramasy said that if you are making people made around you and have people looking at you like you're crazy, then you are doing it right. Well we must be doing it right because our families cannot understand why we are dealing with cash and tracking every payment. I learned about Dave's plan is unusual ways and I keep sharing him in unusual ways. I have told people in stores, at social events and even to employees. Everyone deserves to know that living in debt doesn't have to be your norm and that living debt free isn't a dream. It's a reality...

Give yourself an allowance. You know you deserve it! What is an allowance? It is a set amount of money that one can spend anyway they chose. Children are often associated to this wonderful concepts, while adults forget to pay themselves. Wait! We get up early, get dressed against our inner will, drive to work in questionable conditions, earn money and then don't pay ourselves?! That is backwards right? (I can hear the peanut gallery now..) A great tip for everyone is to pay themselves. Hubby and I carve out $40 a month in our budget for ourselves. We buy whatever we want or save it if we please. Can you say coffee on a lazy Saturday afternoon or lunch out with my friends? An allowance is freedom to enjoy things when life is on a strict budget. It's freedom to enjoy spontaneous activities and events without regretting it the next month. This amount is not a set percentage of our income and it changes when we redo our bills biannually. At the end of 2015, it was only $25 ...

We saved $60 a month switching car insurance. I sound like a commercial don't I? But yes, we actually saved $60 a month by visiting the ELP (endorsed local providers) from Dave Ramsey's website . We were shocked that we were paying so much for car and rental insurance. We have never been quoted such a low price before. We have been with one company for 3.5 years and watched our rates go up $40. That particular company blamed it on the fact that our vehicle type has been in a lot of car accidents recently. So we were bring penalized for other's actions! Good-bye! This change has certainly increase our debt dissing monthly amount. This came at a great time because Hubby's surgery bills have been coming in. I say, give it a try. The ELP is able to look at a variety of companies to find deals that fit what you need covered. They don't work for one particular insurance company and are dedicated to helping you rather than a certain company's monthly goals.

Its March and Hubby and I are thinking of summer. I know some of you are shocked since it's still a little cold out, but our snow has melted and the birds are chirping. That means that summer will early and warmer than usual! Camp site reservations are opening soon and summer activity schedules are opening everywhere. I'm so excited! We want to make sure that we are well prepared to enjoy the joys of summer so we are getting a head start. I figured that I should share some great tips I learned years ago. Don't wait for summer to sneak up on you and your family. Welcome it well prepared, emotionally and financially. 1. Make a List of Summer Activities We love to try new restaurants and we save up for this every winter. We try 2-4 new restaurants each month and spend no more than $25 at each place. Sometimes we have enough money for a meal each and other times we have to share. We just want the experience. We are also campers, swimmers, travelers and theater lovers. We...

When you make a left here onto I-90 you will run right into a medical bill pile up. Be care because small bills really create a mess. One visit here and another over there and the next thing you know this heavy envelope comes from the middle of nowhere and side swipes you. Slowly look inside because there is a massive bill that the insurance company decided that they "can't cover". Don't take this beaten laying down. Get up and fight because there's nothing left but your wallet and your sanity when there's Medical Bill Pile Up on I-90. When Hubby and I started paying down debt, we already knew we had $800 in medical bills. The bill was nearly 3 years old. We would pay money on it here and there, but not constantly enough to pay them off. Once it was time to get serious with paying down what we owe, we placed the two bills in the pile and began to pay on them when the smaller one was done. Right around the fourth month of the Dave Ramsey's plan, we decide...

We are busting out butts to pay down our debt because we want our future to be as pain free as possible. We don't want to keep owning someone every month for things that weren't paid for outright. I hate the misconception our society and even parents sold to us. The bucket of lies they sold that you can buy whatever you want as long as you pay it back; never mind how long it takes to pay it back. That's a load of horse-ish! Can you walk in to a clothing store and give them $10 for a $100 pair of jeans? No! So why do we apply that concept to couches, cars, houses and more? Why do we think it's ok to owe for everything we ever consume? I don't get it and I don't want to get caught up in that lifestyle. Hubby and I want to live with the concept of Cash is King . So many countries around the world do not take credit cards for good reason. They want cash or debit. So after we finish off our student loan debt, we plan on saving for a house. That could mean that we w...

Now that you have placed your debt in increasing order, lowered your bills and placed all saved and newly found cash on the lowest debt, you can turn your attention to the envelope system.  Learning to save a few bucks a month will prevent a birthday party from throwing you into financial ruin for a month. Since we have followed this method for nearly a year, we now have savings for things that we never thought we would.  We can't tell you how much to place in each envelope but, I have listed our amounts that we save per month. Often Forgotten and Yet 'Fun' Spending: Auto Repairs       $30.00 Auto licenses and tab renewal/taxes     $10.00 Medical Bills       $10.00 Vitamins     $60.00 Dentist/Doctors       $0 Restaurants     $20.00 Clothing     $20.00 Transportation (gas)       $120.00 Drinks (coffee, beers after work and smoothies)       $10.00 ...

Most families' food budget is spent in two categories; Groceries and Restaurants. You MUST place a dollar amount for both. Remember that you are trying to save money all around to place on your debt. It is unrealistic for a family that ate out often to jump on a budgeting plan and automatically switch over to daily cooking. You will fail and blow your budget. Sometimes life is busy and you need to end the day with someone else standing over a hot stove. Here are 5 tips to help make room in your food budget. 1. Review your grocery budget and calculate the number of meals that it CAN create. If you filled up your grocery cart with enough food to make 10 meals and only cooked 4, you have 6 meals at home to make. Adjustments are now in order. You can either buy less food or eat at home more often. Cooking at home is cheaper and your best option for saving money. 2. Count the number of times you eat at a restaurant per week and consider why. This should include all meal times a...

Do you know what it costs to run your household? Do you know how much money you need each month to pay your bills and living expenses? Well, we thought we did. Hubby and I knew how much our average electricity, gas, insurances and rent bills were. We knew how much gas we put into our car a week, our average grocery and toiletries bill, and even our average costs of laundry. But we didn't think about gifts, festivals, annual car oil changes and repairs, vacations, monthly hair cuts and vitamins. These feees can really throw your wallet into a loop if you don't budget correctly. But before you add these items to your budget, you need begin with the basics. Let's start with our bills. It's time to lower our bills so that we can send the extra to paying down our debt. Monthly Bills: Real Estate Taxes - Make sure that you speak to both a real estate agent and a tax accountant about the right neighborhood/city with the right taxes for your budget. This even effects ap...

Baby Step two of Dave's Ramsey plan is the debt snowball. This is the longest step. You didn't gain the debt overnight, hopefully, and you won't lose it overnight. Keep in mind that your life style must change. Your habits must change. Your mind must change. Dave's famous saying is "If you will live like no one else, later you can live like no one else."  So grab a huge cup of coffee, soda or whatever else keeps you calm, a pen and some paper. It's time to start totaling up your debt. Write down all credit cards, store cards, car loans, private loans, medical debt, school debt, mortgages and old forgotten debt. Don't miss an amount because you don't want a bill creeping into your life later. After you list your debt, Let's start listing what you spend your money on. These are the items that most people gladly spend money on before actually paying for bills and debt. Fell free to add to my list. Fun Spending: Groceries Restaurants ...

Baby Step One in Dave Ramsey's plan is getting $1,000 quick fast and in a hurry. 'Gazelle Intense' Dave calls it. Do whatever you can to get $1,000 ($500 for young adults and teens). Some people sell all that they don't use and some sell their skills. Come on, do you really need boots with fur in Florida? If you are done having children, sell those out grown clothes, and furniture. My parents moved from Michigan to Virginia and gave away over 8 winter coats. Ummm, that was lost money! Can you sew? make a dress for someone. Get the money, get it fast and get it secured!!! That is the beginning of your emergency fund. Hubby and I were the kind of couple that kept building savings, but not paying debt. That isn't the smartest idea. I had $1000 in credit card debt with $2000 in the savings account just collecting 1% interest. What was I thinking? If you are like me, put aside the $1000 for the emergency fund, and use the rest to pay your debt. Now, don't go cashin...

I pride myself on being savvy with money. I am a tax accountant with a Master in Finance, but my husband and I have debt. Lots of school debt! We have also seen this debt as "good" debt, because we were taught that it wasn't bad debt. Universities teach that having school debt isn't bad and that banks will even exclude it from our first home purchases. Outside of school debt, other consumer debt is often ignored. I have heard of a hundred different excuses to why debt is "normal". Even my own parents have said "everyone has debt". But Mr. Mind and I know better. We want better. We are trying for a family and we don't want looming debt hanging over our heads forever. We don't own a home yet and we won't invest in that debt until the rest of the consumer debt is paid off. Ever heard of Dave Ramsey? He is very aggressive and opinionated about debt. He hates it with  a passion and will call you out on your over spending. I grabbed his b...

Christmas can damage anyone's budget if it wasn't carefully planned. Hubby and I refused to damage our budget for one day worth of gift giving. We wouldn't do it for a birthday nor would we do it for a holiday. This year hubby and I took on the $100 challenge. This year hubby and I had to get as much as we can for each other and not spend more than $100. Some people spend way more and even way less than that for their spouses. Our main focus is to make sure we get each other things that mean the most to the person. We try to fix our gifts is the 4 categories: Something they Want, Something they Need, Something to Wear and Something to Read Here is a sample break down: Shirt on Super Clearance from Old Navy.......$10 Pants on Sale from JcPenny............................$20 Favorite Game.................................................$12 Cool Body Wash and Spray............................$18 Funky Wild Socks...........................................$5 Resta...