November Update

Whew! Long time no see, huh?

Let me be the first to say, I am SO glad that November is finally here, because October was a doozy. Between going on vacation, trying to catch up after vacation, lots of stuff going on at church, and then being really sick this past week, we have been at a much higher level of crazy this past month. Most people’s schedules tend to get crazier the closer we get to Christmas, but we actually don’t have that much planned for this month (yet) so we should have some sense of calm and normalcy during November.

As we approach the final countdown for the year of 2013, I thought it would be appropriate to re-visit our financial goals. Also, I promised you guys an update last month when I was lamenting over the government shutdown. #warningitslong

Thankfully, our dear Congress did decide to pay everyone, so with my last check I got my $537 lost income back-paid, which was definitely a huge relief. Not-so-thankfully, we had to put four new tires on my car this past month. Womp womp. Basically, we took my car in for an oil change right before we left for West Virginia, and promptly found out that my tires were falling apart on the inside. The phone call went something like this:

Roman: Sarah, I have some really bad news.

Sarah: ……….

Roman: We have to put four new tires on your car. Johnny says they won’t make it to West Virginia because they’re falling apart.

Sarah: …………….. Okay FINE.   >:|   O.o   :(

So even though the government shutdown didn’t wind up setting us back financially, four brand new tires did….by like, a whole lot. And then Roman brought home a good chunk less than what we needed him to (for the second month in a row—this is when I hate commission), so that put quite a pinch on us as well.

Lesson learned from all of this?? We have GOT to get an emergency fund built up as quickly as possible. It made me so angry to have to charge basic living expenses plus new tires to our credit line when it was supposed to be paid off already. An emergency fund would take care of things like this…but so far we’ve been so focused on paying off debt that we haven’t been putting anything in savings. Literally, nothing. As in, the balance of our savings right now is $26. Yes, I know. Be ashamed for me. *hides face*

If you remember my September financial post, then you know we started paying off our debt using the Snowball Method by Dave Ramsey. (If you didn’t see the post, or want a refresher, click here.) Below are our updated goals from September using the Snowball Method, followed by the new goals due to the ridiculous amount of expenses in October:

Goal #1: Pay off student loan by January of 2015.

Updated Goal #1: Pay off student loan by February of 2015.

Goal #2: Pay off credit card by March of 2014.

Updated Goal #2: Pay off credit card by June of 2014.

Goal #3: Pay off credit line by October of 2013. 

Updated Goal #3: Pay off credit line by January of 2014.

Goal #4: Have $3,000 in savings by end of 2014.

Updated Goal #4: We aren’t pushing this one back any because we realize how important it is. If anything, we’re going to be pushing to meet this one a whole lot sooner.

Goal #5: Pay off couch loan and car by June of 2014.

Updated Goal #5: Pay off couch loan by July of 2014; pay off car by June of 2014.

Goal #6: Be 100% debt-free by January of 2015.

Goal #6: Be 100% debt-free by February of 2015.

You can totally see how much damage was done just because of one month of insanity. Thankfully, even though some goals got pushed back by three months, we will be able to do some catching up and are only one month behind on our final goal of being debt-free. The important thing is to never give up on paying off your debt just because things get hard. I’m hoping that with Christmas approaching, Roman will start bringing in a lot more (this is when I <3 commission) and then maybe we can get caught up. We should have a tax refund at the beginning of 2014 as well, although that will probably go towards our savings goal.

Now you can totally understand why I am so very glad that November is here. I was so happy to file away October’s budget and start with a clean slate in November. #nerd #accountingmajor

Anyways, we’ll just keep plugging along on our quest to be debt-free and you know we’ll be keeping you updated!  :)

And oh yea, TGIF!!!!!

“Dishonest money dwindles away, but he who gathers money little by little makes it grow.” ~Proverbs 13:11