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5 Things to Avoid to Live Debt-Free

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Live debt-free

Reaching financial freedom is far from easy. Only 29% of Americans consider themselves to be financially healthy. Once you obtain debt freedom, you want to be able to stay there. So, there are several things you’ll want to avoid to live debt-free.

1. Budgeting is Always Crucial to Your Financial Health

You had to budget to get out of debt. That doesn’t stop just because you no longer have creditors to pay off. In fact, budgeting is even more important once you’ve paid everything off. If you don’t set a budget you run the risk of racking up debt again if an emergency arises.

Remember that your budget needs to be 100% cash. Don’t consider your credit cards or any other form of money spendable.

2. Overspending is a No-No If You Want to Live Debt-Free

That directly ties into overspending. If you start considering the money available on credit lines to be spendable, it is more likely you’ll restart the cycle of debt in your life. You certainly don’t want that after all of your hard work to get where you are.

Instead, plan for bigger purchases and save up for what you want. You should also have a set budget for recurring expenses and other plans. Don’t deviate from that budget.

3. Don’t Stop Saving Your Money

Saving money isn’t just important during your debt freedom journey either. As mentioned in the point above, it is important to save money for large purchases and planned expenses. However, it is also always a good idea to keep money saved.

Having an emergency savings fund will keep you from tapping into credit lines if something comes up. Additionally, saving money can help you secure your financial future and ensure you’ll be able to retire someday.

4. Giving Up on Investing Isn’t an Option

When it comes to saving for retirement, you should also continue to invest while you live debt-free. Even though you may not have as much cash flow or you may be tempted to spend cash, it is a good idea to invest in a diversified portfolio.

Not only will this allow for you to have financial freedom throughout the rest of your life but it can help you expand your current finances. Avoid being afraid of the stock market once you’ve paid off your debts.

5. Neglecting Insurance Will Cost You

Renter’s insurance, homeowners insurance, car insurance, and health insurance. Purchasing coverage is important to protect your finances. In the event of an accident or emergency, these policies can help you avoid racking up debt.

Even though the monthly cost of insurance may seem like a pain, it can help you replace damaged items, restore your health, and protect your belongings. Without it, it is easy to swipe your credit card. Insurance is crucial if you want to live debt-free.

Readers, what else would you add to the list? How do you live debt-free?

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Debt-Free and Bored: How to Manage Life After Debt Freedom

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debt-free and bored

If you’re like me, you are probably still daydreaming about what it might be like to be debt-free. Surprisingly, many of the people I chat with once they reach financial freedom find it a bit boring. So, here are a few things to consider if you’re debt-free and bored already.

What it Means to be Debt-Free and Bored

You may be thinking, “how can you be bored with being debt-free,” but it is possible! The road to debt freedom is anything but boring. So, once you pay everything off, some individuals find themselves wondering, what next?

Many people actually slip back into debt at this point (almost like they are looking for a financial challenge). They’ll begin doing things they never would have done before paying things off. So, why now?

Well, financial freedom is very freeing but it also removes structure from your finances in some cases. If you were sitting down and budgeting to pay off debt, you knew where everything is going and typically have a few problems to solve. But, once you’re debt-free, things can get a little boring after a while. What’s next?

Things To Do

If you want to stay debt-free without boredom though, it can be difficult. There are so many things out there tempting you to swipe a credit card or take out a loan on. Here are a few things you can do if you find yourself debt-free and bored…

  1. Plan something you have to save for. Whether it is a vacation or a new car, you can always find something exciting to save up for. If not having a new financial issue to solve is the problem, finding a reason to save can help with your boredom.
  2. Take on DIY projects. Homeowners can take advantage of the freed-up cash they have from paying off their debts to make some improvements around their home. Put in that dream bathtub you’ve always wanted or re-do the kitchen. It’ll keep you busy and you’re putting money back into your real estate investment.
  3. Invest. Generally, once you’ve paid off your debt, you can start looking at different ways to invest. Be sure you’re maxing out your retirement contributions. Then, think about looking into other places to invest. The stock market can be an exciting place if you’re feeling bored.
  4. Bet on yourself. Maybe you’ve always wanted to quit your job and travel or start your own business. Without any debt attached to your name, you can bet on yourself. Take the extra cash you have and put it towards your next adventure, whatever it may be.
  5. Donate. Now that you can, donate some of your money to good causes. Take time out of your day to volunteer.
  6. Find new challenges. Just look for something else to challenge you financially. For some people, this may mean becoming active in the stock market. Others may look into peer-to-peer lending or different ways to expand their cash. Look for something that interests you.

I’m still working towards my own debt freedom goals, but thinking about a day where I might be “debt-free and bored” is exciting to me. Debt-free readers, what have you done to maintain your financial freedom?

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Picking and Choosing What to Pay During the COVID-19 Pandemic

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COVID-19 pandemic

Jobless claims in the United States have reached more than 6.5 million as of last week due to layoffs amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Because of this, many people are falling behind on their bills, despite the stimulus package. In our home, our monthly income has been sliced in half, leaving us picking and choosing what bills get paid now.

Establishing a Financial Cushion

If you’ve been keeping up-to-date with our financial journey, you know we just recently established our $1,000 emergency fund (again). Well, due to my husband’s layoff, we needed to use a chunk of that to cover expenses of moving his tools and covering bills. After doing that in March, we are re-evaluating how we are going to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic financially.

Initially, I was just going to maintain all of my payments across the board, but that leaves us essentially paycheck-to-paycheck (which is a little iffy in the current environment). However, after seeing our EF drained, I reconsidered that and decided to take a break from 2 larger monthly payments just to refund our emergency savings. Having cash saved and on-hand right now would provide our household with some peace of mind.

That being said, my student loan is under forbearance until September and my car company is giving me a three-month break from payments. This will allow us to bank $768 each month for the next three months, which will be a nice emergency savings fund.

Consider What You Need

For us, having that buffer cash on hand is going to be key in keeping us financially stress-free during this time. Believe me, the last thing you want to do is to be stuck in the house with your spouse fighting about money. You may be thinking, “well, we HAVE to make payments on the credit card, car, etc.” That may not be entirely true.

Many companies are offering breaks on payments or lower payments in order to help individuals impacted by the coronavirus outbreak. Call and discuss your options with each business. Get your bills as low as possible.

If your available cash still doesn’t cover what’s due, consider what you need. Tiffany Aliche, aka the Budgetnista, told NPR in an interview, “then I would ask myself, is this something that I must pay for because I have to maintain my health and my safety? That comes first and foremost.”

So, if it doesn’t pertain to your health and safety right now and you don’t have it, take a breath. It is important to remember what you do and do not control at a time like this.

Putting Plans on Hold

COVID-19 pandemic

This photo will be us for a while: at home. Unfortunately, many of our plans have been put on hold, postponed, or canceled for the next few months. It is not yet clear whether some events will be refunded or not (I wish!).

We’ve put plans to visit home (Charlotte) on hold indefinitely. Hopefully, by mid-May, we can decide on a solid date to re-plan that trip. On top of that, just about everything else has been postponed or canceled in some form. This will likely help save us money and, in the long run, staying home will too.

Finding Ways to Stay Busy at Home

I’ve thankfully been able to continue working because I’ve worked remotely for more than five years. That isn’t to say being indoors isn’t driving us a little crazy! We have been able to find ways to stay busy though.

COVID-19 pandemic

I, for one, have been cooking a LOT. We recently discovered Sam the Cooking Guy on YouTube and his videos have me looking in my pantry to see what I have and what I can make. Here’s one of his quarantine recipes…

In addition to cooking, we’ve also been taking Enzo on a lot of walks (and he certainly isn’t complaining). Remember, you can still get some fresh air. Just avoid contact with people and if you can wear a mask!

COVID-19 pandemic

When we aren’t doing those two things, I’m fully reaping the benefits of some of our subscription services. Amazon has a plethora of free Audible books, Kindle reads, and things to watch right now. I’ve listened to about six books in the past week and a half (ha!).

No matter what you do to keep busy, it is important to stay inside and stay healthy. Remember, you have options when it comes to your finances. The most important thing is your health. Stay well. 

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How Coronavirus is Impacting Our Debt Freedom Journey

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coronavirus debt

Over the past month or so, the world has gotten pretty crazy. Most people aren’t leaving their homes and tens of thousands of people have died due to the coronavirus outbreak. Because of stay-at-home orders and businesses suffering, many people have also been laid off. This includes my husband. So, needless to say, there are some changes happening to our debt freedom journey (again).

Our Update

Coronavirus debt

This photo depicts how we are feeling about being stuck in the house (but seriously).

Besides going a little stir crazy being inside, there has also been a profound financial impact on our family, and many others. We are lucky enough to have one of us still working and we are able to get by on that, thankfully. However, my husband being out of work again is going to put a little damper on our bet freedom progress.

We will only be able to make minimum payments over the next few months. I have also chosen to take a forbearance on my student loans during this time to help ease financial stress in our home.

But, that’s honestly okay. We are both healthy, able to pay our bills, and staying at home a little more may help us save a bit, eh?

Small Win

One small financial win we had in March is we paid off an account, which will free up about $106 per month. For now, we will bank that extra cash to re-establish some additional emergency savings.

We’re in This Together

Thankfully, the impact on us is minimal compared to how others are being affected. We will recover from this fairly easily, even though it will put a damper on any big debt payoff progress.

I think the biggest thing to remember for everyone right now is you aren’t going through this alone. Everyone in the world is dealing with this. Hopefully, when all is said and done, it will bring the people of the world a little closer together.

Readers, how have your finances been impacted by the coronavirus outbreak? How are you dealing with it? 

If you need financial help at this time, the government is putting together programs to assist individuals with recovering from the pandemic. Read more about the CARES Act on SavingAdvice.com.

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February 2020 Update: Improved Credit Scores and More Progress

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February 2020 update

February was a great month for us. We are getting situated with my husband’s new job as well as focusing on improving our health – physically, mentally, and financially. We made progress in all of those areas last month, which feels SO great. Here’s our February 2020 recap…

Our Credit Scores Went Up!

One of the best things about the debt freedom journey is watching how paying off debt will help you improve other areas of your life too. Our credit scores have gone up, especially within the past two months. At the beginning of the year, both of us stood in the “poor” area of the credit gauge and we’ve now graduated to “fair.”

There is still a lot of progress to be had, but overall, we are super proud of this progress. Not to mention, being able to improve our credit scores can help us land a consolidation loan (which is something we’ve been discussing, especially for my pesky IRS debt).

February 2020 Debt Update

As always, at the end of the month, I liked to give you all an update on the numbers. In January, our debt counts looked something like this…

  • My Car Amount Owed: $20,217
  • Credit Card Total For Both: $487
  • Student Loans: $24,362
  • Matco/Snap-On: $6,673
  • Amount in Collections: $679

Overall, we put about $1,600 towards debt payments in February. At the end of the month, here are our updated numbers (with interest accounted for)…

  • My Car Amount Owed: $19,729 (Under $20K!!)
  • Credit Card Total For Both: $455
  • Student Loans: $24,352
  • Matco/Snap-On: $6,243
  • Amount in Collections: $679

Accounts Being Paid Off!

One of the biggest things we are looking forward to in March (outside of our first wedding anniversary) is paying off yet another account. This account, once it is paid, will free up an extra $106 per month. While that isn’t a ton of money, it will allow us to pay off our credit card fairly quickly. Having our line of credit open will help us further improve our credit scores as well.

Then we will switch our focus to what we have in collections and get that paid off. Because those items have the highest impact on our credit, we’d like to focus on those. In about two years, our goal is to be in a place financially where we may be able to start looking at homes to buy.

Once collections are paid off, we will refocus on paying his tools off, student loans, and then our car loan. By July, we hope to double our monthly payments towards debts ($3,200 per month). Doing that will help us pay it off even more quickly.

Readers, where are you in your debt journey? Let’s chat!

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Looking To Go From Debtfree to Homeowner, Here’s What To Consider

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Homeownership in 2020 is a monumental financial decision. Years ago, buying a home wasn’t as difficult because debt wasn’t as big of an issue as it is today. Most younger generations have to battle student loans, car loans, and credit card debt on a large scale. For example, the average graduate of a four year university in the United States owes on average between $27,000 and $33,000 in student loans. With this many people struggling with debt as it is, homeownership might seem like a fantasy instead of a reality. 

However, this isn’t the case. While the road from “debt-free to homeowner” might be a rocky one, it is certainly possible. Here are some tips to get you there. 

 

Target High Interest Debt First

The higher the interest on the loans you owe is, the more you’ll have paid cumulatively once the loan is paid off. Additionally, high interest loans also tend to come with higher monthly payments. There are a few ways you can tackle high interest debt. First, have you considered refinancing? Refinancing is when a bank or lender essentially pays off your loan and provides you with a new one at a lower interest rate. This can both lower your monthly payment and help you pay off the loan faster. 

Another way to target high interest debt is to pay as much towards it whenever you have the opportunity to. Put tax returns, bonuses, and gifts towards that loan or debt. It might not feel like it’s making a difference at first, but down the road, it will drastically affect how much money you would have paid in interest. 

 

Create a Savings Plan

When creating a savings plan for purchasing a home, consider both how much of a house you can afford and how long it will take you to save up for a down payment. The amount that you can afford will depend on how much money you’re making/will be making, how much you owe in loan payments and bills each money, and how much you’re able to save for a down payment. Use these factors to calculate when you’ll be able to afford a house. After all of your bills and payments are made for the month, put a portion of your earnings into a savings account and the other portion towards debt. While most financially savvy people will suggest putting the larger portion towards debt, we suggest doing what is right for your financial goal.  

 

Budget, budget, budget

If you want to buy a house down the road, now is the time to put in the work. Pay very close attention to your spending habits by creating a monthly budget. Track your bills, monthly payments, saving, and spending either with a budgeting software, a spreadsheet, or even a pen and paper. Once all is said and done, go back and find ways to cut spending. This can include getting a better rate on car insurance, lowering your internet bill, cutting out buying coffee or lunches, or really anything that you don’t need to spend money on. You’ll be saving up for your dream home before you know it!

Our Debt Free Family wants to provide those both young and old with real life advice on how to conquer debt and live a financially stable life. We hope you enjoyed this post and invite you to visit regularly for more posts and advice.

3 Free Printable Debt Free Charts to Help You Reach Financial Freedom

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debt free charts

We are looking forward to establishing some awesome New Year’s resolutions for our finances at the end of this year. I’ll be updating you all with that in no time, but it got me thinking about the tools people can use to help them reach their financial goals. Doing some looking around, I found some amazing debt free charts and other ways to stay motivated while tracking your progress.

Debt Snowball Chart

A debt snowball chart helps you manage your debt payoff method. Snowballing your debt means you take any additional money you have and put it towards paying off one of your accounts. You do this in order from smallest to largest amount owed. As you can see below, to organize this debt payoff method, you list the debts in order, along with the minimum payment due and your debt snowball payment.

debt free charts

Using this method of tracking can help you see how quickly you are making progress on your debt freedom journey and keep you motivated. Download an editable worksheet here or print a PDF version.

Color-In Debt Free Charts

If you think tracking the numbers might get boring for you, consider using a color-in debt free chart. You can print these online in various places and use them in various ways.

These color-in charts can help you track your overall debt and how close you are to being debt-free. They can also help you track a specific debt, like a car loan or credit card. You can download various debt free charts online (free of charge) and print them out.

Savings Charts

While it isn’t a debt-free chart, per se, having a place to track your savings can be helpful too. There are a number of savings challenges on the internet that provide charts for helping you track your savings. Saving Advice is a hub of said challenges, including the 365-day money challenge, the 52-week savings challenge, and the 12-week savings challenge. Each of these can be tracked through a chart, like the debt snowball chart above, or you can use the color-in method to track your savings goals.

How to Create Your Own Debt Free Charts

Creating your own personalized debt freedom chart is fairly easy too. If none of the charts above suit your needs, simply follow these steps.

  1. Decide what your long-term goals are for your finances. Before you create a debt-free chart or any other finance tracker you’ll need to decide what you are tracking. Is it savings goals? Debt freedom goals? Investing goals?
  2. Determine how you want to break down the process. Then, once you know what you’d like to track, figure out how you are going to break it down. If you are tracking a debt-free goal, it may be best to track it by every $200 paid off (or whatever increment you decide).
  3. Figure out how you can stay motivated. If you know seeing the numbers will keep you motivated, consider something like the debt snowball chart above to track. Others may be more motivated by seeing a coloring sheet filled in. Whatever motivates you is what you should use.
  4. Start tracking. Once you decide on what will work best for you, start right away. You’ll put yourself that much closer to your financial goals by just biting the bullet and getting started.

No matter where you are in your journey, finding ways to stay motivated and track your progress is important. Consider printing out one or more of the debt-free charts above.

Readers, how do you track your progress? Share your ideas in the comments below!

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Our January 2020 Debt Update

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debt update

The end of January is nearly here already and I can’t believe how quickly the month went by! I am happy to say that, during the first month of the year, we had some significant wins in our debt-free journey. Here’s the latest debt update…

Emergency Fund Wins

The biggest win of January was getting our emergency fund fully re-established again. For now, we’ve only got $1,000 socked away. However, as we pay more things off, we will be adding to this. Because my husband and I work jobs that can vary in pay, it is extremely important to have a few months’ worth of expenses saved just in case.

Debt Update

Now, for the numbers…

Altogether, we made $1.,503 in payments towards our debts. This leaves us with the following account balances…

  • My Car Amount Owed: $20,217
  • Credit Card Total For Both: $487
  • Student Loans: $24,362 (my payment hasn’t yet hit my credit report from January)
  • Matco/Snap-On: $6,673
  • Amount in Collections: $679

See where we were in our debt freedom journey in November here.

Next Month

Next month we will at least make the same amount in payments and hopefully more. We also will continue to add money to our emergency fund when we have it. There are a few additional expenses occurring next month that will soak up a bit of our savings and debt payoff cash though.

We are preparing to register our car in Georgia (finally). Our North Carolina registration is up at the end of the month. To pass inspection here, register the car, and get our licenses, it will like cost around $1,000 (oof).

Outside of that, I can’t wait to update you on where we are in another month’s time. Remember, if you are on your own debt freedom journey that every tiny step forward counts, even if it seems insignificant now!

Readers, tell me about your recent debt wins! 

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My Word For 2020: Productivity

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productivity

Social media has changed the world in so many ways (some good, some bad). One thing it has certainly done (for me) is provided me with new, interesting ways to think about things and approach projects. Recently, I have seen people choose a word to represent the year to come. Many people have chosen words like “hustle” or “positivity.” My word for 2020 is “productivity.”

Why I Chose This Word

Of course, everyone wants to be productive, but I chose this word this year because last year was really busy. Even though I was running around and felt exhausted and busy constantly, I didn’t get as much done as I wanted to. Then I came across this inspirational post on Facebook and it really spoke to me. It said…

Be productive, not busy.

When I read that I was like, “that’s it! That’s what I need to focus on.” It is kind of like that old adage “Work smart, not hard.” I want to focus on improving my everyday processes to reach my goals (both short-term and long-term). Before starting projects, I’ll analyze what the best approach is to protect my time (and money).

Productivity Goals

A lot of my productivity goals for 2020 will require a bit of planning. To start, I’ve begun waking up just a bit earlier every day and jotting down a brief schedule of what I have planned. If you saw my last post, I talked about my main goals for the year and I plan to achieve each of these by being productive and planning out my day.

For instance, to achieve my goal of learning German, I will carve out 10 to 20 minutes every day for a quick lesson. To be able to read a book a week, I am scheduling about an hour a day devoted to that alone. My goal of practicing self-care every day will be achieved by waking up just a little earlier and taking care of my skin and practicing yoga.

Our main finance goal of paying off at least half of our debt will also be helped along by being productive instead of busy. Last year, we were a bit frantic with our financial plans. This year, we will track every penny and have a set plan for paying off our accounts.

All in all, I am hoping that setting a goal to be more productive (and less busy) this year will free me up to do more of the things I enjoy, like spending time with my husband, hiking, reading, doing makeup, and crafts. As I’ve stated in the past, a huge part of me being successful in life, and in my finances, is being able to achieve a balance. That’s why I’m choosing to be productive and NOT busy this year.

Readers, do you choose a word to describe your year? What is yours?

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Determining Your Maximum Debt Limit: How Much Debt is Too Much

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When you look back on what you have been able to accomplish in your life, chances are that it was all possible due to debt.

Without a loan, you wouldn’t have owned your first home.

Without a loan, you wouldn’t have driven that first car of yours.

And without a loan, you couldn’t have earned that first degree.

In other words, debt can truly be a good thing. However, according to the old adage, you can have too much of a good thing. If you feel that you have piled up too many loans, there are tips to help you pay off your debt in a smart and efficient way.

So, how much debt is too much? Here is a rundown on how you can determine your maximum debt limit. Let’s get started!

How Much Debt Is Too Much?

A good way to determine how much debt is too much in your situation is to look at your ratio of debt to income.

To get this figure, you should divide your recurring debt each month by your gross income each month. You will then express this figure as a percentage.

Your monthly debt includes anything that you have to pay each month. This includes, for example, your mortgage, credit cards, car payment, and student loan.

Meanwhile, your gross income is the amount of money you bring home prior to paying taxes, Social Security, and insurance.

Example of Debt-to-Income Ratio Calculation

If you have $3,000 in current debt and generate a gross income of $6,000 per month, your debt-to-income ratio comes out to 50%. Unfortunately, this is not a good figure.

Many lenders generally like to see ratios of around 36% maximum. In fact, some financial advisors state that ratios of more than 20% are indicators that consumers are borrowing too much. Still, others say that near 30% is the magic number.

What does this tell us? It tells us that there’s no black-and-white answer for how much debt is too much for you. However, if you find that your disposable income each month seems insufficient, you’re probably carrying more debt than you should.

How to Help Yourself

If you’re wondering whether to get that next loan, ask this question to yourself first. “How much debt is too much?”

There are many different reasons to get a loan. Irrespective of the circumstance, you must eventually pay back the borrowed money. Therefore, it is always advisable to not borrow more than you need and your repayment ability.

When you start feeling the burden of too much debt, consolidating all of them into one can help you simplify your finances. In some cases, you may even be able to reduce the monthly payments.

The next time you decide to get a loan, determine your requirement, check about your ongoing debt payments and figure out how much you need. There are lenders who also help you to determine the ideal loan amount and then design a suitable repayment term for you.

Always find the right fit lender and loan fit for your financial situation.

Image source: Institute for Money and Technology.