We’ve made some awesome progress financially in the past few weeks, despite some hefty bills being thrown our way. We had an unexpected $630 insurance payment due. In the midst of everything, we’d missed a payment and the insurer demanded we pay the remainder of the policy to stay covered (ugh). However, having to attack that emergency got us thinking more about saving.
So, we’ve got a solid plan to get our finances back on track within the next month or so and then (finally) be able to start really attacking our debt. Here’s an update…
1. Saving $1,000 in a Month
Between October 15 and November 15 we have set a goal of saving a $1,000 emergency fund. This will make things like the emergency car insurance issue no big deal if they come up again in the future. It will also provide us with a bit of peace-of-mind and motivate us to get the rest of our finances in order.
2. Paying Off One of Our Debt Items in October
In October we will have the first of our debts completely paid off! When we moved out of the motel about a year and a half ago, we had nothing (like literally only the clothes on our backs). We opened up an account at Rent-a-Center to have a TV stand, TV, bed, and bed frame. Everything else we were able to be gifted or thrifted ourselves.
Small rant: Do NOT go to Rent-a-Center for anything. You’ll wind up paying at least 2x the amount your items are actually worth. You can just save for what you need or want.
However, we will have the last payment of $203 made on October 15! That will be about $200 in savings each month by simply having that paid off.
3. Snowballing Debt
After we’ve gotten our $1,000 in the bank and the last payment made to Rent-a-Center, we have a plan to snowball our debt (hard). Both of us have been looking for additional sources of income to help pay down our debt as well as pad our savings. We will be making large payments on debt starting in mid-November after we’ve met our savings goal. We anticipate being able to pay off our credit cards before the new year.
Right now, we are focused on looking forward. Both of us are excited about getting money saved, snowballing our debt, and climbing out from underneath our current financial situation. I can’t wait to keep you all updated here.
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