2019 - Day 4

Good day, blog readers! I hope everyone had a safe and Happy New Year! It's 2019! Andrew and I have big goals for this year, as you saw from my last blog post, and I'm very excited to continue on this journey. Updates as far as the beginning of the month:

Debt Paid off as of 1.4.19:   $257.65

Total Debt with the House: $128,722.71
Total Debt without House:  $77,077.35

BOOM. One card paid off just like that. So, our snowball amount was bigger than that, so the remainder of the snowball will go to the next smallest debt. Then, that $257.65 will be added in to next month's snowball amount. This is why the debt snowball is SO powerful. To see debt get paid off quickly at the beginning (the smaller amounts) makes the momentum and motivation of the journey seem not as daunting. Now, when we get to my student loan it will be hard. Until that point though, it's going to be EPIC paying off the smaller debts that I was dumb enough to get. Not Andrew. None of this was Andrew's doing. It was all me. I'm thankful to have a husband that is understanding and forgiving. He knows that I am better than I used to be, but still have some bad habits that creep in. He's my motivation and driving force most days. I don't know what I would do without him.
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Other Life Things:

We've been busy the last few days. We started off 2019 with a funeral. She was basically family, but not blood relation to me. She was my cousin's grandmother and I loved her like my own grandmother. We spent MANY days at her house growing up and she treated us like her own. Grandma Nonie was a beautiful, loving, sweet woman that will be truly missed. I adore my family. I hate that I only get to see them at weddings and funerals, but travel isn't exactly in the budget right now. My 5 wonderful cousins happened to all be in Iowa for the funeral and seeing them filled my heart so full.

L to R: Mat, Nate, Me, Danielle, Sarah

L to R: Aaron, Isaac, Dean, Me, Mat, Nate
Front: Sarah, Danielle

L to R: Photobomb by Dean-o, Me, Danielle, Sarah, Carson's head

My mom does a great job getting candid photos. She knows just what to say to make us all laugh or look around. Those are the best photos. I spent a lot of time with my cousins when I was younger. My uncle David and Aunt Mary (my mom's sister), would drive all 5 kids up from Missouri either in the summer or at Christmas and it was mass chaos. I.Loved.Every.Minute.Of.It. Not only that... with Mary's kids and us there were 8 kids. Throw in Kim, Scott, Pam, Richard, and Josh.... there were 13 of us running around. Again.... it was bliss. I love having a big family. Please keep in mind, that this is only on my mom's side. I won't even get into the cousins on my dad's side since he's 1 of 7 kids in a catholic family. I have cousins I haven't even met on his side.

Even though traveling is exhausting, I got to see my family and even got to spend a little time with my friend Valerie! Man do I miss her. Valerie has been a friend of mine since Jr. High School. Every time I'm in the Quad Cities I make it a mission to see her. If my best friend, Sydney, hadn't moved away to Des Moines, I'd make it a mission to see her too. 

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The Boys:

My kids are doing wonderfully. Dean is saying more and more words every day. The tubes are helping!! So is his behavioral and speech therapy, too. I met with Carson's lead clinician yesterday and he's DOUBLED his score from when he first started! The first thing I ever say to people when they ask me what Carson is like is "Smart." He is SO SMART. Stubborn.... but smart. They are going to move him into the next level of ABA which is a school preparedness program and I couldn't be happier. He's completing all of his goals and everything they're teaching is carrying over at home. I am so thankful for Hope, The Autism Clinic, and couldn't imagine where he'd be without them.

Dean is still a turd/human tornado, though. Some nights Andrew and I just sit on the couch and stare at each other like "where did this kid come from?!".

Carson & Dean in the church nursery. They didn't want to be quiet during the service. 

BLIPPI! 

We downsized to our previous TV (much smaller than the one we traded with my brother), and got rid of our surround sound system. Traded that out for a Bose Sound Bar with Christmas money. Best decision EVER. It feels like we have so much more room at the front of the house now. The Bose is AMAZING.

We were watching Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Andrew got the Blu-Ray box set of the Harry Potter movies and we've been watching them at night. I need to try and sell Andrew's surround sound now. There's nothing wrong with it, it just took up WAY too much space and Dean wouldn't stop stuffing toys in the sub-woofer. Hopefully I'll get a decent amount of money out of that. I'm also doing a Focus on Finance Challenge from Fun, Cheap, or Free and she is having us try to sell a certain amount of things in our house. Challenge Accepted. 

Day 5

It is Day 5. That went by kind of fast didn't it? So far, we are kicking butt. I haven't purchased one unnecessary item since we started this and boy have I wanted to. It's amazing to me how much of an impulse shopper I am or an "Oh, that would be nice, I could really use that!" shopper I am. I did two groceries trips: one to Aldi and one to Hy Vee for the things I can't get at Aldi. I didn't buy one thing that wasn't on my list. *high five*

If you're curious how we budget, we do the written Monthly Cash Flow Plan from Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University If you've never been through his FPU, you're missing out. It's a GREAT course with a ton of information and boy does it get you motivated. Andrew and I have been through it twice. Loved it both times. We also use EveryDollar on the computer and on our phones. It's a fantastical little app and if you don't link it to your bank account... it's FREE! We keep our written budget on our fridge as a constant reminder and we use our phones/computer to be able to see it on the go or when we are at a store. We do try and use cash for most purchases: groceries, pet supplies, kids, misc. items, etc. It helps. It's so hard to spend cash guys... it hurts more. Swiping a card has no emotional impact. Trust me and try it sometime.

We have been on this debt free journey since 2011. So far we have paid off about 20% of our debt. I would love it if that number was more, but alas, it is not. In the last 7 years we:

• got married
• went on a Honeymoon
• bought a house
• had two children
• had a car stolen
• lost jobs
• got new jobs

And all of those other life things that happen. Not to mention that we found out about Carson being Autistic and I went on a downward spiral of getting a credit card and buying whatever the fuck I felt like buying..... so, I added to that debt. *headdesk* 

However, I'm here and ready to dig my way out of it. 

Starting Debt: $83,000

Current Debt: $66,324

That includes a credit card, the van, and my student loan. It does not include the house. My student loan is most of that number. It's nauseating, isn't it? 

We are set to pay off $632.00 of debt this month. 

Since Andrew and I have paid ahead on the student loan (8 months ahead), we are skipping a few months of that payment to get everything else taken care of. 

During this time, and the last 7 years, we have also had out $1,000 emergency fund which has been used and built back up multiple times in emergency situations. Especially for car repairs and unplanned/planned medical expenses. 

I'm excited to see where this journey takes us and how quickly we can get this taken care of now that I am dedicated. I know it's not going to be easy, and I know people will probably think I don't like them because I will say "no" to a lot of activities that involve money.... but it will be 100% worth it in the end. 

As far as my minimalist journey goes, I went on a cleaning spree yesterday and worked on the bathroom, my closet, the linen closet, and the kitchen. The back end of my van is full with stuff to take for donation. Feels good to get rid of excess stuff. 

The Scale Doesn't Lie

"I do not like the cone of shame" 

We were in Taylorville this weekend because we had to rush Hyatt to the vet. He has got a really bad skin infection/skin irritation and he will NOT leave it alone. He licks it so much that the hair he is ingesting is upsetting his stomach and he is puking everywhere. The doctor took some hair samples from around the sores and will have those tested and we won't know what is wrong until Saturday. He is on a buttload of medication and the poor thing is miserable. Especially with the added cone. He does nothing but sleep and drink water.... we can barely get him to take his medicine in treats... I am thankful that he will eat soft food though. At least he gets something down!

Weight Watchers & Weigh In
The only way to keep me from being a complete idiot over the weekend is to have my weigh-in day be Monday.

WI: +3.9
Total Lost: +0.8
Pounds to Lose: 104

*grumblegrumblepoutgrumble*

All my fault. I know. The scale once again proves I cannot do whatever the hell I want to when it comes to food. I was in Taylorville this weekend and there was alcohol, noodles with butter and garlic, big breakfasts and candy. I need to have a better game plan when it comes to going to my parents house.

Here is today's menu:
B: Old Fashioned Oats with 1 T PB2 & 1/2 T Chocolate Chips, 1 c. FF milk, black coffee (8P+)

S: String Cheese, strawberries (3P+)

L: Sandwich with lunch meat, american cheese and lite mayo, salad with tangy bacon catalina dressing, 100 calorie pack of cookies (14P+)

S: Cheddar Rice Cake Snacks (2P+)

D: TBD, I will have 5 P+ for dinner... I have a TON of lettuce I need to eat... so I am thinking a big grilled chicken salad with 0P+ Walden Farms Italian

Activity: I would like to go to the gym and either do the bike or treadmill

I am a HUGE dummy and took off my ActiveLink yesterday and didn't put it back on. Therefore it says I only got 50% of my activity completed when I probably got WAY more than that because I grocery shopped, cleaned, did laundry and was on my feet most of the day. Oh well.... 

On Becoming Debt Free:

We "attended" Lesson 1 of Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University. I think I am going to really like this at home class with the DVDs. Andrew and I are able to watch it and do it together and then we share the book for our reading assignments. Mom and dad even sat in on the DVD... which was nice. I didn't ask them to, they just sat down with us. I hope they like it and get something out of it! 

The entire picture of becoming debt free is overwhelming... but the baby steps seem obtainable and I love that he did the program this way. Right now we are completely focused on Baby Step 1. That is all that matters. I am so excited to start this journey with Andrew!