It’s officially my favorite time of the year! FALL! I love Fall for so many reasons, two being I’m not dying from the heat and humidity, and I also get to wear some my comfiest clothes! As you can see, I’m pretty easy to please. September was absolutely crazy for us. We had an amazing opportunity to share our story as well as two methods we used and are using to get of out debt on the Rachael Ray Show.
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I still want to pinch myself every time I think about it. At the beginning of the year, I wrote out my goals. One of those goals was to be able to talk about Broke on Purpose on a larger platform. For me, this meant maybe going to someone’s church or community center. I just wanted to share our journey and inspire others that they can do the same. The only thing I can say without going into a full blow testimony is
“…but God!”
It’s true what they say; we can’t even begin to manifest what he has in store for us if we just trust, believe, and stay diligent in his word!
THINGS THAT CAME UP THIS MONTH.
This month we’ve also been battling our electric company. During the summer our bill continually went up until it was over $300 and we couldn’t figure out why. After repeatedly calling the electric company because we thought they were reading our meter wrong (and I still do) we found out that our energy provider Stream Energy was price gouging for the summer. So, we got rid of them and switched back to the main energy provider PECO. Having to shell out over $300 for an electric bill that is usually budgeted around $175 is going to hurt next month. We usually have a lot left over at the end of the month, but lately, we’ve barely had anything extra to throw at the debt.
Car Repair: Marcus had to get a sensor repaired on his car costing us $138. We have separate savings account for car repairs, and budget $150 a month towards it, so we were able to cover that expense.
Medical Bills: We also received over $400 in medical bills this month after Marcus hurt his back at the gym trying to get his sexy back (he’s gonna kill me when he reads this, lol). To cover this we’re going to have to pull from our emergency fund or look for others ways to earn some extra money so we can cover the bill without touching the emergency fund. Either way, this definitely wasn’t in the budget.
Holidays/Birthdays: Three of our parents are having birthdays this month, plus it’s time to decide on how much we want to spend on gifts for the holidays and working that into the budget.
I’m sharing all of this with you because sometimes we get comments that make it seem like we don’t go through the same things that everyone else goes through. Trust me it aint all roses over here. We deal with things just like the next person, but we also work hard to try to make sure the outcome is always postive.
SEPTEMBER 2016 BROKE ON PURPOSE DEBT PAYOFF REPORT
THE DEBT: WE’RE STILL TACKLING OUR STUDENT LOAN INTEREST TRANSFER THAT WE PUT ON A 0% CREDIT CARD.
Starting Balance: $17,674.00
September Starting Balance: $8,661.23
New Balance: $5,712.00
2016 Payoff Amount: $28,209.00
Amount Paid off since living Broke on Purpose ( 18 months): $57,571.00
This month I cranked up my freelance work and was able to contribute a hefty amount towards our debt. This didn’t come without sacrifice as this past week I was sick from pushing myself too hard. With it being the fourth quarter it’s a great time for Digital Influencers to really earn a lot of extra money so I’m going all in. I just need to make sure I add in a couple of rest days every now and then. With only $5700 left we are so close to having this student loan interest knocked out before the end of the year! Plus, it looks as if with next month’s payment we’ll have exceeded the amount we are able to pay off last year! We originally set a goal to pay off $40K-$50K this year and with only three months left, we have some serious work to do to make it happen.
If you’re reading this and haven’t started your own plan don’t look at our journey and say “oh that’s too extreme, I can’t do that!”. Everyone’s journey is going to be different, but it all starts with a plan and the firm decision that you want to make a difference in the way your finances look. Dave Ramsey calls it working the baby steps. If I could add to his baby steps I’d add a Pre-Baby Step, “Think about it.” That’s all you have to do is just think about it. Imagine how much your life would change if you didn’t have debt weighing you down.
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I received my money envelopes after seeing you on the Rachel Ray show. I love how cute and fashionable they are. The categories you selected are so much more realistic for me (latte loot). I’m so glad I connected with you.
Yay! I’m glad you like them! Coffee is one of my weakness and of course now that it’s pumpkin spice season all I want to do is stop at Dunkin’s lol!
Thank you for the Stream Energy tip. I’m going to look into it. My bill has climbed from $45 to $150 this summer. And now that it’s fall it still hasn’t dropped that much.
Yes! After we let them go our bill finally went back to normal! It’s crazy how they were ripping people off.