And Another $1500 Bites the Dust

What a crazy experience it is to budget your money. I only get paid once a month at my job, and since I started at the beginning of July, it was hard for us to REALLY know how much money I will be making. I get an hourly wage along with bonuses, so I really didn't know what to expect. We made a decision to only use my hourly wage for budgeting purposes and use my bonuses to pay our debt. Well, I got a lot more than I was expecting!

Not only did I get more, but we cleaned 4 houses in the last 3 weeks and are cleaning 2 more tomorrow! What a blessing!

All that to say, we made a payment of.... wait for it.... wait for it....

$1500!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So, all together, we paid down our debt by $2800 as of today and have anther $300 scheduled at the end of the month. How are we doing this? I honestly don't know. We are making a budget, but it's not like we are pros at it. Yet, we have more money now than it seems possible. I have a theory:

You would be surprised by how many people I have talked to or heard on Dave Ramsey's radio show say, "Once we started budgeting, it's like we got a raise!" I think it's just that you know where your money is going. You have a plan instead of just using your debit card like it's going out of style. We haven't bought clothes since we've been married. I think we have eaten out 2 times. The only things we have purchased have been groceries and things we can use gift cards for (from our wedding). We are keeping track of our groceries by holding onto our receipts. We are just being smart. Honestly, it's not that hard.

I can't imagine how good it will feel to pay off our debt. Even just to get it below $20,000 would be a spectacular day!

Here is one thing we have done that has helped a lot. (I stole this idea) Get a white board, can be big or small, and put your budget on it. Write down where your money is going and how much money you have. Put the amount of your debt and anything else you want on it. For us, it is REALLY nice to see that every day. When you look at the amount of debt you have, you stay motivated. Sure, sometimes it is discouraging, but then when you get to erase the old number and write the new (lower) number, you feel a sense of joy.

I apologize if our blog isn't more "practical". We are still BRAND NEW at this and are hoping to become pros in the not-to-distant future.

- Brian