Finally Some Movement

It's been a long time since we last paid off some debt. In fact, the last debt payment we made was January of LAST YEAR! When I was working as a loan officer, we had to be very careful with where our money went. I was 100% commission which meant we never knew when the next paycheck would come. We didn't want to pay off debt then regret it later when I didn't get paid for a month and needed that money for bills. We had to put any extra money into savings (instead of towards debt) to make sure we could pay bills every month. It was a frustrating time for us in that regards. We made SO much progress only to have that progress stalled. Well, stalled no longer! Just a few minutes ago, we made a $1300 payment on our debt!

The fact that we can do that is pretty remarkable. My last paycheck was May 15th and I just started my new job at Starbucks last week. However, through budgeting and making extra money with dog-sitting, house-sitting, and some basketball related stuff, we have managed to live within a normal budget. We weren't scraping together money and praying for a miracle in order to pay our bills. We are so thankful that we have been living on a fixed budget since we first got married so that times like this aren't a big deal.

Now that I have a job with a steady paycheck, we don't have to have a large savings. We can stick to the $1000 emergency fund that Dave Ramsey recommends and start attacking our debt. I have to say, it feels great. Not only are we now paying off some debt, but I was hired on as one of the youth interns at Scottsdale Bible Church. This was such a huge answer to prayer for us. So many things were in limbo for the last 3 months and there were times when we felt very discouraged. It feels very good to see God's hand at work in our lives. Not just in providing jobs and the ability to pay off debt, but that He allowed us to go through some struggles. He wants our full devotion and sometimes that only comes when He takes things away.

We are hoping that we can post more and more updates on our debt on here to help encourage other people. Again, we are making a HUGE payment towards debt today even though our income has been very small over the last 2-3 months. While we aren't perfect at holding to a budget, we certainly do our best. If you aren't doing a monthly, written budget please start NOW! It's such a great feeling to know exactly where your money is going and having the freedom to plan out your month in spending. If you don't know where or how to start, Stephanie and I would love to help!

- Brian