There will be times when you are paying down debt when you may have to stop and focus on current expenses. That is happening to us now. We are facing many expenses in September including the following:
-Paying for my attendance, hotel, and travel for a conference as well as my husband, who will be going with me
-Paying for quarterly self-employment taxes
-Paying $99 for license plate registration
-Paying for my son’s dance class
-Renewing my blog hosting
-Paying for a food intolerance test for me so I know once and for all what foods to avoid. (I think there will probably be more than milk and soy.)
-Saving to have cash to pay upfront for my husband’s trip to San Francisco for a conference. (He gets reimbursed after the conference.) I will also be going, and my portion of expenses won’t be reimbursed, obviously.
We are looking at several thousand dollars in expenses. In the old days, we would use the credit card, but I would like to pay in cash, which means debt repayment comes to a halt. Even more important than debt repayment right now is not incurring any new debt. We have not incurred any new debt since we got gazelle intense last October, and I would like to keep it that way. 🙂
Our Progress
No progress, and likely no progress for several weeks.
In the last 43 weeks since we have gotten gazelle intense, we have “found” $7,499.25 to snowflake!
How are you doing? Feel free to link up your progress.
Congratulations on your progress. It seems like you have changed your mindset – which will give you a permanent change in your life. I know it is not easy to maintain enthusiasm and diligence but it will be well worth it.
Hang in there!!
Thanks. I hadn’t thought about it, but you are right, our mindset is changing. That is progress, even though it is non-monetary.
Keep up the good work! It’s a good mantra to not incur more debt as you’re trying to pay off the old. Even if you go bare bones for a month or two to stay on track, the rewards are exponential. Plus, you may find some “extra” money to snowball with!
PS – we recently had to book travel and heard great things about Priceline for hotels and cars. Aim super low! Not for planes though, unless you don’t care about super early or super late flight times. 🙂
I haven’t booked the car yet, so I will check out Priceline. Thanks.
You are incredible! An example to other people to pay for cash instead of credit cards! 🙂
Thanks for posting this! It makes me feel not as guilty for halting our debt snowball to save for my maternity leave in October. It was frustrating at first because we were doing SO well but I also realize that our income will be cut more than “in half” when I go on leave, so saving right now is ideal.
I think you are on the right path saving for maternity leave. Congrats on the new little one. It will be nice to enjoy the time with your baby without worrying about finances.