Status Check

    We have started the FPU course again. We missed the first class - we were supposed to have it at our normal church, but it got cancelled without notification, so we found our "old" coordinators from the first class we had taken and they are doing it at a different church. A little bit further of a drive, but definitely worth it. We've done 2 weeks so far - I look forward to it each week even though it's 2 hours in the evening, and it's a rush because of my schedule.

    I was curious as to how far we've come  - both together and since I "sort-of" started doing this back in 2007. In 21 months - we paid off $11,000 + saved $10,000 for our wedding - so just about $1000 / month going to debt and savings. Since 2007, I've paid off $54,000 - I'm down to the last $4000 (or a little less really) in debt from a line of credit at the bank and a final credit card. This doesn't include my student loans. D has only about $10,000 left. Right now, we are doing a "projects" fund - so we are paying what we can on debt, but we have a goal to save a minimum of $6000 for an upcoming surgery I have to have and our vacation/delayed honeymoon/first anniversary trip next year. Dad gifted us timeshare points that we had to book or he would lose them - so off the islands we go! The room will only cost $270 - which we already paid. So, we just figured out expenses for a rental car/gas and spending money and airfare. At the end of the month, I'm hoping we can go ahead and do the airfare and get that out of the way.

    After we take our trip, we will have to sit down and discuss a plan to get the final "liquid" debts paid off - which I don't think will take long. Then, we will start in on my student loans. If work goes well for D, and I can pick up some extra work teaching either online or a night course at a local college, we could probably knock it out in 18 months. I owe right about $50K total - $19K on the smaller one, $36K on the larger. After that, EVERYTHING is done and we will be DEBT FREE!!!

    I'm excited today simply because we have sat down and really talked about money again, we have moved back to the envelope system to pay for expenses, and the line of credit at my bank - which used to be $10K is now UNDER $1K. My goal is to get that paid off in the next four months. Again, dependent upon me picking up some extra work, or D's work going REALLY well so he can pick up more on the bills. But, I think it's do-able. Then, that $$ can be lumped onto the last credit card I have, and get that done even faster. Once the trip is done, we should have (just on my salary) an extra $1000 / month (minimum) to put towards debt.

    This is a long road for us - and has been for me. After furlough days, losing my supplement at work, and D's work dropping to pretty much nothing for the past 3 years - it's been hard. But, living on one paycheck, we have still managed to pay off over $20K in debt AND have a beautiful wedding for under $10K. Most couples would never have gotten that far. We thank God that we are able to discuss money and finances without arguing. It was hard at first - admitting to those large numbers and not even being married! But, it was important to both of us so we knew everything and didn't have anything hidden going into our marriage. So many times my parents fought about money. I don't want to be do that. I'm the nerd - he's the free spirit. I'm more of a saver, he's more of a spender. But, we know this and have talked about it. It has made our relationship stronger. As Dave Ramsey says - If money is the biggest cause of divorce, it has the potential to be the strongest aspect of your marriage. As long as we continue to work together, I think we will knock it out quickly.

    So - roughly $64K left to go - that's a lot less than the $118K it was 7 years ago! Little by little - it's going away. And we will NEVER let ourselves be sucked into debt like this ever again! It feels so good to be able to have extra money - we even have "fun $$" in our budget to go out and do things so we can enjoy our lives, not feel guilty or wonder if we can pay bills that month if we go to a movie. It's very freeing to be able to plan where our money is going, and "not wonder where it went." And even nicer to have "more money than month" - it used to be the other way around!