4 Month Check In!

This is my first “official” debt free check in! I made the decision to try Dave Ramsey’s Snowball Method to pay off my debt. I’ll link the program for you here: https://www.daveramsey.com/blog/how-the-debt-snowball-method-works

I made the decision to do this because even though I was paying SO MUCH money towards my debt every month, I didn’t really feel like I was making any progress. It felt slow and the money I owed loomed over me like a dark rain cloud.

I think I stumbled across someone on Instagram that mentioned the program and so I googled it to see what it was all about. Dave Ramsey was doing a speech and explaining the whole process and I felt compelled to at least give it a try.

This was in early November 2018. Since then, I’ve been doing my best to save and to not spend frivolously. But to be honest what has helped me the most has been reselling. With the money I earn from my sales every month, I set aside a portion to invest back into the business for inventory, supplies, etc. I allocate funds to fulfill tax liabilities and then the rest, well it’s paying my bills.

Let me break down my horrific situation so you can have an idea what I’m dealing with. In my early twenties I didn’t understand debt, and now I have to pay for it. LITERALLY. I had a couple smaller credit cards that at some point in life convinced myself I needed for emergencies. I can assure you, none of my balances account for anything that was for emergency related affairs.

I have three other cards with really really high balances and these are the ones that stress me out the most. Aside from that I have a couple car payments, a mortgage and student loans. It was not a fun situation putting money towards that every month. BUT the snowball method gives you a different approach to handle debt.

In college, I learned about interest rates and all the scary things surrounding that concept. The snowball method tells us to forget about that. Scary, right? Not really. Basically you hone in on the smallest debt you have, pay it off and as you get rid of debts you roll them over into payments towards the next smallest debt: hence the “snowball method”.

The difference for me is that I started to see progress. I knocked out the first card within a month, the second credit card about two months later and flash forward to present, I just paid off my third card last night! The third card was a big, ugly card with a giant balance and I am SO glad that it’s gone!

Paying off debt can be boring. It’s not exciting saving money or denying purchases that you would normally treat yourself too, but what keeps me going are the days you get to make that LAST payment. It’s seriously the best feeling. The debt high (is that a thing?) that I get from making that payment always manages to give me the fuel I need to tackle the next balance owed.

So here I am, 4 months in, 3 cards down and I am SO ready to smash on this next card. Whose with me?!

Are you on a debt free journey too? Find me on Instagram at @_lovelyfinds and tell me about it!
https://www.instagram.com/_lovelyfinds/

Shop my Poshmark Closet! https://poshmark.com/closet/_lovelyfinds