Not Impressed With Our Debt January 2023

January wasn’t too bad for us. That’s not a great way to start a post but it’s true, considering we have had many Januarys where we have struggled greatly. I am very happy to say we were one of the first to pay our Town/County taxes and not one of the last. This is a huge accomplishment because in past years paying that bill would have set us back financially for months. Seriously! And this year it really didn’t hurt at all.

The biggest reason we have accomplished this is changing our mindset about our paychecks. Shifting from using both paychecks every week to only living off of one paycheck and using the other paycheck to pay off debt has been an enormous, positive change.

As far as debt this month I did manage to pay $600 to the credit card which finally brought us under $3000 for that card. In February we are taking a much needed vacation so not a ton of debt will be paid but again that also means I can pay for the vacation in cash and not add to our debt.

I do plan on making a major move at the end of February to change our situation on the other credit card we have but I will talk more about that in my next update.

I highly recommend reading Thrifty and Thriving: 10 Simple Ways to Put Money Back in Your Pocket, By Jennie Lodien. Here is just one of the quotes from the book:

“Overspending robs you of peace and contentment – such a terribly high price tag, and for what? A bunch of stuff you are going to sell at a garage sale in 10 years. There must be a better way…”

Jennie talks about why we resist being thrifty, the goal of thrifty (it’s not to deprive ourselves, I promise), habits of the thrifty, how to be thrifty and thriving, and rewards for the thrifty. I will probably read this book more than once because there is so much good information in it!

Getting out of debt is a dance of trying one thing, adding and subtracting and moving things around. It’s also resisting short term thrills and saving for long term quality and contentment.

How are you doing on your debt journey? Hope you have a great week! – MM