As usual it was a crazy month! Our 2nd jobs unexpectedly cut our hours to the tune of about $1900 that we were planning on to help dig us out of our hole. These were hours that had been confirmed months and months in advance so I’ve been doing a lot of moving things around money wise to make things work. We have a new supervisor who has changed the way that scheduling happens and now there is no confirmation in advance of when we may/may not work. We’re still very thankful to have the extra income, but now I have no real idea as to how much (or how little) will be coming in. We can pay all of our bills regardless, but it slows our progress down paying on debt to a snail’s pace and also means that any unexpected big expenses really hurt.
So the trend of unexpected giant expenses that started with the dishwasher has continued. The air conditioner died in our vehicle and yay it was covered by the warranty, but there was a $100 deductible. It seemed like it was one thing after another after another ugh. I’m not really sure how the next few months are going to go, there’s a chance that frugal husband will be able to get a different second job that would be UH-mazing, but we’re not counting our chickens before they’re hatched.
Before I get to the numbers I do want to share one funny thing that happened to me. My workplace is having a contest in which we pick our teams (up to 10 people) and then the team that donates the most amount of food in pounds to the food bank wins lunch. Food banks this time of year really really need donations. I ended up on a team of people who are super competitive but not into finding sales or knowing how to make a dollar stretch (I had to explain what an Aldi was to my boss), so everyone gave me their money and I went shopping 🙂 I’m pretty sure that we’re going to win. Knowing how to save money pays off in so many ways.
OK so on to the numbers:
- Frugal house- $203,350
- Frugal Student Loans- $161,000
- Frugal Private Student Loan- $2,682
- Frugal Car 1- PAID OFF WOO HOO!!
- Frugal Car 2- $12,667
- Frugal Credit Cards Total- $37,265
So a net gain this month of $3,544 spurred by everything breaking and our hours being cut. Sigh. One step at a time right? I’m bummed, but next month is a new month and a chance to get it right. We’ll keep plugging away.
Congratulations on paying off car #1! It is a great feeling, isn’t it? You will be able to knock that private student loan out pretty quickly I think. You all sound determined. Keep up nthe good work.
Thanks Marley!
Congratulations on paying off the first car! You sound frustrated about losing the hours and I totally understand that, but I’m very happy for you that you can still pay your bills and make a lot of progress on paying off debt. I know it’s hard on you to see all those numbers of what you still owe, but you’ve come a long way and should definitely pat yourselves on the back for that. Enjoy that lunch. It’s a nice way to win it, helping out the food banks.
Thanks Mari 🙂 we didn’t win, but came in 2nd, which means there was a group who had more than 542 lbs! Total we donated 2223lbs of food to the food bank. We’re all happy with the results 🙂