We are 5 months into our debt snowball. And now I really feel like snowball is the correct way to describe it. With each new payment my husband and I get a little more excited... which is the exact opposite way I expected to feel as I watched money leave my bank account as quickly as it goes in.

So here we are. 5 months in, $30,000 down... whew, $30,000! I can't help but think of all the other ways I could have spent that money... but I guess that paid for over a year of Drew's graphic design degree. Alright, so one year of school down.

OUR DEBT

We've been working hard for 5 months! We dropped our bank account down to $1,000, we set our zero-based budget, began using the envelope system, and picked up extra jobs.

But seriously, $30,000!?! How in the world did we find an extra $30,000? $15,000 of it was probably savings from the last year, but that's still another $15,000. I'm pretty proud! Drew and I laugh at the way we used to spend money. Just last night we reminisced, remember when there used to be packages from Amazon at our door almost every day? Why did that change? Oh yeah, budgeting. And the text I sent to Drew the other day as I was shopping at Marshall's. Ah, I need to leave. I'm so tempted buy athletic clothes. They're so cheap! I left Marshall's empty handed by the way. Yesterday Drew walked up to me and said he really needed another pair of jeans, they all had holes in them. So we did concede and we each have a small clothing budget for August (woo hoo)!. Then there's the dinners I've gone to with family and friends where I bring my glass container full of salad, sorry budgeting. And the extra jobs we've both worked. The stores we don't go to. The online shopping I don't do. And you know what, I don't miss any of it!

I'm really proud of how hard we've worked to cut back our spending. It has honestly not been as much of a sacrifice as I expected. And a few years from now, we're going to feel like we got a major raise! We'll go on a nice trip. We'll pay off our house (it's less than our student loans). Then eventually we'll save up for the super cool mid century modern house that's Drew's motivation to pay off all this debt.

It's gone fast. $30,000 down, $95,000 to go. Whew! Wish us luck.

Emily

P.S. We're following Dave Ramsey's baby steps. Following these baby steps has helped us understand our finances and set goals. We've learned about his baby steps from his book, The Total Money Makeover, and his podcast, The Dave Ramsey Show. We highly recommend both! And, we are going to do his Financial Peace University class soon :)

P.P.S. Check out the mid century modern furniture that Drew has for sale on his LobosModern Etsy shop =]