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In my last debt snowball blog post, we had brought our total debt from $17,000 in June 2016 down to a little over $9,000 in March 2017. Most of that was due to paying off the credit card, but a good chunk of that was also due to being halfway through paying off our personal loan (that we used for our wedding.)
Well, I’m happy to say that a few weeks ago, we paid off the personal (wedding) loan! It was due to end in March 2019, but after I started my new job here in Iowa, we were able to go into overdrive on the debt snowballing! Just two months after we moved here, we were able to kiss that personal loan goodbye– and 6 months early, to boot!
After we paid off our credit card in March, we had to take a break from debt snowballing to save for our unexpected move to Iowa that took place in July; since we opted to do a DITY move, we had to pay 100% out of pocket for all of the moving expenses. I will be totally honest, that was incredibly frustrating for me. It was so tough to stay motivated without seeing those debt totals drop.
The good part about doing a DITY move will be the day we get our reimbursement from the military! We don’t have a clear total of how much exactly we will be receiving since it’s still being processed, but I’m estimating it to be as much as our next (second-to-last) debt, if not enough to wipe out our debts entirely! That, combined with the extra income my job provides, means we should be debt free at the beginning of 2018, if not the end of 2017!!
Here’s an update on our debt-freedom journey as of the beginning of October:
Bailey’s Student Loan: $4,955.12
*I’ve already added the $230 I was paying on the personal loan to the snowball on my student loans. This is the amount I owe after my October payment.
Tithing “debt”: $1,130
*One year after Andy joined the Army, he felt called to give his entire annual tax return to his old church in Arizona. He mailed the pastor a check, but it got returned to him since the pastor had moved away. Andy didn’t know what to do with the money, so he kept it, but felt guilty about it. When we first talked about our (my) debts, Andy brought this up and we decided together that we would pay it back to the Lord. We will treat it like any other debt– except, instead of paying it to a credit card company or a bank, we would give it to a church, non-profit, or others in need.
Total debt remaining: $6,085.12
It’s an absolutely surreal feeling we are so close to not being a “slave to the lender” anymore!
Are you on a debt freedom journey?
If so, how is it going?