Why I Don’t Regret My $29K In Student Loan Debt
Student loans are such a dumb and tricky debt when it comes to a debt snowball. I started this journey with about $29,000 in student loan debt left to pay.…
Week Three: NO Spend Month
The farther that I get into the month, the more I find myself slipping up or at least considering it. Week Three was way harder than I expected it to be. I clocked out with 66.85 hours this week. It was a STRUGGLE because I was so tired by Sunday. Sunday’s are usually my 
organization days, but I had a lot on my to do list. I still needed to drive back to my parents. Meal prep, go to the gym, and get some stuff done for work.
Good News for the week: My dad fixed my brakes on my Jeep, so all is great!
I am finding it harder and harder to stay motivated to keep up with my writing. I would rather be writing than working a billion hours, but I am also working some extra hours to pay off my debts. I can’t wait to get into a routine where everything actually works out, but I am slowly working on it!
This week I learned a lot about staying organized and prioritizing when it does come to my free time. I also learned that after 13 hours at work, I have very little will power when it comes to food.
SPENT DURING WEEK FOUR:
Super Saver Groceries $ 31.15
Sam’s Club Gas: $ 25.00
Additional Gas: $10.00
Total: 66.15 Spent this week
16.15 Over Budget
Paid Off:
Student Loan #1: $104
Jeep: $77.88
Total Debt Paid Off This Month: $1,088
Week Two: No Spend Month
The holiday and work made week two a little hectic, but I am finally sitting down to get caught up!
Have you ever had something totally unexpected happen and it was completely out of your control?
Well Sunday while I was at drill, I get a call from my roommate asking me if I paid the water bill.
Yes. I did.
She tells me that the water isn’t working in our entire apartment. I ask her to check with the neighbor and sure enough the entire complex is without water. I get home that night. The weather is warm for this time of year and we have nothing cold to drink in the apartment.
I met with someone at Target to sell an item from one of the Facebook For Sale pages. As soon as I got that money, I went into Target to get a gallon of water (which I am usually against buying water, but it had to happen). As I was walking to check out, I saw cake mixes for $1 and frosting for $1.50. I gave in and got the supplies for two cakes. Brittney and I spend our water-less evening making cakes. While I still count it as part of my grocery budget, it definitely wasn’t the kind of spending I had planned. It was so worth it though. It gave us something to do instead of complain about the lack of water in our apartment and we spent most of the evening laughing in the kitchen.
I managed to make it through the drill weekend without spending money on lunch or any other food cravings. That being said, I have a long list of restaurants that I can’t wait to eat. One major lesson I have learned from the No Spend Month is that you don’t have to give into your food cravings. The other night, I desperately wanted Taco Johns. I didn’t give in. Instead I went home and used some chicken to make chicken tacos and I happened to have tater tots in the freezers. What could have cost $8-12 for one meal cost me nothing because I had the items on hand already.
SPENT DURING WEEK TWO:
Target Water/Cake Run: $4.83
Super Saver Groceries $ 16.43
Sam’s Club Gas: $ 25.09
Wal-Mart Groceries: $10.63
McDonald Slip Up: $6.10
Total: 63.08 Spent on Week Two
13.08 Over Budget
Paid Off:
Credit Card: $352
Student Loan #1: $324
The Number One Grocery Shopping Secret to NEVER Going Over Budget Again!
I love to eat. I will be super honest about it too. 90% of my day is spend eating or planning out the next time I am going to…
5 Rules To Make the Most of My No Spend Month!
Have you ever looked at your spending and questioned why you even needed certain things? Why do I spend so much money on food/ clothing/supplements/contacts or really just anything in…
All About This Sagittarius Stuff
When I first chose the name “The Savvy Sagittarius” for my blog, I just thought it was playful and cute. I wasn’t that deep into my horoscope, but I was beginning to learn. I follow a few horoscope sites on my social media and some days it is completely spot on.
Some days I am amazed with the personality that comes out of my horoscope. While I don’t really pay attention to a lot of the theories behind the horoscopes, I do think they are extremely inspirational. The daily posts are motivating and encouraging, especially when they are completely on point with what is going on in my everyday life.
Below are the traits for a Sagittarius based on ZodiacFire.com and Astrology Zodiac Signs.
Truest of all the Sagittarius statements that I have read,
“However, although she is wild, do not expect her to fall in love with you immediately. Once the Sagittarius woman does fall in love, she will be a loyal and caring partner. If you give her a reason to think a relationship with you is going to be difficult, she will simply walk out the door. The Sagittarius woman usually has multiple love affairs throughout her life, due to the fact that she will not settle for a relationship that makes her unhappy.”
6 Reasons I Still Waste Money On My Gym Membership
Gym memberships are the biggest fought over piece of financial advice. I have done a ton of reading from other financial blogs and almost EVERY single one of them says…
My Journey Towards Minimalism: Getting Rid of My Clutter
Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links, which means that I may make a small commission off of any purchases, at no extra cost to you. This is one way that blogs make money and I appreciate the support if you should choose to make purchases based on my suggestions.
I come from a family with a mild case of hoarding. I love the sentimental things that I own. Clutter is kind of a way of life. But what happens when you finally move most of your stuff out of your parents house and realize you have no place to put it? When you are moving and your find stuff that you haven’t seen since you moved?
My mom will be the first to tell you how hard I am on her about all of the stuff we have accumulated since we moved into that house sixteen years ago. When my grandma announced that we were having Thanksgiving at my mom’s house, I took it upon myself to use that as an excuse to clean their house. We started with the clutter in the kitchen closet, otherwise known as the “closet of doom.” The closet wasn’t necessarily as bad as I thought, but we found stuff from my childhood. My Easy Bake Oven was buried in the back of the closet. It was an adventure. An adventure that my mom even wrote about in the local paper.
After spending the holiday season helping my parents clean their house, I was amazed to come home and realize that I am slowly on the same path as my parents.
How to find your Missing $5000
"A budget is telling your money where to go, instead of wondering where it went."
Having a budget and living in a constant "I can't spend money" state of mind is not fun. I do not recommend this rigid lifestyle long term. But a little sacrifice can equal huge gains long term!
January Debt Free Progress Report
I just posted my goals about getting debt free a little over a week ago, but I have been working on this all month! I have big goals of paying off all of my debt by the end of the year and I definitely got a good start this month!
Now, I have to be clear that I did this without selling anything so far. I didn’t trade in my vehicle for a cheaper vehicle. The same items are still in my home and I still live in the same place.
I did pick up a ton of extra hours at work and I was a lot more diligent with my grocery shopping and eating out. The military also put me to work for a little while this month, which ended up as a pretty nice paycheck. I was also very meticulous with my budgeting throughout the entire month.
My Story
If you have been following my story at all, you probably know that I tell my story at the beginning of every monthly report for those who just stumbled upon my blog. If you have read my story, feel free to skip ahead to my monthly report. I tell this story so I am not just some stranger, but instead someone who just might inspire each and every reader to follow the same journey!
My name is Elyse. I am 22, single with no kids and I am proudly on my way to being completely debt freeeee. I never really thought of myself as someone who was in debt. With no credit cards and no car payment, I was not the average American. All I had was a few student loans. It wasn’t until a few weeks before my 22nd birthday that I got a loan for a Jeep and my very first credit card. I should say credit card(S). For the month of December, I thought it was so cool that I finally had a credit card. I was excited over it actually. I was learning about all the different rewards I could cash in and it was fantastic.
Towards the end of the month, I was cleaning off a bookshelf, getting ready to move (again), and found The Total Money Makeover: Classic Edition: A Proven Plan for Financial Fitness
“Sometimes, you have to like like NO ONE else, so someday you can LIVE like no one else.” – Dave Ramsey
If you haven’t read the book, I recommend you go buy it RIGHT NOW!. It will be $15 that changes your life completely. I will wait, just be sure to come back!
I officially started my debt free journey on January 1st, 2017. While progress seems slow right now, my goal is to have everything paid off by my 23rd birthday on December of 2017. I am a little uneasy about the goal, but I am going to work at it until I am debt free. I am trying not to look at the numbers and just keep looking at the goal ahead because the numbers will probably stress me out too much.
My goal is to get completely debt free, buy a house in cash, and continue to save for an even better house! I am extremely excited about the opportunities to come with my journey ahead.
But Debt Free At 23 has such a great ring to it.
