It’s getting hot in here! My debt pay off is on fire! Every extra dollar not spent on necessities or allocated to savings is going right towards my car!
November 1st
- Total Cash: $2,845.52
- High Yield Savings Account: $3,001.53
- Mutual Fund: $2,694.69
- Current Car Debt: $5,840.46
- Current Student Loan Debt: $45,644.12
November has been a good month. I celebrated my 38th birthday. Mr. BMM was sweet and gave me the option of an automatic car starter or money towards my car loan. I opted for the extra money towards my car loan. Guess it’s a sign I’m getting practical.

I also started to manually track every penny spent on a paper calendar so I’m pleased to announce I did a great job managing life vs. my no spend 2020 year. All but four purchases fell within my no spend rules. I mostly spent money on groceries, gas, and house essentials. The manual tracked helped redirect me from October’s spending. I found that once I got one new thing, I needed just one more new thing. There is a formal term but it’s like the Give a Mouse a Cookie book. I wrote about the shopping/buying new phenomenon in a blog post. Check it out if Christmas shopping is your gateway to breaking your spending rules/budget.
- $1.88 to print my furbaby’s annual Halloween pictures
- $7.50 for a clay flower pot
- $23 for a new house plant
- $25 for my office Secret Santa
Besides the spending, Mr. BMM and I refinanced our home. It’s going to help us save thousands of dollars. I will certainly take those thousands of dollar bills and cram them in my pockets. I’m not financial planner or advisor but if you have debt, I would check out your options for refinancing. I refinanced my car, student loans, and home all this year. Collectively I think I’m close to saving $45,000 in interest. There was some work involved but no where close to $45,000.
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I’m having a bit of an internal debate about my next steps in my financial goals after I pay off my car. Do I take that money and max my 401(k), build an investment portfolio that allows access prior to 59 1/2, or put it towards my student loans? Some FIRE rules exclude the house. Well we are planning to pay off our house within the next 3-5 years so can I swap house payments for student loan payments? I guess the issue I have is that the student loan payments won’t ever go away and I have a decent rate. Why not capture the time value of money and build a solid retirement base?
I think spending the money frivolously it the worst thing I could do at this point. Investing in my future or paying off my debt are both equally good options. Speaking about retirement, I’m $500 away from maxing out my ROTH IRA contributions for 2020.
From a girl who was broke, money clueless with a closet full of clothes that mostly sucked, lots of anxiety about stuff, and nearly maxed out credit cards to this badass financial millennial with a budget, I’m proud of my progress. Check out my November accomplishments!
Change in Cash… INCREASE OF $649.98
Change in Debt … drum roll please! DECREASE OF $3,057.72
November 30th
- Total Cash: $3,126.59
- High Yield Savings Account: $3,023.38 (I add $10 a week to this account just to take baby steps to building this account to $5,000)
- Mutual Fund: $3,041.75
- Current Car Debt: $2,980.69
- Current Student Loan Debt: $45,446.17
My goal for December is to either pay off my car or be so close that it will happen in January as well as a plan for redirecting my car loan money.
Congratulations! Glad your efforts are paying off. After your car, I vote focus on student loans. Cheering for you!
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Thank you so much!!!
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