Murphy Happens

This month was my attempt to get back on the budget train.

I only really use two categories for my cash. They are Gas and Spending money. Gas prices have gone up, the plumber sent us his bill, and Murphy showed his face.

I brought my phone and $20 to the flea market. I left with neither. I didn't put my phone in my pocket and I left it in our little wagon. I looked back, and my phone was gone. I traced and retraced my steps, but I knew it had been stolen in that 10 minute timeframe. 

I have set aside cash for the plumber, so that is taken care of. I have about $30 for gas money next week and I'm currently on the "E". Thankfully payday is on Friday. I might eek it out until then, but I may have to put one tank of gas on my credit card and pay it back right away. 

Regarding my phone, my family always keeps a stash of old phones. These are ones that work fine, but we upgraded and no longer need them. I decided to use an old one and it didn't cost me any fees to activate the new phone. I was pretty tempted to just get a newer phone instead, but it would cost too much. 

Overall, going cash has helped me keep in mind all the things that could come up. What's great is that how I budget allows for these unexpected things to happen. Plus, maybe I'm not the most "gazelle intense", but I also know that I can cover my emergencies by lowering my debt payment. I don't want to do that, but life and Murphy happens. 

Awesome Friday

Today is a great day. It's Friday, it's payday, and my blog was mentioned in a list of the top 100 Millennial blogs on the web. That's a pretty cool honor. I am actually number 100, but still happy to be included at all. Here's a link to check out the other bloggers mentioned. Many of these I recognized from the blogs I read and the intstagram accounts I follow.

I know that it's best to live without needing to know it's payday, but I still do. Today is the payday I get to put everything toward my student loans. It's exciting and honestly something I look forward to because I know I'm one paycheck closer to freedom.

Keep it up everyone and have a great Friday!

Back on a Budget

My family is headed back to school/work and fall/ holiday plans are already in the works. I'm down to just over $5,000 left on my last parent PLUS loan.

I recently received my last planned raise in pay. I realized that I am officially at that place where over half my income can go to my debt avalanche. I'm going back to using cash for gas and other expenses. I am doing my own version of the envelope system. I've taken out an allotted amount of spending money per week. I can do as I wish with that. I can go out for drinks, pick up lunch, buy hair products, and lust after fall fashions. No judgement here because in the long run, it's in the budget.

I plan to reduce my spending money next month based on how much I can use self control this month. Any extras I save in cash will either go towards Christmas presents, or helping my grandma pay the plumber.

Here's to rocking out the last months of 2017

September Net Worth

I had a pretty solid August. I have paid off one of my PLUS loans and am now just down to one left in that account. It's a small step towards finishing them off completely. This last loan is about $5,000, but at least all of my payment is going straight toward that last loan.

I still have an auto loan and more student loans to go, but we're on the way. I'm going to push myself to try and finish off this last PLUS loan before January.

I'm at a -$31,863.54 net worth. Take a look below to see how far I've come! This past year I've increased by net worth over $16,000. That's a combination of paying off debt and increasing my 401(k) contributions.