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Closing Out the Month in a Good Place

by

the Month in a Good Place

In early May, I set forth my plan to tackle my smallest student loan. In addition, Princess got her first job and her driver’s license this month. And what I haven’t yet revealed because it just happened is that History Buff purchased a car…a $1,000 beater truck in cash. I am one proud mama!

And now that we are at the end of this month, I’m leaving it behind and feeling very good about it!

My Financial Wins

  1. Not only did I succeed in paying two months of minimum student loan payments, but I paid $1,000 towards my lowest balance student loan. That’s $1,000 total, not $1,000+306+306, but since there are no required payments, all $1,000 went to the smaller loan. Woohoo! I’m only $178 of my monthly goal needed to pay off this particular loan in one year.
  2. Princess’ senior year tuition…paid 1/2 of that. I also paid $1,500 towards Princess’ school tuition for the year. There is no penalty if I pay her full tuition by December 1st, so I decided to just pay 1/2 right now.
  3. Thanks to a fantastic month at work, after a miserable month, we are back in the black as far as living on last month’s income.
  4. I was able to cut down Princess’ insurance cost from the original quote of $1,800 for 6 months to $1,500 for 6 months. It’s not much, but every little bit helps.

What is Next

Phone Service

This coming month, in addition to my continued goal of tackling my student loans, I am dealing with my phone service. After years and years with Verizon as a business account, I am intently pursuing a cheaper option but with as good service. My phone is a key tool in my business so I can’t chance service issues. But I am done with the outrageous pricing and more specifically done with the “dangling” carrot of a “new” phone every two years which just keeps us tied up and my bill too high. More to come on that.

Auto Insurance

I’ve been nose deep in auto insurance the last couple of weeks with History Buff buying a new car and Princess getting her driver’s license.  I love our service with USAA. I’ve had my insurance with them forever and been banking with them almost as long. But it’s time to put some due diligence in and see if they are the best fit for us. I’m also going to explore moving the twins off my policy since they are both now working full time and paying their own auto insurance bills.

My next post will be a debt update…and I am so excited about it.

 

 


22 Comments

  • Reply Angie |

    This is one of the best updates I’ve seen from you! I’m excited to see you make progress on that student loan. And the cell phone bill… All I’m going to say is…. FINALLY! There are some great options out there. Even if you end up keeping the business service, but kick the kids off the expensive plan. There are tons of month to month service options out there for $15-$30 a month that will work with the phones you already have. And you don’t need an iphone, or a new phone every 2 years. I typically buy one online and try to get it to last 3-4 years. Smart that you’re finally seeing you’ve been paying twice for those upgrades every 2 years. It really is just a push from the phone company to convince you to buy something you don’t need just because it is discounted and new. You will have less cravings for frivolous, new stuff if you don’t even leave it open as an option (mainly speaking kids here). This is a great step in movement away from short-term thinking.

    I liked this format. How about another numbers post like this midway through June? It might help build on the momentum.

  • Reply Denise O'Wesney |

    Smart move to look into changing phone companies. I dumped Verizon years ago for the same reasons you site and have never looked back. I have saved thousands from that one choice alone.

  • Reply Canan Onat |

    May 21, 2020
    “We have a new foster child living with us. Long story and not one I will share here. There are minimal financial implications but nothing that will affect my current debt pay off plan.”
    May 29, 2020
    “Princess’ senior year tuition…paid 1/2 of that. I also paid $1,500 towards Princess’ school tuition for the year. There is no penalty if I pay her full tuition by December 1st, so I decided to just pay 1/2 right now.”

    Your words not mine. So, you consider an additional USD 3,000 in tuition only as minimal financial impact on your debt pay off plan? On top of tuition, there will be lots of other expenses. Right? Is there anyone to help with this new child’s expenses? Do not get me wrong, I truly appreciate your kind heart but why do you have to be the only one to deal with this if this little girl is family? I know you do not want to discuss this over here but I am hoping you will be getting some help.

    • Reply Nan |

      Usually the state gives a monthly stipend or child has SSI which is $783 a month in my state. Not a lot but pays for food and clothes. I do not believe for a minute Hope fosters for the money though. I always wanted to foster but my husband was not on board. It can be really difficult if they leave your home after you have bonded and DH did not want to deal with that.

      • Reply Hope |

        This is a very personal situation and as stated, will not be discussed on this blog.
        But I will say this…she is old enough to work, there is no state assistance (again long story and not mine to tell) and financial implications are minimal. She has state funded medical insurance, works for her spending money and will attend the public school. She is entering her senior year.

  • Reply Walnut |

    I’m pretty sure readers have been calling out your outrageous phone bill since the very first post.

  • Reply Kay |

    Progressive tends to be the cheapest to insure a teenager or young adult.

  • Reply Ellen |

    FYI, it looks like you put Princess’ real name in your post. Not sure you meant to do that.

  • Reply Margann34 |

    I love this post because I see action. Not just talk! You paid extra on student loans! You paid tuition! You reduced insurance costs! You are actually researching new phone plans. I feel like this really is a new path for you. You have talked about these things for a long time, you have made many plans. But I actually see action here. Keep it up!

  • Reply Laura |

    Never get stuck in a phone contract for a “free” phone. Glad you are looking at other options. Pay cash for your phones and there is nothing wrong with being a few models behind. Great job on the loan payment.

  • Reply Cwaltz |

    Good job on the payment! Don’t get discouraged if you can’t pay this much every month or are not able to reach your stretch goal of $1178. Just focus on moving that number DOWN every month. This is a great time for you to push those numbers down since interest is being deferred.

    As for History Buff tell him congrats on the car but remind him since he bought an older car that he needs to create a larger category in his budget for car maintenance. Older cars don’t have payments but they do tend to be more expensive in terms of upkeep.

  • Reply Deb |

    Hope,
    I am thankful that you made a payment to your student loan. Please consider making as many adjustments as you can to your budget like you are doing now to keep paying on the balance of the loan. I am proud of you.

  • Reply Shanna |

    If the boys own their own cars and are not students it is time for them to have their own separate policies I believe. They can set up their own USAA accounts. You may find cheaper insurance but you won’t find better insurance. And knowing it is USAA befuddles me even more, because I am USAA and paid about $50 per child per month to add them to our policy and that is also adding a car for each of them as well. Hope that when the boys move on to their own policies it may get better?

  • Reply Melissa |

    Look at Visible for phone – I just switched our business account and will save $300+ a month.

  • Reply Meg |

    I don’t know if this is happening for anyone else or if it’s just my computer. The last update I can see on my computer is this one from the end of May. On my phone there are multiple updates until June 15th. And even those aren’t showing up according to the dates it’s supposedly posted.

So, what do you think ?