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And there goes the EF…

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I mentioned in one of my recent posts that I had to travel a good deal last week. Little could I have predicted what that would lead too.

As I returned home last Sunday, I was involved in a wreck, rear ending the car in front of me. I left the scene questioning God as to why me?

Tow hitches, even when barely hit, cause a lot of damage!

Not 10 miles down the road, I encountered the devastation of the tornadoes that ran rampant through Alabama. If I had not had that wreck, I would most certainly have been in the middle of the storm that killed so many.

This was an airport just a few minutes before I drove up.

As it was my 5 hour trip home, took me 8 hours due to downed power lines, jet fuel on the highway closing it down and having to feel my way through the back roads. But I am grateful. So many people lost everything, even their lives and their loved ones during these storms.

While I was out of town, I was notified that my Grandmother had been admitted to the hospital. So I stopped at the hospital on my way home from my trip and ended up spending a couple of nights there with her. She is fine, back home now. But it was a scary time.

It has been a tough week. I even gave myself a mental health day on Wednesday just to catch up on my sleep and de-stress a bit. I am so glad it is Friday and I have no big plans this weekend. And then I realized that we lose an hour of sleep this weekend as the time changes. Come on!

I hope your week has been better than mine. But through all of this, I am grateful for full coverage insurance on my car, an EF to cover my deductible and kids who are responsible enough to handle things at home when I have to be away.

I promise to get on top of my finance review and plan next week!

 

March Challenge Plan

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WhileI’ve now broken down my house by room, by closet and by cabinet space. Scheduled my #declutterchallenge is bite size pieces to assure my success. I put them on my Asana to do list with due dates. So I am all ready to get started.

I also organized a place to put the clutter I will be getting rid of. I have a cardboard box for the things that will be going to the thrift store, a trash can for the UN-donateable and a place to pile those that will be handled in some other way (send to someone else, scan papers or take pictures of things before I get rid of them, etc.)

While I am encouraging the kids to participate in this challenge in their own space; although, I’m not forcing it at this point. But I am really looking forward to a fresh new look and feel to the house as we remove the things we don’t need AND organize those that we do at the same time. This is definitely a labor of love!

How Will This Challenge Help?

But I know the BAD community is asking…what does this have to do with paying down your debt?

First, I there is something about having a clutter free, organized space that alleviates a great deal of stress. I’m pretty sure there is research backing that up. But I know this is a fact for me. And the less stress I have, the more apt I am to make good financial decisions.

Second, being organized really helps me avoid duplicate purchases. If I know where things should be and know if we have them, I will not re-purchase. The latest example of this for us is Chicken Noodle Soup. Somehow we ended up with 2 cases from Sams. And we are all tired of Chicken Noodle Soup – very!

Third, these monthly challenges are really working in keeping me focused. I mentioned in the comments recently that I am loving seeing my back account grow. While I believe know we will continue with eating at home a lot more, I need a new challenge. I did see someone else challenge their audience to start saving for retirement, but I’m not there yet. Paying down debt is my #1 goal, so this decluttering challenge is a step towards that.

Are you ready for the March #declutteringchallenge? What is your plan of action or are you just taking it a day at a time?