Blogging Away Debt Blogging Away Debt follows real people on their journey to debt freedom — with tips on the debt snowball, budgeting, cutting expenses, and staying motivated.

by Adam Dawson

Happy New Year! We survived the cruise and had a great time with our family.  We only spent about $100 total on the cruise, which is probably less than our weekly expenses would be on a normal week with groceries and gas and eating out, etc.   A huge win for us.

Not to be outdone, our house decided it needed some attention today too.  The plumbing clogged!  At first I noticed our shower draining slowly, then a little bit later, the toilets began to back up and trust me, it only got worse from there.

In our last rental house, I paid a plumber $100+ to clear a clogged drain.  I watched him, though, and realized he just ran an electric snaking auger through the main plumbing line through an outdoor access pipe and cleared the drain in minutes.  So instead of calling a plumber today, I went to Home Depot and rented the snake myself for $43, and cleared it out myself.  A big savings!

We are determined to make this a great year of paying off debt, even to the point of digging through our own sewage to save a few bucks!

We are behind on our administrative stuff due to being away, so hopefully in the next week or so we can post a debt update.  We also intend to get a lot more serious about budgeting in the new year.  So we’ll be digging into the numbers here soon.

Happy 2014! Make it great!

by Adam Dawson

Merry Christmas, readers!  We are filled with Christmas joy today!  We just finished our family breakfast and gift exchange.  We are surrounded by family and friends and having the best day, even though it may never snow here in Austin, TX.

Just a quick word of remembrance on this day as to why we are doing what we’re doing.  Emily and I are people of faith and this is a very special day for us. We believe the words of Luke chapter 2, verse 11 about the birth of the baby Jesus:  “Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.”  We also believe that the birth, death, and resurrection of Jesus has redeemed our souls before God and so, we are attempting, yet often failing, to live our lives as a response to this wonderful gift of grace.

Part of our response to the Christmas gift is our belief that we should seek to be free from the bondage of debt.  Jesus said that no one can serve both God and money.  So we are seeking, in these early years of our life together, to free ourselves from financial slavery so that we can choose to follow without hesitation any path on which our faith leads us.

I hope everyone is safe, warm, and in loving company this Christmas.  I know people have many reasons for wanting to be out of debt, but this is ours.  That said, we know we have a long way to go, and we screw it up a lot.  But by the grace of God we will reach our goal in a couple of years and no longer be encumbered in doing that to which He calls us.

Merry Christmas!