by Claire
I know I said this post would be about the trip we took…but there’s too much other stuff I want to share!
Wait a minute—was I supposed to make debt reduction my primary focus of this blog?! I think I misunderstood. I thought this was a How To Secure Your Financial Demise blog! 🙂
Kidding! Kidding! I AM serious about getting out of debt! Exhibit A: Laundry Detergent. I made my own tonight. Gosh I wish you all knew me a little bit better so that you could laugh along with me at this image. The kids were very interested in what I was creating! But the funniest moment was when I started hacking and coughing because of all the powder dust I was creating! I’ll do better next time but most importantly, I spent only $10 on the supplies that should create laundry detergent to last through the summer! I’m so excited! I know this isn’t the only solution to paying off $100,000 in debt….but it IS very motivating and at this early point in the marathon, that’s a very good thing!
On a more serious note, we have certainly made some small dents in the overall debt. We will post updates on a monthly basis even though we are making almost daily progress! I hope this helps some of you sleep at night re: my debt. 😉 I am absolutely asking myself the very question many of you suggest, “Do I really NEED this?!” and I am finding empowerment in that process. I am so fortunate in that the debt I have is NOT the result of having over-indulged my children and as a result their adjustment will be one of the easier parts of this process. To quickly address the issue of knowing how I got here I’ll share that a HUGE part of that is divorce. I don’t recommend divorce as part of your financial planning. My divorce is easily a good $35,000 to $40,000 of my debt. Another HUGE part of my debt is paying for “convenience.” As I dissect my past spending so much of it was this facade of doing what was seemingly easier and more convenient….but cost me big time! I’m quickly growing accustomed to making changes to that facade. I’m not talking about keeping up a facade to impress others b/c I truly just don’t worry about that but instead this facade of my life running smoothly…but only b/c I was paying out the nose for “convenience!”
And finally…to briefly address comments regarding “negative” comments and my response to them: I have pretty tough skin. In my profession, I have to have tough skin. In my personal life…because I come from a gigantic family I have to have tough skin. This isn’t a matter of not wanting to hear very valuable constructive criticism from those who have been there but instead just a wish that people not try to guess who I am, who my family is, how I got here and how I plan to get out of here—after a handful of posts. I absolutely, positively do not get hurt feelings from any of the tough talking comments regarding my debt. Those are EARNED and not lost on me at all—quite frankly, the only comments I took issue with were the ramen and milk posts. In fact, I’ve turned that into a tag line of sorts “Ramen and Milk!” The meaning of that tag line is essentially “jumping to conclusions.” We are all guilty of it—and that is all I meant with my 10,000 page book comment–that until we all get to know each other, we can’t say “Ramen and Milk!” For those of you wondering, I promise my children are not eating ramen and milk at every single meal (insert chuckle here).
And so it began with making my own laundry detergent. We all have to start somewhere, don’t we? Thank you all so much for your input. I truly am implementing so, so many of them! I’m thankful for all of you! Even the Ramen and Milk crew!
I do hope you laugh along with me on this journey. Take a look at my “about me” info and you will see that humor is so a part of who I am. As Readers Digest says…laughter IS the best medicine! 🙂
