January was a fairly good month for us. Even after depleting our emergency fund and them pumping it back up to $1,000, we were still able to pay off over $1,400 in debt. Also, keep in mind that the $1,400 we paid off is only the reduction of principal and doesn’t count the interest we paid. So technically, we are making over $2,000 worth of debt payments per month.
For those of you who don’t read my weekly article over at Frugal Dad, I recently announced that I got a new job in Washington, DC. The job doesn’t start until mid-April, but it will be a HUGE income boost for us. This new job will increase our income by approximately $4,000. I will be doing the same job but since I will now work in Washington, I get a cost-of-living pay increase. Another great thing about the new job is that we will no longer have to pay rent in Pennsylvania. The new job will help us cut our expenses by $4,800!
Since we have already been living on less than we make, ALL of these new earnings and savings will be put towards debt. That is an $8,800 new shovel! It will feel great knowing that we will be able to pay things off almost twice as fast.
Anyway, here is what we paid off for January:
Well, it’s been a little while since I had a roundup so I thought I would get back in the mix. It’s tough for me to read as many blogs as I used to. I can’t read blogs at work like many other bloggers can. Frankly, it stinks. I feel so much more disconnected than I used to be. I hardly Tweet and I very rarely comment on other blogs. Hopefully, I can find a new routine that will allow me to do more of that. We’ll see!
In other news, I will be starting a series on the blog called “The Debtor’s Mind”. The series is going to be about the things that we as debtors tell ourselves to make us feel better. So, if you try to rationalize why you are in debt on a daily basis, I want to hear what your thoughts are. Send me an email with some topics and I will give you credit if you so desire. I already have a few thoughts but I am curious to hear yours!
Must Reads
Family Member Loan: Three Reasons I Would Reconsider – This is a guest post by yours truly over at My Super-Charged Life. As you know, I owe a family member over $16,000 and in this article I talk about how I will NEVER do it again.
How Conan O’Brien Wants You To Succeed. Flexo has a guest post over at Budgets Are Sexy that has some great thoughts to take from Conan’s last night on the “Tonight Show”. I hope Conan comes back even stronger in a few months. He deserves it.
7 Money Lessons From Monopoly. Ray from Financial Highway shares a great post on the financial lessons you can learn from the classic Monopoly game.
Should I Save For Retirement While In Debt? Here is my weekly post over at Frugal Dad. I explore the question of stopping retirement savings to get out of debt. Is it really worth the savings that you are missing out on?
Other Great Reads
