2020 Financial Review and Debt Elimination Update: Q4 October-December 2020

Originally Posted on January 18, 2021 on Free, Fun Family

This has certainly been a memorable year for everyone. And for some, finances have been tight and pinched as job losses, furloughs, and hour reductions dried up income sources; for others, the booming stock market (driven mostly by mega companies who provide delivery services) has caused dramatic gains in Net Worth. We are well aware of the good fortune we have to mostly be in the latter category, though we did not hit most of the targets I set for 2020.

Most of the final months of 2020 were consumed with catching up on work tasks I’d fallen behind on during our family crisis mode and taking over the daily caregiving tasks of my mother’s post-stroke recovery. We also had a challenging, but enjoyable, holiday season owing mostly to the difficulties of the ongoing coronaviruse pandemic. Of course, my blog has been sadly neglected during this time, but I have been making some modest financial progress. I intend to return to monthly debt updates/financial progress posts in this year, rather than the quarterly reports, but I do need to wrap up my 2020 financial year as a whole to feel unstuck.

Baking Christmas cookies with Grandma was a fantastic way to end 2020.

Adjusting to the long-term nature of the pandemic, since vaccination will likely not be completely effective for “normal life” until at least spring, has required us to create new routines and reexamine our values and priorities. We are so very blessed that we have been able to make it through difficult times with increased love and connections in our family as well as forward financial progress (even though it has been slower this year).

Financial progress from Quarter 4 (September-December):

• Began using YNAB (You Need a Budget). This is a popular budgeting software. I have used the free tracking softward Mint for about a decade, but after reading Jesse Mecham’s book about the philosophy of YNAB (affiliate link if you want to try it), I decided to give it a try. I’m loving it; it has completely changed my relationship with budgeting and spending money. I will write a whole post about that soon.
• Applied for a refinance for our mortgage. This should be completed by the end of January and again, deserves its own post. Ultimately, the refi should result in the following things: lower interest on the loan, more flexibility in cashflow with a smaller minimum payment, and the ability to pay it off faster by putting more towards the principal each month. I ran the numbers and the loan should save us about $35K in interest and 3 years for repayment, based on our current repayment plan.
• Kept Christmas spending reasonable. Our kids have had such a challenging year, it was tempting to go wild. We checked our values and made a few well-loved choices.
• Debt Progress: Here are the numbers for the end of December:
  • Balance Transfer 1 (0% through March 2021): $2,790
  • Balance Transfer 2 (0% through April 2021): $4,800
  • Balance Transfer 3 (0% through August 2021): $5,300
  • Grad School 1 (5.5%): $1,598.47
  • Grad School 2 (5.5%): $4,244.73
    TOTAL Remaining: $18,733.20
    Amount paid off this quarter: $1,264.27
    Amount paid off TOTAL: $25,522.58

2020 Goal Accomplishment (feel free to disregard if you had a rotten year):

We have a healthy savings account again. Our emergency fund/sinking fund is now large enough to easily get us through a month or two of no income. We might use some of that to payoff the credit cards before the 0% expires, but I want to wait until we’re through the school budgeting cycle and I know more about my job security for next school year.

Overall in 2020, we decreased our total debt by $9,139.77, though only $3,000.87 of that was our targeted debt reduction. This was less than our plan of $15,000, but I’m happy that we are making clear progress.

We increased our giving this year by more than 2% of take home pay, though quite a bit of that was the personal loan we forgave to a family friend in March. I am proud that increasing our giving has been a major part of our financial plan. We’re now at the rate I want to maintain until this debt payoff is finished.

I did not buy any clothing in 2020. Clothing shopping ban, completed! In some ways it was “easy” because of the shut down, but I also found it a bit challenging because I was not pleased with my “loungewear” selections, which were mostly ratty pj-stuff and exercise wear, the cute stuff of which was uncomfortable. I broke my ban in January to purchase some yoga pants and joggers that have remained on my “want to buy” list all year long. I will try to do this every year, and only purchase clothing in a very thoughtful way going forward.

I gave up on decluttering physical objects, but I did deactivate Facebook around September and don’t have any interest in reactivating it, so I’ll call that a win. I also slowed down a lot this year, though that was more imposed than intentional. However, I embraced the process. I will be very selective in what we bring “back” when we return to “normal.”

We also saw a net worth increase of 39%, mostly due to increased college savings, debt payoff, and a bananas market. Our net worth has minimal impact on our daily lives, but can present a useful picture of where we stand. Still under the Millionaire Next Door formula for wealth accumulation, but getting closer.

Happy New Year from our Free, Fun, Family to yours.

As a final note, I am so glad to put this horrible year behind us. I know that 2021 has had some bumps in the road already, but I am clinging to hope and peace as we usher in the next decade.

Core Personal Financial Beliefs and 2020 Financial Goals

 Originally Posted on January 29, 2020 in Free Fun Family

After spending too much time on Twitter, sometimes this happens. Today, I’m turning it into a blog post. Why not?

I want to take a moment to state my current beliefs about finances and my financial goals for 2020. However, every time I go to write that post, I can’t seem to get Ramit Sethi‘s voice out of my head. This annoys me because the author of the brazenly titled I Will Teach You to Be Rich very clearly has financial goals (to get rich) which I have recently begun to realize are not my goals. However, Sethi gave a powerful keynote speech at FinCon19 about knowing your voice and message, being unapologetically committed to your viewpoint, and free of guilt about spending (money or time) on your values. I may not want to be rich, but I do want to have a clearer point of view for this blog.

If I asked you right now, “What is your point of view?” would you have an answer?

Ramit Sethi, FinCon19 keynote speech

Writing is my favorite way to process the world and connect with others, so I’ve been blogging in some form or another off and on over the last 20 years, but since becoming a mother (and especially in the several year period of grief following the loss of my dad), I’ve struggled with the shift in my voice and my identity. I began Free, Fun, Family primarily as a way to share the journey of our family as we try to live a life of freedom and joy in a world that seems designed to keep us all perpetually dissatisfied and wanting. (Yay, capitalism?)

Because we had a mountain of debt in 2018 that was interfering with our family’s ability to live in the way that we wanted, the blog has also served as a way to keep me accountable to meeting our financial goals. We’ve done some of the hard work to correct our habits, and we will eventually get out from under this debt (although some days it’s harder to believe than others).

I have come to realize, however, that my values for personal finance were not clearly articulated. So what is my point of view about personal finance?

1. I believe debt can be a useful tool, but that the deregulation of the banking and loans industry has lead to predatory lending and unnecessary inflation of living standards that exploits human nature and is harming the American public. Because I have the ability and privilege to understand some of the harmful practices of lending institutions, I have sometimes used these tools to save money (such as student loans, introductory offers, mortgages, and balance transfers). However, my participation in these practices does not sit well with my ethics any more. While I will continue to use some of these consumer tools to pay off the debt I have incurred, I will be more mindful about how my use of them to my family’s advantage is harming others without the same privilege. I will be more vocal in speaking out about the harms of such practices and the need for regulations to protect consumers from the financial industry.
2. I believe that people have a personal responsibility to manage their finances, but that the economic conditions of American capitalism devastate families at a faster pace than American self-reliance can keep up. I value frugality and living within your means. Unfortunately, the way healthcare and public education funding works in this country leaves far too many families with choices not about whether or not to forgo the daily $4 luxury coffee (thanks, latte factor, which is not AT ALL gendered…), but rather with the choice of taking on an additional $150,000 in mortgage to access a school district that aligns with their children’s needs or pay $2000 for a live-saving medication not fully covered by their insurance. I’m also not a fan of dumping the responsibility of investing and saving for retirement onto individuals (re: the move from defined pensions to 401ks).
3. I believe that talking honestly about our relationship with money, consumption, income, and wealth can help undo harmful narratives and expose the exploitative practices we need to change. One of my favorite aspects of being part of the personal finance blogging community is coming across articles where individuals confront the racial wealth gap and the gender wage gap in ways that are not just academic. I am committing to continuing to contribute my own story to this narrative by talking about things like immigration policy and real-life financial decisions.
4. (Here’s the most controversial one, friends): I believe that material success is much, much more determined by external, random factors (parental income, location of birth, health conditions, etc.) than personal qualities, although personal improvements and education can help individuals rise to their most glorious humanity. People are incredible and wonderful–they work so hard and achieve so much. I’m not saying they don’t. Just that our tendency to look at “success stories” makes us think there is something personal and easily replicable about the achievements of people like Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, and Oprah. There are at least 10,000 equally spectacular and intelligent hard-working humans who did most of the same things as these household names that didn’t “make it” for each one of these superstars. Imagine if our world allowed for the possibility of 10,000 of each of them instead of a winner-takes-all competition to the “top”? (For more about this, I recommend Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers.)
5. Humans are capable of creating a more just world, and are obligated to do so. I’m an optimist; a “humanist in a captialist world” as a friend once described her husband. We built the systems and institutions that made the world unfair and exploitative. We can change them.

In short, I believe that the world of personal finance is not a just one, but that it’s the one we have, so you have to learn to play. I also believe it’s important to use your wins to fight for a more just world. I’m playing by the rules to get out of my own debt, but if those rules were to change now and become more fair for the world, I would celebrate that progress rather than lament the harms I suffered.

Now that we’re all clear about what we stand for, what are my financial goals for 2020?

1. Repair the emergency fund and sinking fund to minimal levels and resume monthly contributions. These were just about wiped out over the last three months for both planned and unplanned expenses. It will mean the debt repayment will slow a lot over the next three months, but having those funds were what enabled us to continue progress instead of going further in debt.
2. Reduce total debt by over $15,000. That will include an estimated $7,000 in the debts (mortgage and undergrad student loan at 1.65% interest) not included in our Debt Elimination project, so I guess I’m trying for over $8,000 paid off on the debt freedom thermometer. Woo hoo!
3. Improve % of giving by more than 1%. I loved what giving did for my finances and my values last year, and I will continue to grow in this area. I have this as a goal until out of debt when I plan to set it at 10%.
4. Declutter 100 items a month from my home. I have struggled with consistent motivation, but I think this is manageable for me this year.
5. Mindful consumerism to reduce expenses. Continuing to question my purchases and their impact on the planet and people. This includes an already-begun shopping ban.

Going beyond will include retirement contributions, college savings, and freelance pursuits, but right now I’m dealing with back pain, and we all know that doesn’t make bigger goals easy. I feel these goals are big and yet manageable. I might get more ambitious when I’m not doubled over half the time.

This post, and my philosophical exploration, owe a great deal to the following fellow bloggers and Twitter pals. If you’re in the mood for more thoughtful explorations of personal finance and its intersection with fighting back against harmful institutions, I recommend reading a bit from these folks:

• Matt Lane, who blogged about Personal Finance and Politics
• Tanja Hester, who wrote recently about You’ve saved up for early retirement. Can you help to save the world?
• Penny, who blogged about Why I Still Pick Up Pennies
• the76Kproject, who blogged about What I Learned From A Week Of Reducing My Plastic Use And Trying To Be A More Conscientious Consumer
• GovWorker, who blogged about Finances for a Frugal Family of Five
• StephtheBlogger, who blogged about Pulling Yourself Up by Your Boobstraps

By Diana

About that Emergency Fund: Roof Replacement

 Originally Posted on June 12, 2018 in Free, Fun, Family

Ours is the end unit. See that roof with those two leak holes–I mean skylights? This is from three years ago when she was already an old lady. Farewell, girl. RIP.

We’ve known since we moved into our beloved home five+ years ago that we were due for a new roof.  The house is 24 years old with the original roof–four years past the maximum expected for the current roof.  We’ve known that we were going to have to cough up $4,000-$8,000 at some point, but we kept hoping we could save up for it after debt repayment was complete.  This weekend, the rain finally won–we have a small leak around the skylight in the master bathroom.

I’ve had a variety of emotional responses to a major home repair in the middle of finally mastering debt and crawling out of our hole.

“It’s not fair!”  It’s not.  Toughen up, buttercup!

“Maybe we should just repair it and wait?” (This is the method Dave Ramsey recommends, by the way, which made us give it more thought than we really should have since we knew the roof was past its time).  Wait for what?  The drywall to soak through and mold to start growing in the attic?  Our debt payoff will take another 21 months or so.  No thanks!

“What’s the point?  Every time we get a little bit ahead, we just get sucked back into debt!” This is a dangerous line of thinking for me, because when we emergency replaced our HVAC unit last summer (where a substantial portion of our current debt comes from), I gave into this and it caused me to increase our debt in the second half of the year because the number just felt too high and ridiculous!

“You could use the IRA contributions… you haven’t touched them to pay off your debt, but this is your HOME!  It’s an emergency!”  Yes, but it’s one we knew was coming and should have planned for.  Just like we should have managed our finances better and not been in this precarious debt situation in the first place.  We did this to ourselves–the IRA is for retirement.

I knew I needed to do something different here.  We needed a new roof.  Ultimately, being stingy here would make the final costs much greater.  Instead, I took a deep breath.

I looked at the big picture of how far we’ve come in four months.  We’ve reduced our credit card/consumer debt by almost $7,000 in just four months.  That’s enough to pay for the roof plus some!  Our habits are changed.  While we have a big vacation coming up that was planned pre-debt-elimination, and we will enjoy it, we have no other major expenditures planned/anticipated for the next few years other than the roof.  We have some things we WANT for the house, but really the roof was the last thing hanging over our heads as a NEED.  We have $1,000 in the emergency fund and can tighten our belts even more in the coming months.  I know I’m getting a raise in July (final amount pending, but it was approved by the governing board) and that our frugal habits are sustainable.  We can do this!

We took a few bids from local, highly rated roofers and decided to go with a local guy who could squeeze in the job while Min and the kids are in Korea, so they don’t have to deal with a construction site one day.  He quoted us a touch over $6,000 ($4,800 for the roof and $1,200 to replace the skylights).  His bid was in the low-middle of the offers (ranged $5,500-$7,000).  This guy, specifically.

Now, how to pay?  We could put it on a credit card, but I’m so focused on paying off that debt, I really don’t want to add to it.  It would feel like a step backwards.  I looked into home repair and home equity loans.  Too much paperwork and fees!  In the end, I decided on a $5,000, 3-year personal loan with an interest rate comparable to our (low interest) credit cards, no origination fees, and no prepayment penalties.  Hopefully, we can zap the balance when we’re done paying off the credit cards, but this will keep the loan manageable and fast.

Bye, bye emergency fund!  I guess I am going to have to try to sell off some stuff to restock it to $1,000 quickly.

This journey to gain control of my finances has made me feel more confident about this emergency, even with the fears of hopelessness, than I have felt about similar problems in the past.  I have the confidence to keep going down this path to building wealth.

They say when it rains, it pours; luckily it’s just a trickle right now.  Easily patched.

Book Review: Meet the Frugalwoods

Originally Posted on June 7, 2018 in Free, Fun, Family

I enjoy reading books by bloggers I admire because it makes me hopeful that this practice in writing that I enjoy so much could be one way to make the hobby I love a profession.  I have read a bit of Elizabeth Willard Thames’s Frugalwoods blog on and off since she started it back in 2014.  Her eschewing of the dangerous, unhealthy consumerist culture in the U.S. (while still functioning within that society) is something I have struggled in reaching my own personal goals.  I enjoyed reading even more when she became a mom and achieved her dream of homesteading, which is also when her blog picked up in popularity.  However, I was delighted to see that her first book was published in March–right when I began to get serious about my return to blogging!

Thames and her husband have achieved financial independence at an early age through a combination of hard work, frugality, and vision. Meet the Frugalwoods: Achieving Financial Independence Through Simple Living is the story behind the blog posts. I loved the story! I enjoyed parts of the book that rounded out the story–the details from her time as an Americorps VISTA volunteer and the process of buying the homestead and then settling into it were particularly interesting.

Thames is aware (and acknowledges) that she was in a privileged position to reach her goal, which some people have criticized, but I think she is quite sincere about her awareness of this privilege and appreciation for it. I admire how positive she stays, even when sharing some incidents that were undoubtedly painful and emotionally fraught (her depression while living in DC, her anxiety about work as a high-achieving liberal arts major after graduating from college, her daughter’s week and a bit in the ICU). I think this ability to focus on the positive and remain grateful for what opportunities and resources she has been given allows her to make the best use of those resources.

It would be easy to read this book and nitpick. I’ve read a lot of reviews of it that do so (the most common complaint seems to be that both Frugalwoods had extremely high salaries which she almost never mentions, and that Thames’s husband is still working full time in his well-paid, location-independent job; I don’t think that lessens the work, planning, and research they did to achieve their dream life). I hope Thames does not take these comments too much to heart.

I really do think the best thing Thames offers in her work is an understanding that long term financial goal achievement is only possible through positive perseverance and clarity in values alignment. While my family is currently restrained by some limitations she and her husband were not during their hyper-focus on their goal to purchase a homestead, I think she sets out a clear path to follow that could lead to whatever goals a person wanted to achieve, even if they take longer than she did.

Live the best life you can–the Frugalwoods do and encourage others to do so as well.  Thanks for writing, Liz!

Disclosure:  This post contains affiliate links for convenience.  I would be overjoyed if you checked these books out from the local library to read their wisdom!  However, if you would like to purchase my recommendations and financially support the work I’m doing on this blog, please feel free to use the links above.

Attitude of Gratitude: My Dad

Originally Posted on June 5, 2018 to Free, Fun, Family

Today is the fourth anniversary of the death of my father.  It’s hard to write about it, because Dad and I were very close for most of my life.  The grief I have from this loss is still overwhelming at times.  He was a funny, brilliant, stubborn, laid-back man who worked hard at what he loved (engineering), for those he loved (his family), sharing his passion for what he loved (sailing–see the picture of him on the dock).

Dad helped begin my love affair with frugality and fostered my anti-consumerist tendencies, but also reminded me that it is ok to spend money on what really matters in life.  He supported all my adult career and personal decisions, loved Min and J deeply, and never failed to make the right joke at the right time.  I cannot adequately express the joy and love he brought (and continues to bring) into my life.  That he will never know H (and she will never know him) is one of the few real regrets in my life.

“Today is the first day of the rest of your life.” (Dad’s favorite Dad quote.)

Now that I am a parent, I appreciate the constant, steady presence Dad had throughout my childhood more than ever.  He loved my mom in a way that taught me what romantic love really should be.  He encouraged me to take chances and believe in myself.  I feel his absence every day, as do the other members of my family.  But lately, I’ve been in a place to just appreciate what time we were able to share.  Life is short; Dad’s impact is enduring.  I hope to provide my own children with as much acceptance, humor, and challenge as my Dad provided me.  Thanks, Dad.  Always.

Debt Elimination Progress: May 2018

Originally Posted on June 2, 2018 in Free, Fun, Family

Given that we’ve made significant progress in reducing our spending and increasing our debt repayment that are major, sustainable behavior changes, I felt comfortable pursing an option to reduce the interest we’re paying on our current credit cards: balance transfers.  I applied for one balance transfer card that had 0% interest for 15 months and no transfer fees.  They approved me for a bit over $3000.  Then I applied for another card at 0% for 18 months with a 3% balance transfer fee (this will take only 2.5 months to come out ahead of our interest rates).  They approved almost $10,000.  These two allowed me to eliminate my highest interest rate balance (the Visa) entirely and reduce my next-highest rate (the AmEx) by about $5,000.  I will save over $100 in interest every month, which can help pay off the principal much faster!  Because of the balance transfer fee, the amount we reduced our debt by this month was a bit less, BUT we should catch up quickly!

Progress from May:

• Continued to reduce food spending. I’ve started baking at home, making my own salsa and pizza, and went to Aldi (already in love with it–you will see a post when I’ve been a few more times).  I’m seeing the light at the end of the tunnel for this budget area and finally feeling less out of control in this area!
• Balance transfer cards. As described above, we are committed enough to really paying off our consumer debt once and for all to make this worthwhile for us.  I didn’t do it at the beginning because I know I’ve start “payoff” plans before and quit; balance transfers can be a big risk for debt repayment, but I feel quite good about our ability to pay off the balances before the introductory rates expire.
• Our debt payoff is slowing down, but we are still making progress every month.  I anticipate a modest raise in July, which will help, but our pace is slow and steady for May and June as we prepare for a lengthy trip to Korea to spend time with family.  We continue to focus on ways to reduce our spending.  Here are the numbers for the end of May (with new accounts considered):
  • Visa Card: $0 (transferred and finished)
  • Home Improvement Loan: $3,500
  • AmEx: $8,000 (transferred a lot)
  • Balance Transfer 1 (0% for 15 months): $3,038
  • Balance Transfer 2 (0% for 18 months): $9,589.30
  • TOTAL: $24,127.30
  • Amount paid off this month: $508.88
  • Amount paid off TOTAL: $6,828.70

Add the reduction of non-consumer debt and we’ve torched $8,546.41 of debt in four months.

Goals for June:

1. Cancel cable internet while in Korea
2. From June 20 (when the kids and Min leave for Korea): absolute minimum groceries until I leave.
3. Try spin classes when other exercise classes are cancelled as the Y rebuilds–keeps me focused on goals.

Learning to Blog Again

 Originally Posted on May 11, 2018 in Free, Fun, Family

Getting back in the saddle.

Confession time: Although this blog is a bit under two months old, I am not new to blogging.  I began journaling online in college, and experimented with several platforms, without much success.  For several years (2007-2011) I maintained a personal blog using the Blogger platform called Going Places when I moved to South Korea to teach, lived there for three years, met and married my husband, and moved back to the U.S.  This site gained modest popularity within the expat blogging community living in Korea, and I made several real life friendships through blogging.  I enjoyed it immensely, but since I was mostly blogging about life in Korea, I had trouble continuing to blog at the same site when I moved back to the United States.

I stopped renewing my domain two years ago; the site is still there, but only because I haven’t bothered to properly archive it. I’ve tried several times to pick up blogging again (writing at my old blog, writing about marriage, writing about parenting, etc. etc.), since writing is an essential piece of my happiness, but my efforts have usually fizzled out within a few weeks.  Life got busy, I was taking graduate coursework, raising two young kids, holding down two jobs, and managing some health conditions.  Life isn’t necessarily less busy right now, but I’m making more of a commitment to all aspects of my health in 2018: physical, financial, spiritual, and psychological.  Blogging (writing) is part of that journey.

I’ve actually been thinking about starting a blog about family fun/frugality for years, but was finally inspired to take the plunge after spending some time on Shannon’s Affording Motherhood blog.  I appreciated her optimism, honesty, and can-do attitude towards blogging and saving money.  It made me brave enough to try again.  I still want to be a writer (published–I know I am a writer) when I grow up!

So far, I’m enjoying my writing journey at Free, Fun, Family.  Min shared my post about my amazing sister-in-law with her, and she appreciated it.  Several friends and family members have said kind words about my reboot.  I’ve started, cautiously, to take it public: to let people in my life know I’m writing, commenting on blogs, linking on social media, etc.  If you’ve happened upon my quiet corner of the internet, thank you for taking the time to read my work.  Please feel free to drop me a note in the comments, and let me know what you think.

Family Fun Tip: Festivals

Originally Posted on May 4, 2018 in Free, Fun, Family

Spring has finally sprung here in Maryland.  In our delightful small city, family-friendly festivals are held year-round.  However the pleasant-weather months of Spring, Summer, and Fall are the heaviest seasons for festivals, since they are usually outdoors.

Every year, our family attends between five and twenty-five festivals or similar events within close driving distance.  We’ve been to farm festivals, history festivals, nature festivals, children’s festivals, Asian/Korean/other culture festivals, holiday-themed festivals (think Fourth of July or Halloween), wine/cheese/maple syrup festivals, and more.  We spend time researching different events in our area and challenge ourselves to find new ones, even as we reprise visiting our favorites.

Such events can be quite expensive, with many opportunities to spend money on food, clothing/gift items, and activities, so it pays to do some work to keep costs down and maximize the fun without a lot of spending.  Here are my tips for maximizing your frugal enjoyment of these festivals:

1. Look for festivals with no or very low entry fees, and watch for hidden fees.  And watch out for “free” entry, but then everything associated with the event costs money (parking fees, tickets to purchase for activities, extra money for tastings, etc.).  Most of the festivals we frequent are free with free parking, but we’ll pay a bit if it offers a lot of entertainment value for our whole family.  I find that festivals sponsored by nonprofit entities (health agencies, parks and rec, churches, libraries, etc.) tend to be better about this than private organizations, but not always.  One of my favorite festivals for our young children is the spring/fall festival at a local commercial dairy farm (where the goat picture came from).  They are very generous with their samples, full of fun activities and performers, and free hayrides up a mountain.
2. Pack most of your food, but splurge on the “special treat.”  Most festivals have food vendors selling very overpriced, mediocre meals.  It’s easy to spend $20 (or more) for a family of four on crappy sandwiches and/or room temperature pizza.  We usually pack a decent picnic lunch, water bottles, and snacks, but plan to spend a little on something unique to the festival–like purchasing some maple candies at the maple syrup festival or ice cream from the aforementioned dairy farm.  That said, we still limit our portions and share (two single servings are usually more than enough for the four of us).
3. Beware impulse purchases.  You are having a great time.  The weather’s lovely!  Your children are happy and cooperative!  These nice artists are here talking about the local sources for their supplies–and suddenly $50 for a pair of earrings for Mom’s Christmas gift doesn’t sound unreasonable at all…  STOP!  Most vendors will have contact information and an online store.  You can still support them if you enjoyed their art and their story, but there is no need to make that decision RIGHT THERE.
4. Look for discounts. One of our favorite carnivals is the local firehouse carnival.  There are two or three nights they offer “Ride All Night” for one price specials.  But even better–if you buy these tickets a month or so in advance, they cost less than half what they do if you buy them at the door.  Some of the sponsors of festivals have deals through their websites or even through services like Groupon.  It doesn’t hurt to look around.
5. Beware crowds. Try to find less popular festivals.  Or go when the weather is less optimal (cold, windy days and light drizzle are still fine if you have proper outerwear and an enterprising attitude).  Or arrive really early.  Crowds usually mean long lines and whiny kids–NOT FUN.

Get out and learn about your community without much cost!  What was your favorite family festival experience?

Debt Elimination Progress: May 2018

 Originally Posted on May 1, 2018 in Free, Fun, Family

What a strange month–the weather here in Maryland was out of control, and while I felt like my spending was “crazy,” I can look at Mint and see that it was the least money we’ve spent in a single month in over two years.  This teaches me that my day to day feelings do not always reflect the reality I am living.  I’m still working on the pacing of my expectations and emotions while managing a long term goal.  Overall, this month was a great month for personal learning.

Progress from April:

• Significantly reduced food spending. This was a major win!  All the work I’ve been doing to modify our food spending, both in groceries and dining out, is paying off.  Our grocery bill has been hovering around $1,000 for several months, even as our dining out has been decreasing.  This month we spent less than $800 on groceries!  Hooray!
• I did even more math. I added up how much I’ve reduced my student loan and mortgage debt during this same period of loan payback (since the end of January).  I’ve also reduced these other non-targeted debts by $1,333.82.  That’s an impressive bolstering.
• Our debt payoff is slowing down, but we are still making progress every month.  I anticipate a modest raise in July, which will help, but our pace is going to slow down a bit for May and June as we prepare for a lengthy trip to Korea to spend time with family.  However, that means more work we do on controlling the spending, the more powerful the impact on debt reduction.  Here are the numbers for the end of April:
  • Home Improvement Loan: $4,000
  • Visa Card: $7,160.37
  • AmEx: $13,475.81
  • TOTAL: $24,636.18
  • Amount paid off this month: $727.18
  • Amount paid off TOTAL: $6,319.82

Add the reduction of non-consumer debt and we’ve torched $7,653.64 of debt in three months.  Unbelievable.  We are really making progress.  Sometimes it still just feels like a drop in the bucket, but these numbers show a 20% reduction of consumer debt in just three months.  That’s not a small achievement.

Goals for May:

1. Continue to target food costs for reduction.  Use it up!  Cheaper vegetables!  Bake bread!  Freezer cooking!
2. Save up a small cash cushion for Min to for Korean trip in June (may slow debt progress this month; acknowledge and embrace).
3. REALLY REALLY: No purchasing beverages for convenience/craving (BIG challenge).  I have to do this.  Did better in April, but did not abstain.

Budget Buster: Feelings of Inadequacy

 Originally Posted on April 26, 2018 in Free Fun Family

I’ve been doing some work on the feelings behind my impulsive spending this month.  Instead of judging myself when I slip up on my plan, I’m noticing why I spent money on something I didn’t need to spend on, how much, and how I feel about it.  I have identified a major trigger for me: feeling inadequate.

For example, I mentioned that I got a promotion recently. While I’ve trained for it and feel good about the position and am enjoying my new responsibilities, a big part of me worries that I’m not up to the task.  I am working on this feeling since all evidence is that I’m doing well in my new position and my boss and co-workers are happy with my work, but I frequently question my abilities.

This week was a big meeting of a committee essential to the partnership two institutions I work with, and I was presenting some work I’d done.  I felt nervous.  So in the last week I’ve treated myself to more fast food than I had in the last two months–to the tune of around $60.  Despite having plenty of already-prepped, healthy, delicious meals.  I felt out of control and reckless.  However, with the meeting successfully completed, I am noticing in reflection that it was an exaggerated sense of nerves surrounding my performance at the meeting.

If I really dig in, though, this performance-anxiety spending is a major trigger for me.  I worry I’m not a good enough mom, so I buy something for the kids.  I worry I’m not a good enough wife, so I buy something expensive for my husband (or say yes to something not in our budget).  I bought a lot of “grown up” clothes and shoes after accepting this promotion that I really (in retrospect) didn’t need.

I need to find a way to sit with the feelings of inadequacy long enough for the urge to spend money to pass.  I have noticed that my fitness class progress has been building my confidence, so perhaps that can be a way to combat.  I will commit to doing something physical (a walk, a dance with kids, a fitness class or workout) before spending on myself.  I think that might help me stave off the urge long enough to reconnect with my values and confidence.  Certainly it will be healthier than not doing so, even if I still end up getting the latte or french fries.