In our Debt Payoff Update for August post we talked about how hard it is to come off the high of paying off all non-mortgage related debt, because saving for a car and paying off your mortgage early is obviously the next step that most people take. However, we talked about having grit, and pushing through those feelings to save for a car, make extra mortgage payments, and become totally and completely debt free. We are definitely in that tough time now, because we have a surplus coming in, and the temptation to spend it can be great at times. That’s why we started the 31-Day Spending Freeze! (See all of our Debt Free Journey posts here).
How we made changes this month to save and earn extra income while we are spending as little as possible:
- We started the 31-Day Spending Freeze! as a way to help motivate ourselves and others to save and not spend.
- We continue to focus on being as minimalist as possible, and we will be writing more articles to go with that series this month.
- We are starting to think about Chrismas, and are planning handmade gifts that will not cost us much money to make. It’s important to us to give meaningful gifts that don’t appear cheap or too frugal. However, we do our best to save on gift-giving whenever possible while still giving a loving and thoughtful gift.
- We again completed several blog posts that were compensated which helped bring in extra income as well. However, we are trying to position our blog to grow, so we are still reinvesting pretty much all of that extra income. It will be worth the growth!
- We did not have any photography shoots in September, but we already have one scheduled for October.
- All of the cleaners in our home have now been replaced with our Young Living products. They announced in July that they would be selling dish soap, laundry detergent, etc. So, we no longer have those expenses in our grocery bill each month as they are part of our Essential Rewards order which we can write off as a business expense.
- We continue to work on building our Young Living essential oils team to create extra income for our family. This past month our check was over $400. We started having weekly classes and make & takes in our home to help educate others in the area about how they can replace many items in their home by utilizing Young Living products.
- Please note that we have started a YouTube series on our YouTube channel titled “Daily Dime.” Make sure to subscribe to our channel and check by daily for ways you can save money every day. We are also on Periscope (search for DebtFreeSpending.com) and also have our Daily Dime show listed on there as well!
Prayer Requests & Praises:
- We are FINALLY able to start saving again now that hubby is back to work.
- The Lord has provided enough extra money over the last month that if we decide to move forward with any more medical procedures to have children we can pay cash. However, then we will have to decide between one of us staying home, saving for a car, etc. So, we will be at a fork in the road so to speak.
- Please pray for this upcoming year as we have to make some final decisions about having any more children, adoption, etc.
- The baby had hand, foot, and mouth disease last week and had a fever for several days. The Lord worked out our schedules in amazing way (that only God can do) that it had minimal impact, and I was still able to keep him home.
- School is back in full swing, and so is soccer! While we are busy, I am keeping an attitude of praise because we are so blessed, even in the busy times!
Check out our posts How to Do Halloween on a Budget and How to Have a Debt Free Christmas
Leave a Reply