In our Debt Free Update for May we told you we had been debt free (other than our mortgage) for two months. We were switching to a saving focus, and we continued to build our businesses. You know how the best laid plans go…. We haven’t been able to save much because my husband stopped working for the summer as he does every year so we can travel. However, we have gone into spending freeze mode other than essentials and things we need to get done while we have the time off. (See all of our Debt Free Journey posts here).
IF you want to be DEBT FREE, check out our Financial Freedom Accountability Program!
I’ve been telling you since the fall that we have been working through our Financial Freedom Plan to become debt free. We also showed you how we eliminated $20,599 in debt in one day! When we started this journey, we had a $20,000 IVF Loan, $6,000+ in student loans, and a $20,599 auto loan (started as a $30,000 loan). That’s over $50,000 in debt at the start of this process, and that didn’t even include our mortgage!
How we made changes this month to save and earn extra income while we are spending as little as possible:
- Hubby took all of our son’s 1st year pictures, which saved us well over $100 and he did an amazing job. We also decided to start earning extra money on the side for this business, so please come like our Brandt Family Media Facebook page. Here’s just a sample below!
- Replacing the fuel pump on our 1995 Ford Explorer. My father-in-law and husband are working on this together, and we were able to purchase just the part of the pump that needed replaced rather than the whole pump. Final cost: $50.
- We have three dogs, and we were using the mobile vet who came to our house, but unfortunately, he passed away last year. So, last year we did have to take our girls to the local vet. However, this year, we were extremely blessed to have our local Tractor Supply company offer vaccinations for even less. I was able to get Jasper’s microchipping, one-year rabies shot, and DHPP shot done for $90, which would have cost well over $200 to take him to the vet. I’ve really been looking how to cut vet expenses over the last two years, and to be honest, we have had to cut out heart worm testing/treatment, Lyme vaccines (even though one of our dogs already contracted Lyme Disease from our backyard), and any kennel required shots (because our dogs are never put in a kennel). So, this has created a huge savings for us each year considering we spent $1,000 at the local vet one time on all three dogs and the cat.
- Eye exams. If you remember, I had over $1,000 in FSA expenses in the first two months of the year. So, we will be taking out the full FSA amount next year ($2,500) now that we now about how much we will spend with four people and our various health needs. Since I wear contacts, it’s a PA state law that you have to have an eye exam to buy more contacts. I like to get these appointments done in the summer when possibly, so we’re not manage them on weeknights during the school year. We all had eye appointments this week, and my health insurance only covers these every two years, so mine was not covered, but everyone else had a covered visit. Final bill: $169 for my exam and one box of daily contacts (which I can stretch out for at least six months).
- Travel expenses. We are taking one trip to New York City, and two trips to the beach (about 3 hours from where we live). We will be instagramming and blogging about all of these tips, so check back. We knew ahead of time we would be encountering these, and we are staying at a beach house of a family friend. My in-laws actually did some repairs in return for a free weekend for us all to go, so I’m super excited that our hotel bill will be $0. The NYC trip is a business trip, which some expenses can be written off, but definitely not all of it. I have budgeted $300 for this trip, which should cover gas, parking, and our one meal we will eat out. The second beach trip we are splitting between several family members, and the final cost came to about $500 for our family. This was budgeted in advance, so we just need to budget spending money for that trip. Read about our Pennzoil oil change as we geared up for these road trips!
- 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 $2,700. However, please note that we gave a lot of that back to new members who signed up as a thank you gift, instead of keeping our bonuses. We have been using these oils since last year, and they have made such a difference in our lives! While we have had to spend some money out of our business account for advertising, I think this will be worth it in the long run because we are earning residual income from future orders. We also made a decision to invest some of our business money into this business as well. It was a risk, but again, we hope to earn residual income from this investment.
Prayer Requests:
- Please pray that we have continued family health, and that we will stay out of the debt trap!
- Safe travels this summer.
Ok, these are two cute not to show you one more!
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