Month in Review- November

November and 9 months in...

We got back on track for November and did fairly well staying in budget, even with Thanksgiving. Saving money every month for the holidays really paid off!!
I was reminded this week by a good friend and mentor that this quest to live debt free is not always about paying off debt, but also about the shift in your mindset to stop living in debt. Making financial decisions based on money you have vs. spending money and finding a way to pay for it later. 

With this in mind, Nick and I have decided to attend a wedding in Egypt this upcoming May. We found an amazing deal on flights and looked through our budget to ensure that we could save enough money for the trip BEFORE we depart. We will be saving every penny we can and must stay within our monthly budget to make this happen. In total, we will be trying to save $3,500. 

This will also mean that additional payments to our student loan debt will fall to the back burner for the next few months. It is important to us to adjust our financial goals to ensure that we are not missing amazing opportunities to live life! Debt can be a shackle on our ankles, but we are lucky enough to have the ability and option to adjust our financial goals and still make progress toward a debt free lifestyle.

 November was filled with new financial decisions and a shift in our financial goals. 

Unexpected Costs: 

Happily nothing! We planned out ahead for Thanksgiving and we stayed within our monthly budget. 

Additional Income: 

AirBnB income over Thanksgiving helped to cover gas and drinks out with friends over the holiday weekend :)  

November Splurges:

 I don't think we had any splurges this month, but we definitely did enjoy ourselves with friends and family throughout the month!

5kTurkey Trot on Thanksgiving Morning- brrr!!!

Fun Memory: 

Nick and I both completed our first half marathon. It was called a Half-n-Half, you have to run half the race and eat a half smoked (A sausage like thing from Ben's Chili Bowl) and then run the second half of the race! It was a good day :) 

We also hosted a going away dinner for our two best friends in DC. It was alot of fun and also a very sad end to our November. We worked hard to plan the meal within our budget and adjust elsewhere so that we could put on the get together we really wanted to for their going away!  

Lessons Learned: 

We need to go back to a cash system for weekly expenses. This has worked well for us in the past. It keeps both Nick and me in check on how we spend money throughout the week on all the little things. If we forget toothpaste or bread at the grocery store and we each go out and spend money here and there it adds up quickly over the month to $100, something $200 dollars. This can really screw up our budget :) 

Total Payment to Debt: $0.00

Our additional money this month, $180 was moved to our Christmas fund. Nick and I originally weren't going to do Christmas presents for one another, but then changed our minds and decided to move the $180 to Christmas gifts. 

Current Debt: $173,746.44

We started with a total of 35 Student Loans.  We are on to our 33rd Student Loan.

#33 is currently at $1,711.16 with an interest rate of 11.5% . 

Current Savings for Trip: $0.00