Sometimes This Just Sucks!

Grace & Peace To You,

Debt as of 06/09/2012:  $92,645.00

Debt as of 07/20/2014:  $18,512.79

Total Debt Paid Down: $74,132.21

Well, if you're wondering about the blog post title, it is our reality setting in once again.  We appreciate everyone that's supported us through this project, but sometimes it sucks.  We hope our message, if nothing else, has at least made you think.

Our tip for today is that following through on your debt promise isn't easy.  If you decide to do it, you better make sure you and your family are in it for the long haul.  It's not all cupcakes and rainbows people!

Here's a glimpse of our "Pay Down Our Debt" weekend.

We finished our first week back at work from vacation. So here we go.

Friday Night:

Go out to eat?  Nope, we spent it at home cooking dinner together (that part is really not all that bad) and then we watched a red box rental. We rented Thor 2. Was it good? We don't know. We were both so tired from inservice week that we feel asleep and missed a half of the movie.

Saturday Morning:

Raining.  When you choose not to spend money, the rain falling in the morning seems a little more depressing.  Go out to brunch or coffee at Panera?  Nope, we're paying down debt.  Homemade pancakes and coffee at home (again, really not that bad).  After breakfast, though, it gets interesting.  My wife remarks that most of her clothes have holes in them, as do mine.  "Hey honey, do you want to go shopping?"  Nope, we are paying down debt. So we meal planned and made the grocery list, but we had to make sure that it stayed within $100. That is our grocery budget for a week.

Bryant goes to three stores (Kroger, Aldi, and a local market) to keep us within the budget. Emily stays home and does a free workout on the internet. On a side note, Fitness Blender is a completely free website that has about every workout you can imagine. It is incredible and is currently what Em uses every day she does not run...which is also free.  Here is their link:

http://www.fitnessblender.com/

This is all followed by a cheap lunch of sandwiches, apples, peanut butter, and pickles.

Saturday Afternoon:

Bryant takes a nap. Emily watches Netflix. Netflix is $10 a month and is what we use instead of cable. Bryant gets up from nap. One more Netflix show, in which Emily falls asleep, and on to making dinner in. If you are counting at home, this is our 4th meal made in this weekend. However, if you are looking for a cheap date night, pick out a complex recipe and cook it at home together. Have you ever tried to cut a spaghetti squash without chopping off your fingers? Try it and get back to us. That in itself is a $4 adventure date that requires massive team work and some YouTubing.

Saturday Night:
Eat the spaghetti squash meal and watch Hitch on Netflix.

Sunday:

Breakfast is two pieces of toast. Then it is church followed by leftovers at home. Bryant goes to work on a music project that might be a potential revenue stream. Emily stays at home and gets ready for her first week back with students.

While this process is not glamorous and we definitely feel temptations of spending, we know we are one loan away from being done. The most important thing for us is that we got quality time together because we are in this together. When we look back on the weekend, was this really that bad? Is that what we were fearing by choosing to pay down our debt quickly? We have learned to live within our means. We have also talked multiple times about how, through two years of marriage, we are happy.  Build a strong foundation for your marriage and be intentional about sticking together. It's not easy for any of us, but it can be done.

In Christ,
Bryant and Emily