Saying "No" When Budget and Social Life Conflict

B and I are Ballroom dancers. I love teaching my classes every week, and we love dancing together as often as possible. But B really loves the social aspect of dance. There's nothing like the buzz of 40 couples on a crowded dance floor, trying to look killer while not getting their Cha Cha partners killed. It's also usually a relatively inexpensive activity we can do together as a couple and with friends.

This week, we had an opportunity to go dancing with a couple of friends we don't see often. This venue is priced a little bit higher than where we normally dance, but a couple bucks isn't a huge deal, right? AND they were going to have a live jazz band! Entertainment in more ways than one.

Well. We found out that it was going to be even more expensive than normal, (plus the gas to drive 45 minutes there and back). On top of that, the end time was 11:30 pm, plus the 45-minute drive home, which would leave me with about 5  hours of sleep before work in the morning.

I wasn't 100% on board, but I could tell B still wanted to go. Since the entrance fee fits strictly into the blow money category, we took a closer gander at our blow budget. We'd already spent half on holiday gifts, and another third on an unforeseen banking expense. Going to the dance would have left our blow budget at a couple of dollars to last the rest of the month (which includes some pre-committed date nights with friends).

Of course we tried to come up with other options, like "we could give ourselves an advance on next month's blow budget," but that would just leave us perpetually pulling future funds. Obviously borrowing from our Emergency Fund would not do, since this was in no way an emergency.

Thus, the choice. Spend or save? Friends or Finance? Budg-it or Blow-it?

We decided to nip bad habits like spending unbudgeted money in the proverbial bud. We told our friends we couldn't go, which really sucked. We were both disappointed. But ultimately, the beginning of the climb is where we have to make the hard calls and stick to the budget like it's law, even if that means missing out on activities we love. Because being debt-free is totally worth it.

Coffee Snobs and Saving Addicts - Unite!

I drink between 2 and 3 cups of medium- to dark-roast coffee a day; I'm a Starbucks Gold Card holder; I receive Starbucks, Coffee-mate, and Bailey's non-alcoholic coffee creamer updates to my inbox; and my favorite coffee flavor is hazelnut. You could say that I enjoy my steamy brew. But the question I hear most often is "If you love coffee so much, why don't you have a Keurig?"

Answer: it all comes back to the budget.

While I have nothing against Keurigs (most of my family has them, my office has one, etc.) and I find them extremely convenient to use, I can't personally justify the expense. You're going to spend LEAST $70 for a Keurig - and that's if you're shopping sales and using coupons. Most range between $100 - $150, whereas you can purchase a regular 12-cup coffee pot for $20 or less. Or if you want to be MORE fancy, french presses range from $20-25.

But, machine aside, it's the expense of the pods that get you. (Not to mention that K-Cups waste an extreme amount of plastic.) Let's prove my point using math.

Here is the standard in K-Cup pricing:

At your standard grocery store, a box of 10 or 12 K-Cups is about $10. That's about $1/cup.
If K-Cups are on sale at the grocery store, it's usually about $7. That's at best, $.58/cup.
If you have a REALLY GOOD coupon, like a $1.50 off to use in conjuncture with that sale ($5.50/box), it takes it down to $.46/cup.

Now, granted, any of the above is a better price than a tall drip coffee at your local Starbucks. But let's assume I drink 3 cups of coffee a day. At $.46/cup, I'm looking at $45 a month drinking coffee from my home. The best price I've ever seen for K-Cups was $.35 each, and you don't come by that very often... but even still, that's $32 a month. [Note: I'm not sure of pricing at membership clubs like Costco or Sam's; I find it not worth the membership price and investment to run a household of 2!]


As we all know, I shop Publix, and the best part about Publix, besides it's customer-based culture, is the BOGO sales. And ground coffee OFTEN is included in these (though I've never seen K-Cups included...).

Ground coffee pricing; let's run it down:

One pound of ground coffee makes about 50 cups of joe.
A bag of one pound of coffee averages about $8 (or less!). That's $.16/cup
One pound of coffee, on BOGO at Publix, goes to about $4. That's $.08/cup
Now add in that $1.50 off coupon, making it $2.50 for 1 pound of coffee and $.05/cup.

Now, according to my calculator, that's $4.50 for an entire month's worth of coffee (drinking 3 cups a day). Recall our number for 3 K-Cups a day? $45? It's literally 10 times more expensive [TEN. TIMES.] to use the Keurig system than to use regular ground coffee.

And if you're not a couponer or sale-shopper, let me lay it out like this. For 50 cups of coffee, ground coffee will cost $8, and K-Cups will cost between $42 (12 per box) and $50 (10 per box)... Maybe not ten times more, but at least 4 to 5 times more expensive than grounds.

+ $40.50 per month NOT toward coffee = $486 per year toward debt.

7 “Luxuries” I’ve Found I Can Live Without (And 3 I Can’t)

7 "Luxuries" I Can Live Without:

1. CABLE: I’ve explained my thought processes [with math] here, but the gist is we prefer to pay $16 per month for Netflix, Hulu Plus, and free streaming from network websites instead of spending $100 each month for cable.

2. BUYING MUSIC: In the digital age, it’s really hard to keep track of how much we spend on music when it can be ours at the click of a button. But, it’s just not in our budget to spend frivolously, and at this point, music is frivolous. Both B and I have Pandora accounts, so we can listen to music for free via phone, tablet, bluray, whatever. Plus, there’s always the radio, which there are now apps for as well. And you need a song right now? One word that should be two words: YOUTUBE. Seriously. There’s even an app for THAT. Not to mention that Amazon and iTunes both offer free music downloads all the time.

3. EATING OUT: We eat out about once a month, usually either for a family gathering or out of dire necessity. It’s just really hard for me to justify going out to eat when I think that instead of spending $10 on one trip to McDonalds for unhealthy burgers and fries, I can literally make steak and mashed potatoes at home for the same price. I also think about it like this: I generally spend about $5-8 to make one (non-steak) meal, all components included, that yields 4 to 6 servings (we go through a lot of leftovers!). Why go out and spend $10 on a meal for each of us, when I can make 2 to 3 times as many meals for less?

4. SWEETS: We still eat our fair share, but you’ll be amazed as how much you save [and how much better your pants fit] if you cut your sweets budget in half. Instead of buying a package of America's Favorite Cookies for $3.50, I can buy prepackaged chocolate chip cookie mix for $1, and make cookies myself. Don’t get me wrong, we still spring for Oreos every now and then, but definitely not as much. 

5. HAIRCUTS: A couple of years ago, when B and I were still dating, he revealed to me that he gets his hair cut every 2 to 3 weeks. WOW. Okay, so I never had brothers. Who knew? So I whipped out my calculator. $7 per visit, plus, say $3 tip. So call that $10, 20 times a year. That’s $200+. At that rate, I’m pretty sure I can cut your hair. So I invested into clippers and good barber scissors, (spent about $40 total) and have been cutting B’s hair for several years now. I’ve also started cutting my own hair. Fortunately for me, my hair has a lot of texture and is very forgiving if it's not precise.

6. SMARTPHONE: I have a dumbphone that calls, texts, and takes pictures, and that’s all I really need. I invested $200 of graduation money into an Amazon Kindle Fire (which are now even more reasonably priced), that can do literally everything else I would want from a smartphone as long as I have a WiFi connection…. and I don’t have to pay for a data plan. Due to B’s career, we both feel he needs one. But, as for me, I’m good saving my money.

7. Dinner and a DRINK: I REFUSE to buy alcohol at restaurants and bars. Drinks there are WAY over-priced, especially considering I could literally go out and buy a whole bottle of rum for the amount we’d spend on one Captain-and-coke and a Mai Tai. So if we drink, we generally only drink at home.

...And 3 I Can't....

1. HEAT: Okay, truth time. It’s December, and our thermostat is set at a balmy 60 degrees. Yeah, no it’s freezing. So we bundle up in our sweats and have 3 blankets on our bed (one is electric to get it warmed up before getting in!), but if it saves us some cha-ching, okay. So it's still cool, but not nearly as bad as outside!

2. WiFi: Internet is much more reasonably priced than cable, and provides access to all of our tv/movies, social networks, my blog, news, humans, etc. Especially if you buy your own router (or steal it from that beloved sister who has like 3 old ones in a box in the closet - thanks!) and don’t rent one from the cable company.

3. SECURITY SYSTEM: Given that B works really strange hours, some really late and some really early, we both feel better knowing having a security system. We purchased ours outright (whiiich was more than I was expecting), but now we pay about $16/month to monitor it. That $16 is totally worth the peace of mind.

Stress and Debt: Friends from Birth

I consider myself a "Cockeyed Optimist." And believe me, owing a lot of money can put a real damper on even my higher-than-most spirits. But we have simple philosophies we use to stay positive and still enjoy life, even on a tight budget.

1. Budget blow money. This is teaching of Dave Ramsey (see post here), and it's a truly important step for faithfully sticking to the budget. B and I plan what may seem like a low monthly amount, but after it's gone, it's gone. We also find that if the money isn't there, we're not going to spend it.   Our system is that every month we pull out our blow money in cash. When the cash is gone, you have to wait til next month. Our blow money usually goes towards eating out, gifts for family birthdays/holidays, going to the movies, purchasing clothes, craft projects, etc. But it doesn't make us feel like we're limited to only spending on necessities, so we're still able to have fun.

2. Frame written goals. I've made an 8x10 printout of our written goals. It's framed and it's displayed so we see it EVERY day. Having a plan is more comforting than I can say, and it really helps to keep the goals fresh and in front of us so we never lose sight of the end. 


3. Financial reading material. While B prefers to follow news updates, I follow financial posts. Between personal finance and coupon blogs and websites, I am constantly tuned in to new ways to save, tips on budgeting, lightning deals, and inspirational stories to keep us on target to achieve our goals.

But, though we have to keep on top of our goals, we still want to live out happy lives, and not just sit in a cave until we conquer Everest. 

“You're incredibly focused, consistently on point, and relentlessly efficient. Your life is dialed in.   Your life is also really, really boring.”    - Jeff Haden

4. Play video games. I, personally, was not into video games until this year. It just took finding the right kind to get me into it. But we find that video games offer hours and hours of entertainment, give us an activity to do together to spend quality time, and really aren't that expensive. Most of the ones we like you can find for $15 or less, which comes out of our blow budget. Playing games really channels your inner-child and it's just FUN. And it keeps us from going out and spending money elsewhere.

 
5. Little One and Little Two. B and I love kids. We don't have any, and we're going to be waiting a long time before we discuss having "pitter-patter" enter our lives. But B has a lovely sister, who has 2 lovely children we love to death. For our purposes, I shall call them Little One and Little Two. Little One is a 2-year-old towhead whose favorite words are "no," "Mickey," and "ball pit." His baby sister, Little Two, is almost 6 months, rules the world with her smile, and knows it. 

 
Playing with the kiddos essentially performs the same functions as #4 above: Stress release, cheap, channels inner-child, keeps us from spending money other places. And gives us bonding time with our two favorite Littles. 

 
6. Plan Your Dates. Okay, three things we know: B and I are newlyweds, in our 20s, and live on a tight budget. But we still have to go out and do things. There are plenty of free options that at least get us out of the house: a walk in a park, visiting local family and friends, game nights, etc. are all good [spending-free] options. We also sometimes turn our errands into "outings" to be together, not on the couch.
For other cheap options, we like to:

- Go dancing (usually about $5/person)
- Go to the movies (the local dollar theater admission is $2/person, or we find tickets on Groupon)
- Mini golf (usually pretty cheap as it is, but you can find deals, too!) Or there's bowling, laser tag...
- Eating Out (if we have a coupon or gift certificate). Usually, Steak N Shake is our go-to because it has the price of fast food with the service that makes us feel like we're at a nicer restaurant. AND they always always have coupons.

 
If you plan ahead what you'll be doing, you can take advantage of sales, coupons, and limited events (like a dance party or local festival) and set a spending limit for your dates. But it's nice to get out, spend a little of our blow money, and do something for just the two of us to remind ourselves that yeah we're in debt, but we're in it together and we can have fun! 

How I Save: Cable Edition

B and I LOVE our TV shows. Like any couple, we have those special ones that we can't wait to watch together every week.  But unlike most people, we don't spring for cable. I'm not going to bore you with bylines like "we can't afford it," because it's probably about 40/30/30: "it's way too expensive" / "I hate cable companies" / "There's a better way to do it."

Our solution is simple: streaming. We pay the monthly subscription fees for Netflix and Hulu Plus (which both have apps for Bluray, Wii, Xbox, etc), for about $8 each. With a Netflix streaming account, we have access to movies and TV shows that are somewhat older or not as popular, but we still find plenty of options to interest us. And with Hulu Plus we have access to MOST currently airing TV shows, with the exception of one major cable network, which allows you to stream these shows from their website. For free. Boom.

So, I'll whip out my mental calculator real quick: we pay $16 per month for access to 1000s of movies and TV shows, including currently-airing favorites. We watch them whenever we want after the original air date. Cable companies charge between $100 and $150 per month for cable channels - after the 3 to 6 month promotional rates sky rocket again. And don't forget those extra fees.... $10 here for "HD channels,"  $10 there for your DVR, $5 every few months to see if you're paying attention to your charges...

Why would we pay $100 + per month to gain access to the same content we can get for $16 per month? 

Plus you can find plenty of special free-month trials for each.  This plan may not be for everyone, but it works for us. We may go back to cable one day for the convenience factor, but for the moment, the extra money toward debt is totally worth it.

+ $84/mo = $1008/yr toward feeding Everest.

Read Me: One Book to Change Your Budgeting Habits

As you may have guessed from previous posts, B and I have a lot of debt [more than you could imagine] acquired through some very unfortunate, and quite frankly unfair, circumstances regarding school loans. We are just starting the get-outta-debt climb up the mountain. But we are starting that climb with new found hope, and with a plan.

A year or so ago, B and I came to realize the full extent of this ugly, brute-faced monster I've named Everest. We felt lost, unable to get a handle on life, scared out of our minds. From the base, this mountain looks impossible to conquer for two newlyweds, now responsible for running a household, paying bills, and just starting out on new career paths. And it seemingly just keeps getting worse.

So B's mom gave him this book. He read it, cover-to-cover, and found solace in the tangible possibility of escaping from under the mountain. Last month, he asked me to read it. Since then, we've heard several success stories about the effectiveness of this book, and not a single failure. This key to eventual success in paying off all of our loans is Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover, or, in our home, "the Money Book." Dave's written an in-your-face, step-by-step PLAN of how to get out of debt, achieve financial stability, start saving for college funds/retirement, and how to never pay too much for those big ticket purchases. He also provides tables and worksheets, and offers additional budgeting software.

He doesn't say it'll be easy. And he doesn't give you a genie to grant your wishes. He promotes a furious determination, extreme money-earning measures, and relentless pursuit to achieve your goals of debtlessness (<--- Karissa-ism, not Dave-ism). It's not fun, for sure... but its effective.  

We've had to adjust quite a few of his teachings to our personal situation since it's mainly geared toward spenders and we definitely consider ourselves savers. But we still swear by the process and are confident that it will work for us. If you have debt or even if you're unhappy living from paycheck to paycheck, Dave's book can provide you with a plan to pay it off, save it up, and invest it for tomorrow. 

Check out Dave's website, and seriously, I recommend this book. 

How I Save Money: Grocery Edition

If you're like me, living on a budget with debt piled higher than 29,029 feet above sea level, you probably are looking for ways to maximize every cent. You know, a penny saved is a penny earned and all that. 

Well, as the main purchaser of groceries in our household (seriously, I let B buy milk and that's it), I have unilateral control of our grocery budget. Recently, I've instated a new goal to whittle my grocery spending from $300/month down to $250 [read:  extra $600/year toward debt]. Did I mention this budget also has to include paper products, cat food/litter, hygiene products, medicines, office supplies, stamps, etc? 

...yeah.

I'm not an extreme couponer (though I do have a coupon binder for grocery shopping, and a dining/shopping coupon envelope that lives in my purse), but I do shop sales weekly and coupon at Publix to regularly save between $30 and $60 per trip. For those of us keeping score, that's up to $240 per month, which is approximately my grocery budget. AKA I get up to twice as much food for the amount I spend.

How my process works:

STRATEGY:

With $250 per month to spend on groceries, some shoppers would think "I have $62.50 each week," or "I have $250 once a month." I can't operate on either of these. I go shopping every week because Publix has new BOGO sales every week. We go through a LOT of things that regularly go on BOGO like juice, oatmeal, cereal, cat food, cookies, rice, soup, etc. Sometimes the ad has a lot of stuff we go through regularly so I stock up, and other weeks, I only buy things we've run out of. By weeks, my monthly budget usually looks close to this:

Week 1:  $35 - $40 at the farmer's market (see Tips and Tricks below), $40-50 at Publix
Week 2: $70-80 at Publix

Week 3: $30-40 at Publix

Week 4: $50-60 at Publix

If I spent the upper end of the range in weeks 1 and 3, I usually spend the lower end of the range in weeks 2 and 4. Which is, lo! and behold - $250.

STEP 1: ESTABLISH A LIST

 - I begin with a list of things we NEED that we are out of or almost out of.

 - Secondly, I go to publix.com to make a list using their weekly ad. Personally, I start by looking at sales that align with my list of needed items and that we go through regularly (to stock up while it's on sale). Publix has between 30 and 60 BOGO sales every week, and when you can couple a sale with coupons, you save big. So even if we don't NEED a BOGO item now, I still stock up on it. [I also like using the Publix site to make my list because it tells you on which aisles to find the items on your list = time saver!]

 - I then go back and individually add things from my list I NEED that did not coincide with what happens to be on sale this week.

STEP 2: COUPONS.

Publix Coupon Policy = Publix will double all coupons $0.50 and under. Publix will also accept up to 2 coupons PER ITEM - one manufacturer and either a Publix store coupon OR a competitor coupon (each store varies on who they consider competitors - mostly all say Kroger). Check out their coupon policy here.

- I check the manufacturer coupons I've collected from newspaper/mail/etc. [Whip out coupon binder here.] 

- Then, I pull out whatever I have in Publix store/competitor coupons - Kroger mails coupons out pretty regularly, and Publix ALWAYS has coupon fliers (which you can find in-store) with special promotions and store coupons in them. 

- Next, I check Southernsavers.com's Coupon Database - literally search for the brand on sale for each item on the list, and if there's a coupon for it, Jenny's found it. I print out whatever coupons I can find for things I'm buying. 

Other sites to check out coupons on:

- coupons.com

- redplum.com

- smartsource.com

- kelloggfamilyrewards.com  (more info below in Tips and Tricks)

- commonkindness.com

- Company-specific websites (ie, Campell's usually has soup/V8 coupons on their company site)

The ultimate goal is to find a store coupon and a manufacturer coupon for the same item that happens to be on sale. Most of the time, the stars don't align. But every now and then they do. [Example: Yesterday, All Laundry Detergent was on sale for Buy One Get One Free. I had a manufacturer coupon for $2 off the purchase of 2 All products, and had two $.75 off the purchase of 1 All product that were PUBLIX store coupons. So I purchased 2 bottles of All (33 loads each) for about $2 total. Cha-ching!]

STEP 3: GO TO THE STORE.

Pretty self-explanatory, right? NO. 

These are the rules I have to follow to stick to the budget:

1. The List is Law. If I don't need anything on aisles 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, or 10,  then I skip straight from 3 to 11.

2. If it's not something I need and it's not more than 50% off, don't buy it. Seriously. What really gets me in this area is snacks. So, I avoid that by planning on purchasing 1 to 2 snack items while I'm making my list and looking for coupons. That way, since I know I'm going to buy them anyway, I limit WHAT I buy by pre-planning and I also save money on them with coupons and shopping for what's already on sale.

3. If the Publix brand is less than the name brand on sale that I have coupons for, buy the Publix brand. [Example: I was looking at Duracell Batteries - which were on sale, I had a $1.50 off manufacturer coupon, and a $2 off Publix coupon. The Publix brand batteries were still $1.50 less.]

4. Smile as the cashier rings up my coupons and tells me how much I saved.

OTHER TIPS AND TRICKS:

- The Publix ad changes in the middle of the week, either on Wednesday or Thursday depending on your region. BUT for most places, Publix will do a penny item the day the ad changes. I take advantage of this when I can if it's an item we use. The gist is that if you spend $10, you can get the chosen item of the week for a penny! My region doesn't actually put a paper coupon in their ad and just take the price off for you. Some regions do require that you have the coupon. The items itself ranges from a Velveeta dinner kit to a 4-pack of toilet paper. Either way, it helps!

- Make sure to utilize the shelving price tags. They have a cents-per-unit section where you can quickly scan to see which brand of honey (or whatever) costs the least per oz (I'll give you a hint - it's NOT necessarily the Publix brand, in this case!). 

- FARMER'S MARKET. I only purchase meat and produce from our local farmer's market. I make one trip at the beginning of the month and give myself a $40 limit to buy all of the beef and chicken (and/or ground turkey/steak/lamp chops/whatever) we'll go through in the month, plus our first week or two's supply of fresh fruit and veggies (like bananas, onions, potatoes, spinach, etc.)

- We also eat a LOT of Kellogg's products so I'm also a member of Kellogg's Family Rewards - you enter codes found on marked Kellogg's boxes, which give you points. You can redeem these points for higher value coupons. They also have a "coupons" tab for access to coupons you don't have to redeem points to use, but you still have to have an account with them to print!

- One more thing to remember in the weekly shopping trip strategy - if you don't need anything, you don't have to go to the store! Also, just because it's on the list doesn't mean you have to buy it once you're there.

I'd love to hear about your couponing experiences! I'd also be delighted to help you get started!

The Mountain Grew

Thursday was probably the most scared I've been since we got married.

I got a phone call from B while I was at work stating that because our original "minimum payment" for the largest loan in our Debt Everest didn't include the annually-compounded interest, our new monthly "minimums" would double (DOUBLE) so we will actually be able to pay it off in the 10 year time limit. 

:O

........... :O

So, being me, I crunch numbers. B is just finishing paramedic school, so he hasn't even begun his new career yet, and I'm just starting a new job, so I'm probably looking at keeping my current pay rate for a while. Well, 6 hours, 85 text messages, 2 cuddle breaks with Pippin, and 1 fairly organized spreadsheet later, I settle on the possibility of it being possible to support ourselves. Fortunately, more than 90% of our expenses can be covered on my income at the moment. To get that last <10%, I'm going to try to get some new classes at local dance studios (oh, by the way, we're ballroom dancers, and I teach a class or two a week) and really be able to take on all of our expenses, minus debt. Thaaaat's where B's income comes in. All of it will be going toward debt. A whole full-time job income going toward Debt Ev.

Well, then B comes to me with this crazy, cockamamie, freakin-ridiculous, suicidal idea: he wants to work 2 full-time jobs.

:O

[Insert panic mode here:] No company is going to hire you for a second full-time job. I'll never see you. You'll make yourself sick. There aren't enough hours in a week. Forget vacations. I'm too young to be a widow. 

You know, all that. But he's almost sold me on it. For a paramedic, a standard shift rotation is 24 hours on, 48 hours off. Well, he'd be working 48 hours on, 24 hours off. And apparently, many paramedics and EMTs do this and find life a plausible possibility. And if you think about it, it'd look like this (Company 1, Company 2, and OFF):

12O12O1

2O12O12

O12O12O

So he'd have 2 days off every week, and 3 every third week. Actually, he'd have one weekend day off 2 out of every 3 weeks. He just wouldn't have evenings or typical 2-day "weekends," and I'll spend 5 nights a week sleeping in a bed by myself. (...ooooor with the cat. I might have to let him in to keep me company at night.) Which is sad, but it won't be forever.

Are we delusional? Can you really make a new marriage and running a household, and taking care of a pet, and still being a human with friends and family work with Hubby working 2 full-time jobs and Wifey working 1 full-time job and teaching [hopefully] 3 evenings a week? 

I guess we're going to find out!

PS - Pippin is.... well AWESOME when he's sitting in your lap and purring, and givin' some noggin. But yesterday Pippin bit my face. Not cool kitty. Not cool. 

Me, B, and Kitty Makes 3

One day out of the blue at the end of October, I got a message on LinkedIn asking if I was interested in a position. My old job was... okay. Not very uplifting, no company morale, mind games and shiftiness galore. It wasn't the worst. But I didn't like it, and as it was a temp-to-hire position, I decided to get out before it was too late. I'd been unsuccessfully searching for weeks, so anything at this point. I said yes to hearing about the position. And I had a phone interview, and a skype interview, and an in-person interview, and I really liked this company and the people and I wanted it. Those types of things happen to me. Usually no matter how much I search for something, the thing I'm wanting finds me when it's good and ready (I call that "God's timing").

Meanwhile, back at the homestead, B and I were deliberating if we wanted a pet. He hands down wanted a dog, but we both knew they are way more expensive to take care of, and require a lot more time and attention than we are ever able to give. And B knew I've always liked cats. Well, one day, one of our very good friends (also a cat person), texted B [mostly as a joke] asking if we wanted to adopt this cat that was living on their back porch. Well, I didn't take it seriously ("getouttadebtgetouttadebt"). B really did. So we weighed the costs:

 

PROS:

New job = raise

B graduates in December = raise, plus going from part- to full-time hours

Companionship from a furry feline

Frequent amusement = cats run into things a lot

CONS:

Pet deposit
Food, Litter, Vet, Toys, Tags, etc.

We have very specific get-outta-debt goals

Our couches = no scratchy-scratchy. 

Pretty equivalent there - well, minus the debt thing. In my head, I began equating the who-knows-if-it's-coming job offer with a resounding "yes!" for said kitty. In a nutshell: I got a call, we got a cat.  And we named him after our collectively favorite hobbit, Pippin. So far he's lived up to the name: eccentric, exceedingly curious, slightly stupid, thirsty for adventure, and young at heart. We have a 70/30 love/hate relationship so far. But that's a passing grade at least.

We all start at Day 1

Well. This would be my first blog. I'm busting into the world of digital awareness, one micro adventure at a time.

To begin with, my name is Karissa. I'm a newlywed with a mound of debt in school loans, a new job, a new cat, and a new list of goals, which include "start a blog," "feed cat daily," and "get-the-heck-outta-debt." Fairly shortly after my wedding in August, a notion struck me [in the face] as B (the husband) and I were having our 563rd conversation that week about our budget, bills, and spending: Dang it. We're adults.

No more flying by the seat of those new pants I want from NY&Co. No more "eh, I'll do laundry next week." No more "Oops, forgot I had to pay the electric bill." And definitely no more "But I want it!" Every cent that comes in gets tracked, discussed, and specifically budgeted. We are beyond determined to get out of debt (BEFORE we are old and gray), and I plan to document our newlywed life here, broke-to-wealth, every step of the way.

So this is our story. Join me as B and I try to figure out how to keep ourselves, our marriage, and our cat named Pippin alive while trying to pay down our mountains and mountains of debt. Come on, it'll be fun!