Everyone and their sister are on some kind of special payment plan for their student loans. But some people get so overwhelmed with the options they just don't bother with them. With all the talk about student loans, debt, and wealth building I'd be remiss not answer the question: How Legit is Student Loan Forgiveness? When we made the final payment on my $51,000 federal student loan (Which ballooned to almost $60K with interest.) Pressing that button (actually those three buttons) was a surreal experience. In full disclosure, we paid off almost $78K of car and student loan debt on our…
I just finished Keith Cameron Smith’s book The Top 10 Distinctions Between Millionaires and the Middle Class. It blew my mind to learn how deep some of these traditional money mindsets are ingrained in us, and how constrictive they are! 10 Distinctions is an amazing book that everyone who wants to be successful with money should read multiple times. It’s a short, easy read, that gets to the point and makes you reconsider the assumptions you’ve had about money, at least it did for me. Without giving too much away, here are the points and what I learned from reading the book. 10)…
Today is a special day y’all. Saving with Spunk is one-year-old! And it just so happens that we also became debt free last week! This journey has been so different than I anticipated. I mean, I guess I didn’t know what to expect going into it. I had nothing to compare it to. We were the first people we knew to go full throttle to become debt free. Two years ago today I was a month out from getting married. I knew this journey was coming and I was riding out my last few weeks of freedom with a little…
Ever think no one understands your debt payoff struggle? Everyone’s taking pictures of their fantastic lives and you’re over here dining on leftovers and tap water. I know your pain, you don’t put 60% of your income towards debt and get to experience the luxury of air conditioning in the summer or hotels when you’re out of town. I’m not the only one who understands you, cats do. Of course, they’re not real cats, real cats DGAF about anyone. These cat gifs though, are the symbol of our plight. I hope they comfort you and inspire you to keep going.…
Whenever I have a question about anything I go to Google. (Sorry mom.) There's a never-ending well of information on any topic and I can usually find a cat picture to go with it. So in my quest to create a guide for millennials to get the most out of their money I went beyond Googling and asked experts in the field to give me their best personal finance articles. I'll add to the list whenever I find useful articles that solve a problem or answer a question really well. If you have a money conundrum you'd like to…
Are you ready for this? We paid $5,000 of our student loan debt in one month. That’s crazy even for us! We were able to do this for two reasons: the budget and some discipline. UPDATE: As of August 31, 2017 Travis and I are STUDENT LOAN FREE! We paid off $77,646.54 in 23 months! We never have the perfect budget. In the 14 months we've been doing this we've always had to tweak here and there to make it work but paying off our student loans is the priority and that puts all spending into perspective. Over the last…
Want a peek into my life? I am notorious for having a separate monthly and weekly calendar, notebook for to-do lists, meal planning, and grocery lists, and that’s just what’s at my bedside. I also have a scrap piece of paper with our debt pay off goals/progress and I am constantly scribbling on whatever I can get a pen on. The Struggle is Real And I’ve never been into big, beautiful, personalized planners. They sound nice, but with everything I’m trying to keep track of, I’d still need my scraps of paper to keep everything recorded. But when Lauren Greutman…
Despite our best intentions, personal debt sometimes grows beyond comfortable levels. Unexpected expenses, holiday shopping, a family vacation, and other spending obligations can cause financial imbalance, calling for changes to the way you manage your household finances. If runaway debt has you looking for a way out, restoring financial stability starts with your commitment to smarter spending and a balanced budget. With discipline and minor lifestyle changes, your debt will start shrinking, but don't expect it to disappear overnight. It took time growing card balances and accumulating your debt load, so a slow and steady approach will turn things around.…
When we started paying our debt off there were a bunch of things I could say about how it sucked. But somewhere along the timeline of the last 12 months, I changed my mind. I used to complain about wanting to take a vacation (specifically a cruise) and not wanting to cook at home every night. I even had to unfollow friends on Instagram because watching their adventures was making me miserable. I don't know when it happened but I noticed it on my anniversary weekend. Everyone asked me what we were going to do for our first anniversary and I…