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OUR DEBT FREE JOURNEY MONTH 8

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When the world says, "Give up," Hope whispers, "Try it one more time." ~Author Unknown

We’re 8 months into our Debt Free Journey and here’s how we did last month

 

Can’t believe it’s already November 2017 and Daylight Saving Time is over, not sure what it saves or how it saves us, but anyway it’s over 🙂

 

Our October’s total debts came in at $116,405, not one of our best months but it’s consistent with what we’re doing.  Our September total debt was $118,106 and our total net reduction was $1,701; this despite paying a total of $2,045.  From this we can clearly see what reverse compounding does, in this case since we have high-interest debt, we’re paying more toward interest than principal; which is why we have to get consistently mad at these debts and aggressively pay them off.

 

We’re still building on the momentum from last month’s payment but I missed having a side hustle income this month so we could only afford what we did. Hoping the coming months will yield better side hustle income results after ratcheting up my Real Estate and IT side gigs.

SEPTEMBER 2017 NUMBERS

OCTOBER 2017 NUMBERS

LAST OCTOBER’S GOAL UPDATES

 

MONETIZING – Well, nothing happened in October, I’ve just been completely discouraged and felt like giving this blogging thing up, but then I reminded myself I’m not doing this for others but for me and my family,  to be accountable, and sharing with the world is just secondary.  With that mindset, I’ll continue plugging away at our trials, progress, and wins along the way, and of course sharing as we go.  Really can’t be thinking about monetizing yet if the readership isn’t there, I haven’t been promoting it either so that’s that.  I’ll just skip this as a goal altogether; it’ll happen when it happens 🙂

 

 

FREEBIES – I finished my eBook ‘The Ultimate Guide To Buying Your First Home which I have on my homepage, I’m asking for an email sign up though so hopefully it’s not too much of a deal breaker for anyone.  It’s choc-full of great tips that I think will provide value for first time home buyers of any age. The link is here if you want to check it out.

 

 

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT – One of my goals is to read at least 2 books a month, but last month I fell short; I was only able to read one, but it was an important one;  ‘The Bogleheads’ Guide to Investing’.  

 

Talk about eye-opening. This book caused me to get mad; similar to how Dave Ramsey made me mad about how the financial system screws ordinary folks like me into accepting mediocrity and being stuck with high-interest debt; this time, I discovered and got mad at how mutual fund managers fleece investors off hard-earned investment income due to high management and turnover fees. Yikes.

 

No wonder they (the fund managers/companies) have all the fancy ads and buildings, now I know where they get the money 🙁  I’ll continue to dig into the finance world and get ‘educated’ coz in the end, what we don’t know can and will hurt us, especially in the world of high finance.

GOALS FOR THIS MONTH

 

KEEP TRACKING OUR SPENDING – Did I mention Personal Capital is the bomb!!!! It really is. I prefer using it now from mint.  It just gives a better snapshot of our financial picture, plus it allows me to track my 401K account from my previous employer which I rolled over to a Wealth front account.

 

I’m also tracking my ‘net worth’, just to be able to gauge where we’re at and be able to look back once we’re out of our debt hole.

 

This will really add to our motivation and encourage us to look forward to our eventual financial freedom.

 

 

 

 

INCREASE PAGE VIEWS – This past month just felt like I was aimlessly dozing off and lost focus.  I was intent to invest in a Tailwind subscription but did not get around to doing it so this month I will make it as one of my goals, again. I’ll eventually need help in attracting more page views and hopefully followers; but in the meantime, I’ll focus on being consistent with my blog postings, and share quality content that will serve my audience whoever and wherever they are.

 

I’ll also need to focus on growing my relationships with other like-minded FI ‘Financial Independence’ bloggers to get a chance of learning how they grew their audience and maybe ask for tips on how to improve my site, content and overall message.

 

The best thing about being part of a community is that it’s just what it is, a community of like-minded, helpful individuals that seek to bring out the best and be of help to others. I’m part of Bobby Hoyt’s ‘Millennial Money Man Facebook group and highly recommend it; you won't find a more pleasant, uplifting, compassionate group of folks who share the same passion and goals, I'm so privileged to just be a part of it and can't brag enough about it 🙂 

 

Now I just need to get out of my ‘introverted’ shell and actually reach out and give value to the group, anyway I can. 

WRAPPING UP

 

October was a mediocre month for us in my opinion, I wasn’t too excited, I was down (like half depressed) half the month I guess coz I was sick those two weeks. Wasn’t really feeling the urge to blog and was only able to post three articles, yep I was rally burnt out.

 

Then I realized that I’m in a marathon and not a sprint, so I dusted myself up and went back to the grind.

 

We were on budget, and although I didn’t have the extra income from my side hustles last month, still managed to get leads that might turn into income this month, just have to see how it plays out.

 

Overall, its progress, albeit small steps, but steps in the right direction nonetheless. All I can ask of me is to continue marching forward, be consistent, and not give up.

 

Do you have a similar debt situation that you’re trying to overcome? Any strategies you want to share? Please send us feedback below and if you like to join our journey, won’t you subscribe via the form below.

 

Thanks for stopping by, and until the next post.

 

Peace and Blessing to you All.

 

 

  1. Any month you can pay down your debt is a good month! Great job on getting your eBook completed!

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