Net Worth & Debt Payoff Progress through July 31, 2016

Come along as we report on our progress paying off over a quarter of a million dollars in debt while raising two boys, and growing our homesteading efforts here on Burton Farm. http://owningburtonfarm.com/

So, I’m thrilled to tell you this:

We have paid off 1.47% of our debt!

We have reached a full percentage point GONE. When we do this ten times, it’s 14.7% gone.

I’m celebrating this small win for the following reasons:
  1. We finally STARTED tracking our money.
  2. We committed to getting out of debt completely.
  3. For each of three months, I have seen our debt decrease.
  4. I want to encourage you in your debt recovery journey. No debt load is too big to overcome. And every reduction in debt counts.
  5. You bring about what you think about: I believe my wealth is increasing. And so it must be increasing.

 

This month was a three-paycheck month for me.

This means we made an extra half-payment on the mortgage that we’re paying bimonthly.

It also means we made an extra $150.00 payment on that oppressive family loan.

Digging further into that loan, there’s also the extra $24.13 that I set up to transfer automatically after adjusting my taxes from zero to two dependents. If I didn’t capture that small amount, you know it would just get absorbed into spending for the month. Put every dollar to work!

While I did pay off all the new charges on the Redstone Visa, I forgot to add the $63 minimum payment on it to keep us on our schedule. I’ll get that caught up before next month.

I guess I got kind of excited about making extra payments because I paid extra on the AmEx in July. But now I’m kind of wishing I hadn’t done that because I just had to transfer money from savings to pay the bills this month. Then again, we are kind of front loaded. All the big bills come due on the first. When I get paid, I usually can transfer that cash back into savings. I refuse to pay an overdraft bill.

Still, I would recommend the half-payment method to you. It makes me look at my money more. And makes me see progress more frequently. If I see it regularly, it stays on my mind.  See where I’m going here?

Here’s how the numbers break down for July:

Blog   Assets Value Owed Totals
Net Worth Farmhouse $200,000.00 $168,299.75 $31,700.25
Calculator Town house $105,000.00

The struggle

$85,777.60

is so real.

$19,222.40

(minus fees. ugh)

Savings Accounts $9,669.70 $0.00 $9,669.70
Checking Account $2,171.86 $0.00 $2,171.86
Family Loan $0.00 $12,979.81 -$12,979.81
Discover $0.00 $2,176.43 -$2,176.43
Wells Fargo Visa $0.00 $75.73 -$75.73
REDFCU Visa $0.00 $2,448.90 -$2,448.90
American Express $0.00 $414.62 -$414.62
Barclay MC $0.00 $0.00 $0.00
Chrysler Car $10,000.00 $0.00 $10,000.00
Ford Truck $1,500.00 $0.00 $1,500.00
  $328,341.56 $272,172.84 $56,168.72
  Assets Liabilities Net Worth
 
    Debt Payoff Percentage: 1.47%
  July 2016

 

Side Hustle update

Earlier this year, my husband and I talked about re-launching his business. I agreed to take on more responsibility by creating his website and doing more outreach to let people know about his services. (Let me know how I did! I’d love to have your feedback.) He has received several phone calls inquiring about his services in the past month, which is more than he received for a several months.

I drafted my first prospecting letter to send to his local target clients and created a really short mailing list. He did a job last week that earned enough to fix his big truck. Now we just need to make time to do the repairs and get that bad boy back on the road.

With another truck on the road, there is potential to make more money, even if we have to pay day labor to help us out. Progress.

This month, I hope to educate myself more on SEO and basic marketing techniques to help grow the business. I am considering picking up a textbook on marketing, but I think it might be more current if I stay online with my self-training. What do you think?

That’s the Report for this month. What are you doing to get where you want to be?

~ Erica

 

Want more soul-baring money confessions? Click HERE to see all the Net Worth and Debt Payoff Updates and HERE to see where we started.

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