Lessons I learned the last two months as I’ve started receiving income again: Paying everything at the beginning of the month can leave you struggling at the end of the month. Even with money coming in regularly, it feels much better to have a buffer in your checking account and at least a small emergency fund. After a year in “starvation” mode, even a little splurge right now feels too much. Overall, April has been a great month financially. (You can see last month’s debt update here.) Debt Description October, 2023 Total Interest Rate Minimum Payment Current Total Payoff Date (Est ..read more

Recently my partner and I have been in spring cleaning and home maintenance mode. We’ve had some nicer weather the past few weeks and the black flies haven’t come out yet, so we’ve been doing lots of yard maintenance. We finally managed to mulch the flower garden in front of our house, which we planned to do last year but never got around to. We had the mulch and the time, but we just couldn’t get our butts in gear! Motivation used to be a problem for us, especially when it came to house projects. So I’m pretty proud we’ve managed to get the house in such good shape even though we’ve been rea ..read more

A few months ago, a friend sent me some money they owed me via CashApp. I had to download the app specifically to receive the money, because it’s the only cash-sending app my friend had (I already had Zelle and Venmo but my friend didn’t have either of those). Then a funny thing happened. The money just sat there. I never took the time to hook up CashApp to my bank, so there was no way to “cash out” the funds. It wasn’t a huge sum of money, and I didn’t immediately need it, so it just continued to sit in CashApp, untouched. Investment Options with CashApp Until just about a week ago… I logged ..read more

Spring seems like it’s finally arriving in the Midwest. I’m probably speaking too soon though. Right now there isn’t any snow on the ground, but it could be a fool’s spring. The fact that I can finally see grass has still made me start thinking about and making summer plans. Last year I think we overdid it—we went on a trip back to the East Coast, attended multiple concerts including the Eras tour, and had family come visit. Honestly just thinking about all that activity makes me tired! Especially with my family member being sick and having lots of extra work coming in. I’m so busy I’ve actua ..read more

I bet long term readers of BAD saw the title and slapped their foreheads, thinking here we go again. Hope will never learn. However, I am here to show you differently. For the first time, maybe ever, I have no travel plans for the next 8 months. And that seems like an eternity. (We are going to go to Texas for Thanksgiving this year – driving.) So with no plans to leave, especially over the summer. It is the perfect year to dig in to my garden. Every year in the past, I have gone somewhere for a week or two, typically Texas, and my garden just falls apart without maintenance and watering and c ..read more

The grass is growing again. I think I could end my post there with all the pain that thought causes me. Don’t get me wrong. I love my gardening and my yard and all that…but the weekly maintenance is a pain. Last year, you all gave me a hard time about continuing to pay for yard service. And I am trying to do better and take your advice. So I’m taking on my yardwork, and biting the bullet and going to purchase the lawn tools I need. And I dread it all the way around. I do not look forward to: Having to maintain the equipment. As good as I am with computers, I am just as bad if not worse with m ..read more

I saw this meme on a friend’s Facebook page (no original attribution was provided), and it struck a chord with me. It reads: “Everything is super important. Until you are sick. Then you realize there was only ever one thing that was important. Your health. But nonetheless we borrow from the bank of our health, taking loans on stress and sleepless nights to pay for something that doesn’t really matter.” This probably stuck a chord with me because here I am, recovering from a strange illness that has sidelined me from normal “life” stuff for the time being (though hopefully not for long). But l ..read more

Before you all come for me. Although, I imagine my last post triggered some of you and you’ve already let me have it in the comments. My budget in the last post was an IDEAL WORLD, not my reality and certainly not currently. Right now, it’s basics and debt. However, there are two things I haven’t shared with you about my current finances. And based on the subject line, you can probably guess what one of them is. I am saving for Christmas. Saving Plan for Christmas You will all remember that this past Christmas was a real struggle for me. But I ended up being really proud of what I was able to ..read more

123rf As I mentioned a few posts ago, my partner had a reduction in bonus income, which I’ve been trying to make up for by finding new clients. The first prospect that I found ended up only needing me to complete a one-off project. However, I’ve since landed a client who needs regular weekly newsletters. Plus, one of my existing clients increased my workload. Between these two projects, I’m earning enough to make up for the decrease in bonus income. With the seemingly tenuous state of the economy, I didn’t think I’d be able to drum up extra work this quickly, so I’m very grateful. Back in Th ..read more

I anticipate getting my first “big” paycheck towards the end of this week. Therefore, I am glad I asked about the credit card idea, mentioned my idea of prepaying my mortgage and so on. It will definitely be better for me to have a solid plan ahead of time versus deciding how to use it when it’s burning a hole in my hand. These are the decisions I have made thus far for March: I am going to pay $1,515 to my mortgage. This is the remainder owed for March and then pay April’s payment in advance. This will put me on track to be one month ahead on my mortgage going forward. (And yes, I have confi ..read more