Dancing like a goofy fool

As we approach the end of the month of May typically I reflect back on our month's progress. Instead, I received some amazing news today that made me celebrate someone else's moment of happiness in their debt-free journey.

A friend of mine contacted me to let me know they had paid off another debt! They have been dedicated and consistent in their journey and another step of progress was reached. We did a happy dance of celebration together, even though we were not actually together for the dancing. It was a goofy crazy moment of dancing all alone in our separate locations, but the shared joy was palpable and felt.

I'm thrilled to dance with another person on this journey. Every moment of absolute success spurs me on to press forward and give this thing a renewed burst of energy to just keep trying.

We cannot forget the little successes along the way, for the little moments of success build one atop another until they become a vision of success that can inspire you and others.

Lead by example and you will become your own example -- even for yourself!

In that vein, Chris and I will be doing a "half-spending freeze" for the month of June. We have surmised we have more than enough groceries to get us through the next month. So we've only put aside $50 for grocery money (fresh milk, fruit and eggs) but our remaining grocery budget money of $250 will go straight towards savings. (I'll tell you what large item we may be saving for in a future post!)

Normally I'd throw that extra money at debt and we thought we were going to, but something has come up on our radar, something entirely unexpected and potentially exciting! More happy dancing ensues!

In the meantime, I'll leave you all in suspense and just say celebrate those little victories. Anytime you make a budgeting plan and stick to it -- celebrate that! Eventually that goofy once a month success dancing will be a debt pay off dance -- like my dear friend! So exciting!

Choosing the Hard Right

I was a big blubbery mess. I mean I was beyond consolable. It feels almost silly now to talk about it but at that moment I wanted to just throw up my hands and stomp my feet with stubborn defiance. The answer was a definite, "NO!" from me.

I was not going to pay a tithe. I wasn't doing it while we were in debt. I didn't think it was fair or right or.... well.... darn it I was just so close to getting all the debt pay off, so no I wasn't going to do it!

Then I realized what the real issue behind the tantrum was. Fear. I was afraid; afraid to let go of a small amount of money and give it back to God because our entire income and controlling it gave me a sense of security. Y'see financial security is very important to me. For so long I didn't have that kind of security. I lived month to month just waiting for another letter from CRA in the mail telling me I needed to give up thousands of dollars to our government. (I will admit CRA mail always gives me that kind of anxiety, even now.) My palms sweat and my heart will race a bit more but I don't have a choice, do I? I always have to pay whatever it is they say I owe.

So, Heavenly Father asking for 10% of our income in tithing was like another authority figure saying, "You don't have a choice. Hand it over now, or else!" I resented that commandment and stubbornly held on to the knowledge that I needed to get out of debt before we talked about tithing.

Then something happened and I realized I didn't have enough faith in Heavenly Father to still guide us through this time of debt pay off while tithing. Trusting in His plan more than my own. You see, I had it all worked out. We had crunched the numbers to death; so much so that we knew down to the exact day when we would be debt-free. I trusted the numbers more than I trusted in The Lord.

So, I was reading through the scriptures and came across these passages in Proverbs chapter three, which I know the majority of us are at least somewhat familiar with, "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Honor the Lord with thy substance and with the firstfruits of all thine increase. " (v. 5,6 & 9)

I don't know why these verses resonated with me so clearly at that moment. I've read those passages many times before, but this time I felt a stirring in my heart about my struggle at hand. I prayed on it and didn't dismiss the prompting but decided to ruminate on it overnight just a little longer.

The next morning, Chris and I sat down for our morning scripture reading on the couch. We read through a few things and then turned to read the Proverbs scripture for the day. It was the same Proverbs from the night before!  I told Chris what had transpired last night and felt we needed to revisit the tithing subject immediately after finishing our reading. He agreed and together we knew we were making a financial change to tithe but the bigger change was trusting God with what this change meant for our future.

So what does it mean, you're wondering. Well, it will mean we're a few months further out in our debt pay off journey than we initially bargained for. The debt we'll be paid off by February 2019 now, instead of December -- which is fine and not the end of the world. Not the date I wanted but....still....okay fine...

The bigger thing to give up was the idea that this sets our entire journey back significantly after debts are paid off. Since we are now a tithing family that will mean more money will not be going towards things like the fully-funded emergency fund, the future family vehicle or the very hopeful....private adoption...

We've given up on the private adoption dream.... and I'll go into that more another time but Chris and I have come to realize it's just not going to happen for us -- maybe we'll still be able to think about public adoption, but not private.... deep breath in, deep breath out... and that's okay. Really, it is...

It was a dream we had to give up and move on to other dreams; other hopes for our future and family. We actually feel our burden has been made light with this new decision. We are a family that is willing to steward our money well and to us, that will mean tithing; giving back to others without direct benefit to ourselves. It's an important lesson to learn and it took us awhile to get there, but I'm glad we did.

I hope those out there reading this may consider giving in there own ways, even while you're going through the debt pay off journey. If you don't tithe consider praying on the subject, as I did. God will meet you where you and help you through the difficult subject. It's not an easy road to walk, but it's always the right road when we choose to follow Him.

Our Favourite Day of the Month has Arrived!!!

In our home, we love the first day of every month. It's like Christmas all over again! We get to sit down and take action on the budget we've set up for this current month. Chris and I will go through the bills, pay them and set aside money in our sinking funds for things we're saving for in the near future. I know it sounds odd, but it's just such a great high to see things getting paid in a timely manner!

We always have to wait for about the 5th of the month to pay the line of credit as that's the day the bill comes out, but thankfully it's not too long to wait for that one.

Also, I always take a moment and look back on the previous month's budget and see how we faired. I LOVED the month of April! Chris and I were able to make even more sacrifices than usual and put a larger portion of money towards our debt pay off. $1,710.01!!! Yay!!! It felt amazing!!! Like a real big accomplishment.

So, what did we sacrifice? Well, things like, miscellaneous money, a bit of my fun pocket money and we got a credit back on an Airbnb that fell through on the owners' end when Chris went down to visit his dad for his birthday in April.  The majority of that went towards debt as well. 

We are now officially in the $5,000s for our line of credit and our $600 payments are really knocking out the dental debt quickly, too.

Chris and I are staying humble and thankful but we are also really proud of ourselves, too. Every effort and stride forward we make is making a difference. We all have setbacks and things that come up that are completely unexpected but if we just get back up and keep trying again eventually we'll get there. I'm thankful for that. I'm thankful for the blessings we have to do this and the progress we've made.

I know paying off debt isn't easy, guys. Sometimes it gets overwhelming and it's just easier to enjoy the moment. You're tired, you've had a long day at work, another bill has arrived for you to pay and you still have to make dinner for you and the husband. Who gives a flying crap about paying off debt! Who cares, because the debt will NEVER go away, right? We'll always have some sort of debt. Well, look at us. We're doing it and we're sacrificing some major stuff in order to do it. I'm not saying we're perfect at it, and we may be doing it faster then some and slower than other people out there, but we are doing it. Don't compare yourself too much to others and who you do decide to compare yourself too, make sure that person or couple has great morals and ethics to emulate. It's not about who has the nicer stuff, or the prettier house. Heck, it's not about the vacation you can't afford to take or the car you drive. No, it's about if you're really living the life you're meant to live or you're wasting your time here on earth. 

Don't waste that time paying the debt for the rest of your life. Pay it off, save a little, and by that car or vacation you need with CASH! It'll feel different, trust me it really and truly will. 

I'll admit it, I get a high when I pay off my debt every month. Every cent I can put towards it just make me want to shout with absolute joy and thankfulness. I never thought we'd get here. I never thought I would get here. I can see the future; y'know that debt-free future. I want it so bad; more than anything else right now I'm able to do with my life. There are so many more possibilities with debt-freedom. Can you imagine what our life would be like if we didn't have debt at all? Wow, now that's something to think on!