Okay, so I received my reimbursement and sent everything out to the credit card. After paying that off, we have a total of $6345 left to pay on the credit cards, but our total debt for the end of this month will be more impressive than I had anticipated.

We're out of the $49k's and moving out of the $48k's too! I've been keeping up really well with my YNAB and it's definitely been paying off. I hope to have CC#1 paid off by the end of the year, which would bring us under $5k. We'll see how that goes, but either way, we'll just keep trucking.

Hi Everyone!

I haven't updated lately. I went on a business trip last week and put all my expenses on my rewards card and expect to be reimbused on Friday. With that debt sitting on my credit card though, it makes my credit card debt look slightly inflated.

I entered the amount that I expected to get back from my reimbursement into my YNAB register and used it to pay off that money that I spent. So when I do get the reimbursement, I'll send it all straight to the credit card.

DH also got his tooth taken care of, so that took about $400, which I had expected and budgeted. I told him that I'll be setting aside $50 each month for the dentist going forward, so he'll just have to wait until we have enough to do the next tooth. He's more interested in paying off our credit card debt right now as well, so at least we're on the same page.

His school tuition payment came out for $1 more than I had budgeted (my mistake, it came out for the same exact amount last month, so just an oversight on my part), so I took that $1 from his school books and moved it there. Not a big deal. Sometimes those things just happen.

I cannot explain the difference having a budget and sticking to it has made. The numbers, of course, are supportive, but emotionally, I feel better. I sleep more soundly, I don't sweat the small stuff anymore. I went to Petsmart and bought a Halloween costume and some toys. I stayed well within my $40 budget with lots to spare and my pup was happy to destroy another squeaky toy. On a side note, it drives my husband crazy that our dog destroys squeaky toys, but they were on sale, buy 2 get one free, and the dog enjoys them so much. I'll just spread it out one per week until the end of the month and then wait until next month to go get some more for him. The rags will just stay on the floor for the week. It's not like anyone comes over anyways!

Back to the budget, we've gone to dinner, gone grocery shopping, watched TVs, going to watch a movie this week. Basically, we're living a normal life, but a budgeted life, and that doesn't make me feel limited at all. I think I was concerned that budgeted would mean no fun, but really, it means you can relax. Stay within your numbers and you can actually enjoy your life. I would hate to knock Dave Ramsey because I do believe he has some very sound reasoning, but I don't think I should just have to not eat out ever or get a second job that I don't have time for, in order to pay off my debt. Yes, it would expedite the process. Yes, I would pay less in interest. But what would I lose?

My sanity, most likely. I already feel like that's going. I'm glad I started this journey. I already feel it's effects surrounding me, comforting me.

I even went to Target! Target, and stayed within my budget. That's unheard of in this house! We love Target. I spent an hour there and only spent $24. I bought a chalkboard to update my husband on our budget every week and some chalk. The chalkboard was on clearance! And my husband got some anchors so he could hang a few things around the house.

I can relax. Everything is going to be okay.

I do an update to keep myself accountable every Friday with my sister, who is also working towards paying off her debt.

Here's the difference between this week and last:

Credit card debt last week: $6785
Credit Card Debt this week: $6499
Difference:$286

Savings last week: $1000
Savings this week: $1025
Difference: $25

Car#1 last week: $7,586
Car#1 this week: $7,417
Difference: $169

Car#2 last week: $11,383
Car#2 this week: $11,144
Difference: $239

Student Loans aren't being paid just yet, so they're just accruing interest. I'll get to them eventually, but they aren't on my list of priorities at the moment.

But it was a great week. We expect some more income from the rental car place, so that'll be helpful going forward this month since this was all I budgeted for debt payoff.

Can we all stand up and do a little dance? I have just paid off our first credit card in this journey. Granted, it was small, but definitely progress!

{Insert super embarrassing dance here}

It's been a few days since I checked in, but I just didn't have much to report since we hadn't gotten any paychecks yet. Today, DH got paid and yesterday we received our first payment from the rental service. Today was the second payment. It's a bit weird that they split it into two payments, but I'll accept money in any form.

So goodbye CC#2, hello CC#1. CC#1 will take more time to pay off, most definitely. But I dug myself in this mess, I'm responsible for digging myself out.