Home Decor on a Budget

Before

Before

This alcove in my bedroom has had bare walls for the nearly 4 years we've lived in the house. I finally, finally got it decorated. And it looks amazing!

After

After

Everything came from Target... my favorite store for cheap finds. The mirror was clearanced to $20. The shelf was also $20 but the wrong color so I just sanded it down and painted it with left over wall paint. The frame I've had for years (I never throw away a frame, you never know when they can be repurposed in a different room). Th vases were my splurge, $35 for the bigger one and $20 for the smaller. But the color was just so perfect for my color scheme (gray and beige with pops of bright blue) that I had to have them. My solution: ask for gift cards for Christmas. Now I have a wonderful reading corner that doubles as a great nap couch when all the sunshine comes in in the afternoons.

The Dreaded Budget

A budget sucks. There's no way around it, no way to spin it to make it sound fun. They are not good times. They are just necessary. To have a Life After Student Loans you need to control your life while trying to get rid of student loans. A budget makes that possible. I don't know how many times I would check my bank balance and think "Where did all our money go!?", and I know everyone else does that too. A budget is the answer. And I'll let you in on a little secret, eventually they aren't all that bad. In fact, I look forward to doing ours every month.

At the end of every month, Husband and I sit down and plan where our money will go the following month. We take how much income we will have that month plus anything left over (if we get lucky) from the previous month and spend that money on paper until we are at zero. We start with necessities when planning the budget making sure we have enough for the basics: food, rent/mortgage, utilities, and transportation. Then we move on to the other necessary bills: car insurance, etc. Then we write in the things needed that month: clothes, car maintenance, doctor visit copays, etc. Anything left over is dumped into the student loan debt.

Don't get me wrong, we don't live like monks. We give ourselves a reasonable allowance to spend as we please. We write a line into our budget every month for a date night or two. And we are slowly doing some much needed renovations to our condo; we just have a budget for all of that. (Stay tuned for future posts about my attempts at DIY home improvement)

If you're handy with spreadsheets, have fun customizing a budget for yourself. If you're not, financial guru Dave Ramsey has some great ones available for free on his website http://www.daveramsey.com/tools/budget-forms/    Dave Ramsey is a proponent of the all cash envelope system. Each envelope is labeled for what that cash is designated for; when there is no money left in that envelope, you will not be spending any more money on that item. We don't use this for most things, but it does mean we have to be very honest with each other when we're using our debit card.

I now look forward to doing our budget because it is so motivating to see how much money is going into the debt. Its a competition with ourselves to see how much of our income can be put towards that. Disclaimer: if you are doing this as a couple, the budget process was realllly not fun the first few times. It takes practice, and a few emergency rewrites mid month before you'll get to the point where you look forward to it as a couple. Added Bonus: the discussion and compromise of the budget meetings will spread to the rest of your marriage making your marriage that much stronger. If you're doing this as a singleton, this is equally a perk and a drawback. You don't have to argue, beg and cajole to come to an agreement on the budget with someone else, but on the flip side, there's no one to keep you honest, either.

Shannon C.

Welcome

Welcome to Post #1 in a series about my and my husband's adventures, trials and tribulations, wins and failures while trying to pay off $86,000 in student loan debt on a combined $80,000 salary. My goal is to provide tips, inspiration, resources, and support as we go along our path to be student loan debt free (and maybe get some of that in return) all they while trying to live as normal a life as possible.

First, you should probably know a little about us and how we got ourselves into this mess. I am 28, Husband is 35. We've been married 7 years and we dated for 4 years before that. Yes, that means I was 17 when I started dating Husband; I don't recommend that for everyone, but it's worked out great for me. We actually met when I was 16. I have a friend who likes to tell this story to acquaintances but I get a little younger in the story every time she tells it. I'm currently 12 when I meet Husband in her version of the story.

But I digress. I come from a typical middle class family. I have 2 sisters; my parents are still married. Both my parents worked while I was growing up and I turned out fine. It was a good and happy childhood. I was not spoiled and my parents gave me a very good financial foundation to start from; my money problems started with college. When I was deciding on colleges while in high school I decided I was going to be the Greatest. Photographer. Ever. I ended up in a private art school and racked up the bulk of my student loan debt in the 2 years it took me to come to my senses. My parents did try to talk me out of it, but it was my mistake to be made. To add to that mistake, I was not exactly world wise at 18 (like most teenagers) and never thought to check the school's accreditation. When I decided to get smart and transfer to a normal state-run 4 year college, none of my credits from the art school were transferable and I had to start from scratch 2 years into my college career.

Husband is the oldest of 4 kids. His parents moved to the United States from Mexico when he was a baby. All of his siblings were born here. Husband's parents did not give him a good financial start. They, to this day, make one bad decision after another. Husband meandered through life (he always thought he had time to figure out his life; his sense of time is infamous in my family, I don't think he's ever gotten anywhere on time) and got serious just about when we were married. He decided the best way to get a good job was to go back to school (he'd previously gotten an AA, this was paid off long before we met) and so we found ourselves with an additional $30,000 in student loan debt. (In a future post I will discuss whether or not school was the correct decision in his situation)

I give you this history to show that it doesn't matter your history or your background, anyone can get rid of the huge albatross around our necks called student loans and finally have freedom.



Shannon C.