September Recap & a lot of honesty

So I skipped my August Recap. I guess I’d say I had a lot going on and, but that’s an excuse. I mentioned briefly on Facebook that a lot of it was shame, and that’s true too. September was not much better for us though, which is a hard realization. While we had some major home expenses that derailed some of our retirement savings goals, our day-to-day expenses were still too high compared to what we want to be spending on those expenses. Sometimes I have a habit of saying, “we had visitors this month,” or “we traveled somewhere this […]

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July Recap + August Goals

For the first time in a long time, it seems like July passed at a normal pace. In fact, it seemed like it was a slower month than usual. Anyways, financially, it wasn’t a horrible month for us. It wasn’t spectacular. We spent a lot of money trying to make this house a home, and we’re not even close to done yet. We just began a deck renovation and we’ve knocked a hole in our dining room ceiling in an attempt to find a leak… and we still can’t find it. We’re learning a lot of skills as new homeowners […]

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May+June Recap / July Goals

Oh my gosh, I can’t believe I am even writing this right now. I woke up at 5:00 AM and decided to reconcile our budget (which I have been halfheartedly following) because it was bothering me so much. Two hours later… I am ready to talk about the last two months. So, holy sh*t! We bought a house! Sorry for the language, but there is literally no other way to express this. There is so much that comes with buying a house. Watching that down payment and closing cost transaction come right out of our account, and feeling like you […]

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how using cash back cards for expenses gave us $300 in 6 months

extra money monthly with credit card cash back

Well, it seems obvious, but I know so many people who haven’t learned this yet. I add about $50 a month to our budget by using a cash back credit card for our bills and expenses. I still track my budget as normal as if I had paid with a debit card. When the due date comes, I pay the statement balance in full. (I always pay around the due date, never really early, because I’d prefer to leave the cash in my checking account to earn a few extra days of interest.) By paying the statement balance in full, […]

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spending money you don’t have yet (seriously, don’t do it)

Thomas Jefferson Money Quote

Before I start this post, I know you’re reading the title and saying, “okay, duh,” but I feel like it is so much more than that, and I need to write about it to have somewhere to go back to as a reinforcement next time the temptation comes. In the military life, there is a lot of income that is reasonably expected without a timeline. There are a lot of things you can expect to get reimbursed for, bonuses you may receive, special pays that will kick in at the next duty station, and allowances that may increase due to […]

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