Brushes & Budgets

I’d like to take you all on a journey and talk about what my numbers looked like month-by-month since I began working towards debt Freedom. This is a long read so be sure to grab a snack. If you’re a skimmer, the bold areas highlight the month, year, starting, and ending balance. There’s something for everyone on Brushes & Budgets.

January 2019 – Starting Balance $49,482.56 – Ending Balance $53,924.53

I paid a total of $1,128 towards debt this month

This was a big month for me! At the time, I racked up $16k in credit card debt and I was being eaten alive in interest. In December 2018, I knew I wanted to buy another house and I just needed to wait until 2020 to be eligible for first time home buyers again. January, I learned what I needed to do to get started. I started with Dave Ramsey and ended with The Budget Mom. They helped me realize I still stand by the paycheck by paycheck method. She can be found on YouTube. The next thing I did this month was buy out of my old lease and sign a new one where I had roommates. We had our own bedroom and bathroom which was all that I needed.

February 2019 – Starting Balance $53,924.53 – Ending Balance $52,760.32

I paid a total of $1,942.87 towards debt this month

This was my first month of actually setting up a budget and figuring out how I wanted to pay things off. I also moved into my new place that was a whopping $465 a month for rent, utilities, & wifi. I surprisingly had more privacy than anyone would think I had. I started with the snowball method which is where you pay the debts with the lowest balance first. I graduated to the avalanche method later which is paying the loans with the highest interest rate first, but now it depends more on necessity.

March 2019 – Starting Balance $52,760.32 – Ending Balance $50,892.56

I paid a total of $2,314.57 towards debt this month

I started getting used to having lower payments and I was much more comfortable with budgeting and the ins and outs. I also began doing a bit better with savings some cash. I had money from selling my first house that I used to keep my head above water in January and it was time to build it back up. I also was focusing on not using any of my credit cards.

April 2019 – Starting Balance $50,982.56 – Ending Balance $49,592.24

I paid a total of $1,751.30 towards debt this month

I took my first budget conscious trip this month! I had a blast. One thing I’ve learned about working to improve your finances is it brings more opportunities your way. I was presented with moonlighting for another position, it ultimately turned into a raise in December. We’ll talk more about that later.

May 2019 – Starting Balance $49,592.24 – Ending Balance $48,574.68

I paid a total of $1,467.30 towards debt this month

This is when I started moonlighting for the position and I realized how much I was throwing away towards interest every month. I was working so hard to just do the right thing. By this point I had paid off 3 debts out of 12.

June 2019 – Starting Balance $48,574.68 – Ending Balance $47,103.48

I paid a total of $1,927.15 towards debt this month

This was a hard month. Something really unfortunate happened and I took two 401k loans out to help pay for medical expenses for myself. It was the first time I had truly busted my budget but I still managed to do okay when it came to paying some items off. This started a new draft from my paychecks every pay period. Not my favorite thing.

July 2019 – Starting Balance $47,103.48 – Ending Balance $45,560.18

I paid a total of $1,907.86 towards debt this month

Things were definitely difficult for me during this time. I was going to physical therapy 3 times a week and the chiropractor 2 times a week. I was spending a lot of money just to get treated but I was managing things. I even made a second trip to visit a friend who lived in Nashville at the time. Cash-flowed again!

August 2019 – Starting Balance $45,560.18 – Ending Balance $44,669.42

I paid a total of $1,350.65 towards debt this month

This was one of the worst months of my entire life. I originally had cash-flowed a trip to visit my family. I was going to make a stop in Texas to pick up my sister and the kids and head to Missouri by car. The trip was planned for 8/11/2019. The one thing I wasn’t planning for was having to reroute my trip because my father was sent to the ICU on 8/6/2019 and died on 8/8/2019. I had to pay extra to have my trip rescheduled and send my sister money for her travels. The one thing I absolutely do not regret was spending time with my family for 2 weeks following all the madness. I still managed to get a few things paid off also. By this month I went from 3 of 12 paid off to 5 of 12! I had some hope in my abilities and I was doing great with moonlighting even with taking an unexpected month off work for the summer.

September 2019 – Starting Balance $44,669.42 – Ending Balance $43,660.58

I paid a total of $1,361.30 towards debt this month

Things were moving in the right direction and I was very excited about the progress I had made. I was constantly reviewing my financial situation like I do now in 2023.

October 2019 – Starting Balance $43,660.58 – Ending Balance $42,752.08

I paid a total of $1,298.30 towards debt this month

My cousin got married this month and I traveled to GA for the ceremony and reception. I was still physically recovering from June and my father’s death in August but it was a good month. Things were more balanced at this point.

November 2019 – Starting Balance $42,752.08 – Ending Balance $41,767.80

I paid a total of $1,364.30 towards debt this month

I kind of cash-flowed another trip to see my family for Thanksgiving. It was my first Thanksgiving with my family since I was 3 and the first since my dad passed away. I was told I would have my plane ticket taken care of and oops…it was not but a portion was so I had to figure out what to do because I put it on a credit card. I also came back home with the flu of all things. Guess who had accrued PTO to take a week off? Not me. December was looking like it was going to be a pretty hard month.

December 2019 – Starting Balance $41,767.80 – Ending Balance $40,949.27

I paid a total of $1,077.50 towards debt this month

We ended November with the flu and began December without any PTO. I worked for a few hours with a mask on my face (before COVID) before being quarantined to a conference room. When I told my boss what was up, she suggested I go home but I had already scheduled a same day appt with my doc and was headed home when it came time. I also purchased a new laptop because the one I had was a netbook and didn’t have much space. I didn’t want to take any chances so I found something new. Another thing that hit me hard was they took more taxes out of my check because of gift card redemption and that also hurt my feelings but I had 3 paychecks that month and I got through it all. I also rolled my last two credit cards with the two highest balances into a personal loan. One was a Capital one for $4,135.51 the other was a Sears Master Card for $4,571.09. This was such a huge relief. I went from paying a little over $200 in interest to paying a whole lot less. It also helped the fact that I didn’t get paid for a week of work. Good thing was, I got the actual promotion in December! My pay went into effect in late December so I saw my first paycheck in January 2020 reflecting the update.

I made $18,892.68 of payments for 2019. Of those payments, $5,917.42 went to interest. The hope was to do a bit better than the previous year during 2020. Stay tuned to see how 2020 went!