My Journey to be Debt-Free

I've been thinking about writing this post for a while now. As I inch closer and closer to my ultimate goal of being debt-free. 

Recently, I did a thing. A huge, very adult thing. I made my last ever student loan payment. Eleven years after graduating college. Which isn't too bad, considering they generally set you up on a ten-year repayment plan and there was more than once I had to defer my loan payments or get those payments lowered. 

I am forever grateful for my experience at college. I wouldn't change it for the world. But it is a huge relief, a huge burden lifted to be finally done making payments on my student loans. 

I've been on this debt-free journey for a few years now. But before I tell you my story, I need you to know that getting to this point took some hard lessons being learned, it meant making sacrifices, it meant working hard but it also took a lot of luck. I've been very fortunate in some of my circumstances that have made this journey easier than it could have been. 

I will be the first to admit that I am no money expert. In fact, for most of my life, money was definitely not my strong suit. Just ask my sister. She loves to tell people how I supposedly "bullied" her into sharing her allowance and saved money when we were on vacation. Haha!! She's also not wrong. I liked to spend money, not save it. And that can be a hard habit to break. 

I had summer jobs growing up and worked my way through college so I knew the value of hard work and money being earned. After college, I landed a job that paid very well but I hate to admit that I was foolish with that money. Looking back, I just cringe at the thought. I was making more money than I needed at the time. Yet, I was not good at saving it or putting it towards student loan payments. Instead, I enjoyed spending that money - on eating out more than I should, on things I didn't need and who knows what else. 

After AJ and I got married, we realized neither of us was good with money. A super great combination. HA! We continued to enjoy a lifestyle that was not extravagant but was also not necessarily within our budget. But how would we have known? We didn't have a budget back then. Between some poor life decisions, low-paying jobs and some big moves, we quickly racked up our credit card debt. We were also feeling the sting of those overdraft fees on our checking account. We were living paycheck to paycheck and often we didn't have enough each month. AJ and I both deferred our student loans payments a few different times to help ease the burden. We just had not figured out how to properly manage our money. 

During this time, my parents offered to pay for us to attend a Dave Ramsey course. We jumped at the opportunity, sick of our financial situation. And we learned a lot of great things. We learned we had a lot of work ahead of us. But we got excited about the process. You bet we cut up our credit cards! You bet we put up a debt snowball sheet on our fridge. That looked incredibly daunting, by the way! 

But we did start chipping away. We knew what needed to be done. 

I wish I could say that the start of this journey started back then. But that's not true. Soon, AJ's addiction continued to grow into a larger issue. At some desperate points, AJ would find a doctor to give him pills, but because insurance had already been used, he'd pay out of pocket for them. That was never cheap. On top of that, we had medical bills from the few times AJ ended up in the hospital or at treatment because of his addiction. His addiction kept him from work at times and with those bills piling up, it felt like a very dark place. 

I do not hold this against AJ. He was sick. But it got to the point where I had to start making some difficult decisions to keep Jacob and I financially secure. We got different checking accounts. We got divorced. Although, even after that, I still continued to help AJ financially. He was the father to my son. He was the man I loved. I didn't want to see him fail. It took me until a couple of months after our divorce before I was finally strong enough to break that pattern. 

I think the tipping point for me when I was truly able to start this journey came once we moved back to Minnesota. We moved in with my parents, what we thought would be a temporary stay. And three years later, I'm still in the basement. I believe that this, above all else, has been key to my success. My parents have been too fortunate and kind allowing Jacob and I to live there. While we agreed on some monthly rent, they would also allow me to skip that some months if I had other bills to pay. I had no utility bills. We share streaming services. I'll pitch in to buy some groceries. But the amount of money I've saved by living with my parents is a huge contribution to my debt-free journey. And I am incredibly grateful to them. 

I finally started working my debt snowball seriously. Each debt that was paid off, I added that amount to my next debt. It makes a huge difference. Any extra money I got from Christmas or a tax refund went to pay off some debt. I had some inheritance money that I received that also went straight to my debt. I've worked a seasonal second job for the past three years and have used that money to pay off my debt. 

I also started to actually use the budget I had created for myself. A detailed budget that included all of my expenses, how much money from each paycheck and where the money could be spent. This has helped me to avoid extra spending - not always - but much more often! Each paycheck has a designated set of bills to pay. Another life hack I used was when putting my budget together, I would round down on the amount of money each paycheck would be and round up on my bills. This would generally ensure I had enough money and even some extra at times. This was helpful for those extra and sometimes unexpected bills. I also always had my debt totals right next to my budget so would remember what I was working towards. 

It was only because of each of these things, each of these circumstances, that I am at the place I'm at today. And I'm also not quite there. 

My last remaining debt is my car payment, which some argue whether or not that should qualify under debt. But it is a monthly payment that I make. Plus, if you ask Dave Ramsey, he's all about buying cars with cash! But, I hope to have my car paid off within the next year. 

I do have a couple of credit cards with some charges on them. But I only use them for big purchases and always make more than the minimal payment required. I no longer rely on credit cards to pay my bills or help me survive until the next paycheck. 

And I finally got that saving-thing down. I'm contributing towards my retirement. I'm putting money aside for Jacob's schooling one day. I've got money from every paycheck that never comes to my checking account and instead goes into a separate savings account - even at a different establishment than my every day bank. I have an app on my phone that rounds up the extra cents from each purchase and saves them in another account. I try not to spend any $5 bills I receive and instead stick them away somewhere. I've even added "additional savings" to my budget for things like medical bills, car costs, etc. 

I will still claim that I am no money expert. But I am finally in a place that I feel confident about my financial situation. I feel more financially secure than I ever have. And I also can see a bright future ahead of being able to live and enjoy life without being financially insecure. And that is truly an amazing feeling. 

A little of this and that

Things are starting to get busy for us around here! Usually summer is a time to relax and take things slow... but at least for the beginning of the summer, that isn't going to be the case for us!

I decided to audition for "Annie" - the community theater show where AJ is music director this summer and landed the role of Grace Farrell (secretary to Mr. Warbucks)! I'm pretty excited and definitely excited to be back on stage - for the first time since 2005! - and to be able to do some singing again! We started rehearsals this past weekend and it looks like "Annie" is pretty much going to consume our lives until the end of June! :) Not that I'm complaining, I think it's going to be a lot of fun and it's with a great group of people!
We have performances June 21st - 24th so let me know if you want tickets! :)

Even though we've only had two rehearsals, it's been fun to watch AJ work with all the little kids in the show! It never ceases to amaze me how well he is with kids. And I'm sure most of this is because he's just a big goofy kid himself! :) But it's just so much fun to watch him in his element! I've been lucky enough to be able to do this quite a bit lately!
Last month AJ had 15 students from the high school that went to solo/ensemble contest. Basically for those of you that don't know, this is a competition the students go to where they've prepared one or more pieces of music and perform in front of a judge. The judge will then score them on a number of different areas and give out a rating that ranges from Division I (Superior) to Division IV (Poor). The 15 students that AJ took were the largest group of kids to go to contest from Riverside. Of those 15 students, they walked away with 8 Division I's, 6 Division II's and one Division III. It was an outstanding day for those students! You could tell how hard each of them worked and how much they wanted to do well, not only for themselves, but also for Mr. Z! :)

Tonight AJ has his last Middle School concert for the year and the last High School concert is next Monday. He also has Large Group Contest this Friday night. Large Group is essentially the same as solo/ensemble contest, only the choir goes and performs as a whole in front of three judges. Last year the choir received a Division II. This year, with a choir that is practically tripled in size, AJ is hoping to walk out with a Division I. He and the students have been working very hard. AJ also found out recently that he has just under 50 students signed up for choir next year! This is just amazing considering that the started with just around 12 his first year - just two years ago! He is really doing some great things with the Riverside Vocal Music program!

For some other great news, we heard back from H&R Block about our amendments for the previous two years of state taxes and we will be getting some money back!! We'll actually be getting back right around $1000! So we're very excited and this is going straight into our emergency fund - as part of our Financial Peace University learning. And speaking of FPU, we have officially graduated! We had our last class last week and we're kind of sad it's over! It has been a lot of fun going to class every week, learning some really great things, but also meeting and getting to know some other people in town. It'll be strange now having to go to class now every Wednesday! And I would say it'll be nice to have our Wednesday nights back, but we've moved on to "Annie" rehearsals now!

I think that's just about it for us right now! If I don't post anything for the next two months, now you know that we'll be busy! :)

Future planning?

Life here at the Zaruba's is going pretty well these days. We had a pretty great day last Friday actually. I got a call about mid-morning from Progressive letting me know that the other insurance company had accepted liability for the accident! This in itself was awesome news!! But what made it even better was the fact that our car repairs hadn't been finished yet so the bill was going to get sent directly to the other company - we didn't have to pay a dime! I was one happy camper. And then to make things even better, we were able to pick up our car on Friday afternoon - repairs were done and it looked as good as new! It was a relief to have this all taken care of and we were so blessed that everything worked out in our favor.

Last weekend was pretty busy for both AJ and I - we each had to work all day Saturday. AJ was working with Riverside's speech team and they had districts all day. The great news is that they did have a couple of students make it to State so they'll be heading over that way soon. I think AJ is going to continue to help out with the speech team, especially within the area of Musical Theater. I think he really enjoys working with these kids and he's talked about getting more involved next year.
I on the other hand, was busy all day in Omaha working at our Housing Showcase on campus and then later Saturday night at our Dual Enrollment Hockey Event. It was a long and exhausting day, especially after being on my feet all day. I can tell you that AJ and I both slept soundly on Saturday night! 

Our classes at FPU are continuing to go well. We took a big step this past week and cut up all of our credit cards. That was a little hard for me to do. We had recently taken them out of our wallets and locked them up in our safe-box, but I liked having them there in case of an emergency. But as Dave Ramsey teaches us, we should really have an emergency savings account instead of using credit cards. And so that's what we're working towards. We are still learning a lot each week; this class has been very beneficial. I would encourage anyone who has ever considered taking this class to do it. Or if you haven't considered it but would like to feel more financially secure, this is the class to take. It has been well worth the time spent so far. 

In a couple of "great news" stories... our clans-baby is officially one year old now! It's hard to believe it - even more so for his mom and dad I'm sure! :) He celebrated his birthday party last Sunday but since AJ and I were both so exhausted from working on Saturday we were unable to attend. Hopefully we can make it up there soon to see the little man and of course his parents. :) I also had a very close and dear friend of mine get engaged recently! After the phone call I was literally jumping up and down! I am so excited for her and her new fiance as they start this adventure of wedding planning and the journey of marriage together. I wish them both a lifetime of happiness! :) 

Other than that, AJ and I continue to have conversations about our future. This is something that we discuss quite often actually. We talk about when we would like to start having kids possibly, where we see ourselves in five years, etc. The thing is that every time we talk about our future, it always seems to change. I shouldn't be surprised but sometimes I feel like it can be discouraging. I know that all of our talks of future plans are just that - plans. Plans change. And with so much unknown about the future, it's hard to set any plan in stone. But that doesn't mean I wouldn't like it to be so. 
With each discussion, it seems one of us always has a change of heart about something. But this is always a reminder about the compromise of marriage. Finding a "plan" that we can both agree on. Talking about a future we're both happy about. And most importantly, remembering that things are not always going to work the way we want them to. Things are going to change, our plan is going to change. We have no control over many of these things. Most important we need to remember to trust God. To ask Him what He plan for us is. What His future for us looks like. And we must remember to be quiet long enough to hear what He is telling us. 

Money - who wants to give us some? :)

So we've started taking Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University courses through our church in Oakland. This will be our third week. It's a thirteen week course, so you know, pretty intense. :) I was a little nervous before going to our first class for a couple of reasons.

One, I heard we had homework and I wasn't sure I was okay with that. (Turns out, homework hasn't been too tough!) Two, I was nervous that it was going to be really boring. Luckily, Dave Ramsey is a really fun guy to listen to, very easy to listen to and that first hour goes by incredibly fast. He knows how to add in the humor when needed and he talked in a way that's easily understandable. The second hour we have a group discussion. This hour also goes by pretty quickly - we take turns discussing the answers to questions poised in the book and we also spend some time sharing our stories. After last week's class, I walked out of it feeling that not only is this a financial planning type of counseling, it could also be seen as couples counseling. :)

Even with just the first two classes under our belt, I really feel like we're learning a lot. I really feel like Austin and I are going to be able to get our life on the right track financially. It might take a little time, but we'll get there. We're also learning some key ideas on how to raise our kids to be financially successful someday.

I will tell you one thing though that's maybe a bit ironic. The first thing you see when you watch that first video is people getting asked a question: "What would you do if you had a $5000 emergency?" The answers all vary but it's to teach you the importance of having an emergency fund available. And three weeks into our course, I wish we would have had that fund. There have been two major events within a week and half of each other that have taken quite a bite out of our account.

First, Austin needed to get his wisdom teeth pulled. He's been told for a long time that they've needed to come out, so we probably should have looked into everything a long time ago. But we didn't. We waited until Austin was in enough pain he didn't want to take it anymore, and scheduled the procedure. Well, if you don't know, they make you put down a pretty hefty "deposit" before the procedure actually begins. I suppose we could have been saving up for this.

The second event we couldn't really see coming. But it was just like any other Midwestern day, the snow was falling, the roads were crappy and busy with morning commuters. And before I know it, I find myself hit by another vehicle. Luckily I was not hurt and neither was the other driver. It wasn't on the interstate so we weren't going too fast either. But it is definitely an unexpected (and unwanted) cost that we now have to take care of. We're hoping that the other guy's insurance will take liability and be able to cut us a check, but it probably won't be until after we've already had to pay out.

And finally, we still need to file our taxes. Actually we need to determine if we're going to go talk to someone or just try to figure out the whole live-in-one-state, work-in-another-state thing. And also trying to determine if it'll be better to file separately or together. After we had to pay to the state of Iowa last year, we were hoping for some good news this year. But after we started filing our taxes, things weren't looking too promising.

Money can be great. When you have it. Although I've heard having too much can be a burden too. So I don't want a lot of money. I just want enough money. And money can suck. And it seems that when something is going to happen, it's all going to happen together. When it rain, it pours. Or - when it snows, you get in a car accident. Ha.

But it's important to remember that money is not everything. Money does not determine who we are. And money does not determine our success. Our thoughts, beliefs and actions determine who we are. Our success is defined by so much more than money. And our family and friends are everything.

So to you - our family and friends - thank you. For who you are. For what you do. For being a part of our lives. You are the most important. But, if you do have any extra money lying around... we'd be more than happy to take some of it for you. :)