Hello! I’ve missed you all so much, but spent some sweet quality time with my boo in San Francisco. As I mentioned earlier this month, I am dating a musician and we have opposite schedules, so spending four whole days together was awesome! We just relaxed, got lost, and ate and drank to our heart’s desire. Luckily, I had implemented a travel budget a few months ago, which I add $25 a month to. To be honest, I wasn’t great with my budget, but it was worth it.
The other thing that wasn’t great this month was my side hustle income 🙁 I only had two gigs, which is damn near unheard of for me. I had some nice time alone, but it also kind of bummed me out. You know that feeling of just wanting to wallow in your situation, but not really want to do anything about it? Um, yeah.
But it’s a new month! My recent trip rejuvenated me and I’m really eager to get some things going. Yesterday I caught up on all the “boring life stuff” (e.g. laundry, dishes, cleaning, grocery shopping) and this morning I woke up with ideas for my blog. What a great feeling.
I’m really jazzed about the new Dear Debt Letter submissions and looking forward to hearing more perspectives. If you are interested in writing a letter, get in touch!
On to the juicy stuff.
So how much did I pay off in debt, while being not-so-great with the budget and making hardly any side hustle income? Well, I’ve paid off $1,250 in student loan debt. I’m really surprised by this because I’ve depleted nearly all of my savings and my net income is roughly $1,800 per month (my check is a bit lower to pay for my partner’s insurance and I work at a non-profit in a low-cost of living city).
Previous Month Debt: $45,668.46
Current Debt: $44,678.97
I want to celebrate, but these numbers show $260.51 going to interest! My rent is roughly $400. The interest is close to my rent. I can’t.
I’m a bit bummed as I was really hoping for extra side hustle income and to put $1,500/mo towards debt. Unfortunately, that is not possible right now, but I am hoping that will change. I am looking for writing or commenting opportunities, so if you need some help, holla!
This month I’m looking forward to three confirmed gigs, and hoping to get a lot more! I want to go on a spending freeze until the holidays when I go home to Los Angeles for a few days. I’m trying to dream big and plan large for 2014. It’s hard when reality is telling me something different, but I have hope that things will continue to go up. This year has already been such an awesome ride.
How was your month? What are you looking forward to in December?
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32 comments
Whoo you’re doing great! I’m also looking to add another gig to my roster. Good luck 🙂
Good luck, I hope you find one too!
Hey $1250 is an awesome amount of money to have thrown at your debt!! You are doing great 🙂 Keep your head up and know that you are making great progress!
Thanks, Mackenzie! Your support means a lot 🙂 Keep on moving, one foot in front of the other.
I think you’re kicking a@@! I noticed that a lot of people’s progress seemed to drop off a little from late August-December. I think that time of year has a lot of land mines-too hot (August), Back to School (September), Conferences (October), November (Thanksgiving), December (Christmas, New Year) I am really hoping to get a HECK of a lot done between January-August. Rest up, it’s going to be a fun ride.
Oh my gosh, spending land mines! You are so right. Now is the time to rest and hibernate and get going for 2014.
So glad to hear you had a great time with bf!! Congrats, as well, for getting under the $45k mark! I agree that the interest sucks, so I hope you’re able to find some side hustle gigs soon. Looking forward to your 2014 goals so I can get inspired by them! 🙂
It was wonderful! Having opposite schedules makes me really appreciate spending time with him, which means less bickering, lol 🙂 You know I’ll have a post about 2014 goals (along with everyone else).
You and I are similar in that we are overachievers when it comes to making extra payments towards our student loan debt. I respect your $1500/month goal. Mine is $1000/month and I remember feeling really bummed when I didn’t reach that goal in October so I know how you feel now. Being under $45k is awesome! Keep rocking it out Melanie!
Yes, we are! And I love it, because you are my motivation. To be honest, 1k is my “realistic” payment, but $1500 was my “dream big” goal. Looks like I’m halfway between. Well, it’s still a dream big goal, but you never know! Things have changed so much already this year, so I’m down to make things happen. You are so close to being under 40k and I can’t wait to be there. I think it will be a totally different feeling to have debt in the 30’s.
You did AWESOME, Melanie!! That much toward debt compared to your income and including a vacation is really something to be proud of. So glad you guys had a great time on vacation too – you really deserve the nice alone time. I know exactly what you mean about how hard it is to dream big when reality looks so different, but you can do it, and so can we. Here’s to 2014. 🙂
It was so lovely! Thanks for the support, Laurie.
I’m glad you got to spend some much needed time with your boyfriend, sounds like it was nice! $1,250 is still an incredible amount to pay off – I was making the same amount as you at my last job and could never manage that. Well, $1,250 is also what our rent is; I can’t wait to move to a lower cost of living area for that one reason. At least you’ve got more gigs lined up, good luck on the $1,500 goal and congrats on being under $45k!
Lower cost of living is great, but you also can make less money depending on the field. It can be nice though. Yikes, I don’t miss paying 1k+ for rent (did that in LA).
I cringe when I see how much goes into interest. All that hard earned money. I tell myself not to think about it and it motivates me to pay my debt off faster. Congrats on your extra income this month-that’s awesome!
I cringe too, it’s awful. You just have to keep moving through it!
Great job on your progress! Even though the interest might be bothering you, at least the total is lower than it was last month! That’s what counts! December is definitely not the month to go all out on savings and debt payback because of the holidays, but hopefully I can get my student loans to under 26k for the year!
Yeah, the interest used to be much higher so I shouldn’t complain 😉 Getting you student loans under 26k would be great! I can’t wait for that day myself.
Awe sorry it was a slow month, but I think we all have them. If it wasn’t for my side income in sept and oct, I would have had zero income because of slow video freelance work. Glad you’re making it back to LA for Christmas! And glad you had fun in SF. Dec is going to be a great month work wise, but I gotta admit I’m feeling depressed as hell. All my friends are busy and out of town, and I just want a movie buddy. It’s making me sad. I really hate Decembers for that. Shit, I digress. 🙂
Tonya, I have a perfect post coming up for you very soon! It was inspired by you and some of my own feelings as well. I think you’ll know it when you see it. I’m excited to go back to LA simply for the weather! 26 degrees in PDX now! And to see my family of course.
Uh, you still killed it – especially $1250 to debt on $1800/month – I don’t even understand how that math works… you’re awesome, that’s how!
Glad you enjoyed your trip and some time alone with the bf… I really like San Francisco.
Haha I know the math barely makes sense. Well, my rent is around $400, I have no transportation or medical costs (I bike, health insurance is covered), I am on a family plan with my phone and the rest of the money goes toward food. I live a pretty minimalist lifestyle. I usually side hustle $200-400 a month, which significantly helps me debt repayment, but this month was not that good.
Ugh. Interest. THE WORST. We are paying around $400 in interest right now with our 60k in debt. Cannot wait to get that number down.
But congrats at being under 45k! That’s fantastic! Onward to under 40!
Interest is terrible. My interest used to be that much too, so I should be happy it’s much lower, but still I hate seeing the number every month. I can’t wait to be under 40k! Good luck on your own debt repayment.
Keep on fighting. A worse month doesn’t mean the end, you have a sound plan and it will work 🙂
Let’s hope for a great December.
Thanks, Dojo! Yes, I agree, keep fighting!
Great job with your November debt repayment and getting under $45k, that’s awesome! 😛 I hope you can reach your dream payment goal of $1500 in December and keeping my fingers crossed for you!
Thanks, Eva! I am hoping that too. Here’s to hard work, hustling and making dreams come true.
I think this is fantastic progress. The more you look at the amount going to interest as being a problem, the better it is for you to be motivated to clear it faster.
At least, that’s how it worked for me when I got out of $60,000 of debt in 18 months. Near the end, I was on fire.
I am starting to get really agitated at the state of the interest (even though it’s getting better). I’m finally seeing a difference and it makes me sick. I want it gone!
Don’t get down about it! You are doing a really, really great job with it honestly. Shame to hear about the lack of gig orders, I really hope that improves for you this month.
I hope the gigs improve this month too! Certain times of year are slow, but trying to move through it.