My husband and I did Financial Peace University back in 2015. It saved us. We paid off everything except our house before we got married, and we stayed debt-free for years. Then we bought my childhood home in 2023, things fell apart financially, and suddenly we were back at square one with $135k in debt. We knew the principles worked, so we went back to the Dave Ramsey plan.

The core lesson, give every dollar a job in your budget, is non-negotiable. It's the only thing keeping us from feeling completely broke. But the "no fun until all the debt is gone" part... we kind of ignore that.

What's different this month

We got a bonus from my husband's job. We could have thrown it all at the debt monster, but we didn't. And here's where I break Dave's rules. We're saving for a trip to Hawaii in September because it's our 10-year anniversary, and while we are broke, I also refuse to put our life on hold. Especially when it comes to big milestones and being generous for the people we love most, we will delay our progress for the big stuff.

We're also still investing a small amount in our retirement. Not aggressively. Not at the expense of debt payoff. Just enough not to completely abandon our future for three years. Dave says you should hit Baby Step 3 (fully funded emergency fund) and Baby Step 4 (15% for retirement) after the debt is paid off. We're being soft on the retirement part while we grind through Baby Step 2. We want to take advantage of company matches, and having that money leave our account before the paycheck hits the bank feels less intimidating.

The budget is what keeps us honest. Every dollar has a destination: debt payment, savings for the Hawaii trip, groceries, insurance, car payment, mortgage, Christmas fund, kids' school, and utilities. When a dollar doesn't have a job, we spend it. When it does, we don't. That part of Dave's system is gospel to us.

With all that being said, here is March's progress report

Curious to see live updates on our budget and our debt payoff journey? You can see the dashboard on the website.

April Plans

As we jump into April and enjoy this beautiful spring weather, I will be sharing our monthly budget plan as well as some of the extra income we're working on for this month in the next few emails. Stay tuned 😉