Hunkering Down 2024: Weeks 43 & 44

It's the first day of November and I had to remind myself to do our hunkering down post as it's been a couple of weeks since I did one!  

I've been so busy launching our Circling the Wagons class, that time has gotten away from me!  But, alas, I did remember so let's get to it!

Our financial goal for October was to make a double payment on our targeted debt and ... we stretched and skimped and stretched some more and did it!!!!  Whew, that felt good after the fact, but not so good during the sacrificing to reach the goal!

But, as I've said before, we are own calvary and we have to make our own plan and then work it.  An unimplemented plan is a useless plan!

Make it reasonable and doable and then stick to it!

That's it for this week, what about you, how did your week go and what financial goals are you working toward?

until next time,

mrs. patsi @ A Working Pantry

She looketh well to the ways of her household … Proverbs 31:27 

You might be interested in my other blogs ...

Grandma's Got a Sewing Machine 

From This Heart of Mine

(Rude and or unkind comments will not be published, this is a place of warmth and encouragement ... enough said!)

You can view my privacy policy HERE.

Thank you for using my Amazon affiliate link when placing your Amazon orders. I earn a small percentage that doesn't increase what you pay, and it helps free up more disposable income in budget which we use to help meet our financial goals for the year.   

Disclaimer: Some of the links in this post may be affiliate links.  This means that if you click on the link and place an order, etc I earn a small fee at no increased cost to you. Thank you for your support through these means. 

Hunkering Down 2024: Weeks 41 & 42

It's the middle of October and hubby and I have spent some time talking about how we've done thus far this year, and where we hope to be financially by the end of the year.  One change we talked about and that we're both ready for is to relax our plan enough to allow our personal allowances to be restarted.

When we started our plan back at the first of the year, we talked about whether to keep on allowing our personal allowances as part of our budget.  We decided to take it one month at a time and as it turned out we went several months without them, but now we fill like it's time to reinstate them.

We have felt strongly all throughout this year that neither of us wanted to get to the point in our hunkering down journey that we started resenting what we were doing.  We both felt like that having our own personal 'pocket money' would keep us from getting to that point and were perfectly willing to forgo it as long as we were okay mentally with it.

Since we've made better progress than we thought would be possible this year, we've mutually decided that we can go back to having this luxury.  Does this mean we are letting up in all areas, absolutely not!  It simply means what it says, we are choosing to reinstate our personal allowances.  Nothing more and nothing less.

We're still working toward being able to pay a double payment this month on our targeted debt.  If all continues to go as it has, we should be able to do it.

That's where we're at in our journey, taking care of the mental aspect of reaching our goals is important to us and that's what we're making a priority right now.

That's it for this week, what about you, how did your week go and what financial goals are you working toward?

until next time,

mrs. patsi @ A Working Pantry

She looketh well to the ways of her household … Proverbs 31:27 

(Rude and or unkind comments will not be published, this is a place of warmth and encouragement ... enough said!)

You can view my privacy policy HERE.

Thank you for using my Amazon affiliate link when placing your Amazon orders. I earn a small percentage that doesn't increase what you pay, and it helps free up more disposable income in budget which we use to help meet our financial goals for the year.   

Disclaimer: Some of the links in this post may be affiliate links.  This means that if you click on the link and place an order, etc I earn a small fee at no increased cost to you. Thank you for your support through these means. 

Hunkering Down 2024: Week #40

Here we are at the beginning of a new month ... a new month with new financial goals and plans.

This past week we've allowed ourselves to bask in accomplishing a difficult for us financial goal but now it's time to get back to business.  We can't let up, not when we're closer than we've ever been to being debt free.

We've set our eyes on a new target and that is paying off our vehicle.  We have less than a third of the total amount owed on it to go and that light to debt freedom is getting brighter with every payment we make.

Our goal for this month is to make a double payment on it!  Every month we've be adding extra to the payment but now we're in a position, because of using the snowball method, to attempt a double payment.  

The debt snowball method works!  At first it seems like you're spinning your wheels and getting that first smallest debt paid off is just a small drop in the bucket in view of the big debt picture.  But when you take what you were paying on that smallest debt and add it to the payment of the next smallest debt it starts to make a difference and sooner rather than later, you'll pick up speed as what your able to put toward debt increases with every debt you retire. What you need is commitment and patience and the determination to keep increasing your snowball instead of spending the freed-up money elsewhere. It works if you're willing to follow the method.

That's it for this week, what about you, how did your week go and what financial goals are you working toward?

until next time,

mrs. patsi @ A Working Pantry

She looketh well to the ways of her household … Proverbs 31:27 

You can view my privacy policy HERE.

Thank you for using my Amazon affiliate link when placing your Amazon orders. I earn a small percentage that doesn't increase what you pay, and it helps free up more disposable income in budget which we use to help meet our financial goals for the year.   

Disclaimer: Some of the links in this post may be affiliate links.  This means that if you click on the link and place an order, etc I earn a small fee at no increased cost to you. Thank you for your support through these means. 

Hunkering Down 2024: Week #39

Thank you to those who have reached out in concern over our impact from Hurricane Helene.  This morning was a bit disconcerting, but we are fine and have no property damage.  We got a lot of rain and wind, but thankfully that was all.   There are others not in our area that didn't fare so well and have quite a bit of damage.  For those who are of a mind to pray, please keep them in your prayers.  Cleaning up after a major hurricane is physically and emotionally exhausting.

It's the end of the month and our one big goal was to make an extra payment on our targeted debt.

Were we able to do it?

Yes, we did, we made that extra payment on our targeted debt!  That's good news, right ... we think so!  But, when I realized the amount that was left, I determined that it was entirely possible to finish paying off this debt this month!!!  That's even better news isn't it!  

My heart did a flip, and with pen and paper in one hand and calculator in the other, I figured out a way to make it happen!  No, I didn't not pay something and yes, the next couple of weeks are going to be lean, but oh my, it will be so worth it!

So, where do we go from here? We'll talk about that in the next post.  Right now, we just want to bask in achieving a goal we didn't even consider a possibility earlier in the year.

We give God the glory for what we've been able to do, for the fire he lit under us to get debt free (we're not there yet, but we can see light at the end of the debt tunnel), for the health to be able to work, and for the wisdom to make the best decisions.

Before I close out this post, I want to say something ... we are making the progress we are by sheer sacrifice and making do.  No one is giving us any money or paying our debt for us, we are doing this ourselves.  If you are, consciously or unconsciously, waiting for the calvary to arrive to bail you out, please stop waiting, they're not coming!  Make a plan and work that plan.  Plan one month at a time and then replan the next month.  Choose a plan that you can live with and get to work. Any progress, no matter how small, is progress.  I promise you; you won't be sorry when you start feeling the freedom your efforts produce.

That's it for this week, what about you, how did your week go and what financial goals are you working toward?

until next time,

mrs. patsi @ A Working Pantry

She looketh well to the ways of her household … Proverbs 31:27 

You can view my privacy policy HERE.

Thank you for using my Amazon affiliate link when placing your Amazon orders. I earn a small percentage that doesn't increase what you pay, and it helps free up more disposable income in budget which we use to help meet our financial goals for the year.   

Disclaimer: Some of the links in this post may be affiliate links.  This means that if you click on the link and place an order, etc I earn a small fee at no increased cost to you. Thank you for your support through these means. 

Hunkering Down 2024: Week 38

Hubby and I spent some time discussing what we wanted to accomplish financially for the rest of 2024 this week.  We made a plan of how we would work towards those goals and then got very specific with the baby steps that we would need to carry through on ... it was a good conversation, we're both on the same page and we're ready to go!

Just for the record, our goals don't involve huge amounts of money, so if you're thinking that you can't set financial goals because you don't have much money to work with, let me assure you that you can and that you're not alone.

Let me tell you this also though, you have to start somewhere and 'small' is a good place to begin.  Do what you can, when you can and be thankful that you can do what you can do!

Here's an example ...

Last week we had to buy a tire for one of our vehicles and this week we had to have the alternator replaced in one of our vehicles ... wham!  There goes the extra money we were planning to put towards our targeted debt!  But, after a little thinking I realized that we have two possibilities to recoup the money and still be able to make that extra payment.  (1)  use grocery money as we don't need anything from the store and (2) we are anticipating that our power bill for this month will be less since we've been traveling quite a bit.  If this holds true, we'll take any surplus funds from both of these areas and maybe just maybe be able to make that extra payment we want to make.

It might not have been what we had originally planned but it's a perfect example of doing what we can where we are with what we've got to work with ... I hope that make sense!

That's it for this week, what about you, how did your week go and what financial goals are you working toward?

until next time,

mrs. patsi @ A Working Pantry

She looketh well to the ways of her household … Proverbs 31:27 

You can view my privacy policy HERE.

Thank you for using my Amazon affiliate link when placing your Amazon orders. I earn a small percentage that doesn't increase what you pay, and it helps free up more disposable income in budget which we use to help meet our financial goals for the year.   

Disclaimer: Some of the links in this post may be affiliate links.  This means that if you click on the link and place an order, etc I earn a small fee at no increased cost to you. Thank you for your support through these means. 

Hunkering Down 2024: Weeks 32, 33, 34, 35, 36 & 37

Here I am playing catch-up again!  But that's okay, because truthfully that's how life goes sometimes, doesn't it?  I'm not stressing over it; I'm just picking back up where we left off which is with this question from our last hunkering down post ...

" ... let's see if we can make a double payment on our targeted debt in the month of August!'

Well, did we?  We sure did and we've already made a double payment on it for September as well!

How were we able to make double payments two months in a row?  By saying 'no' to extra spending, by using what we had, by making do with substitutions and sometimes by doing without.  

We are so close to having this debt paid off and I'm very happy about that!  

It's a good thing we're about to lay this debt to rest though, because we got a notice this week that hubby's Medicare supplemental insurance policy is increasing $12 per month.  While that may not seem like a lot of money, it's just one of several price increases we've gotten this year and over time they add up.  It seems every time we turn around, we're getting notifications such as this and we won't even talk about the price increases of everything else!

So, getting this debt paid off, hopefully soon, will free up money to cover those increases.

There is no magic wand in digging out of debt, there just isn't.  It takes hard work and sacrifice and until we accept that and put it into practice, we're really not going to have a lot of success.

The upside to digging yourself out of debt though is that you're less likely to be as quick to go back in!   Valuable lessons are learned from doing your own 'digging!'  (Please understand that I'm not talking about medical emergencies and such.  Sometimes some things just can't be helped.) 

What kind of financial goal are we setting for the rest of September? Hehehehe, we're going to try to make another payment on our targeted debt.  Where's it going to come from, I don't know, but we're going to be very mindful of our spending. We're going to apply every bit of money we can to this debt as soon as it becomes available all the while praying for God to open our eyes to ways to accomplish our goal.  We've got that 'deer in the headlight' kind of focus on this debt, can you tell?

That's it for this week, what about you, how did your week go and what financial goals are you working toward?

until next time,

mrs. patsi @ A Working Pantry

She looketh well to the ways of her household … Proverbs 31:27 

You can view my privacy policy HERE.

Thank you for using my Amazon affiliate link when placing your Amazon orders. I earn a small percentage that doesn't increase what you pay, and it helps free up more disposable income in budget which we use to help meet our financial goals for the year.   

Disclaimer: Some of the links in this post may be affiliate links.  This means that if you click on the link and place an order, etc I earn a small fee at no increased cost to you. Thank you for your support through these means. 

Hunkering Down 2024: Weeks 29, 30 & 31!

Whew!  That's a lot of weeks to get caught up on, but we can do it!  Let's see, where did we leave off before sickness invaded our home ...

I believe our last post included the following ...

The big news this week is that everything went according to plan!  We were able to meet all of our financial obligations and make a double payment on our targeted debt!  That felt really good!

For the rest of this month, I'm going to try to squeeze out another extra payment for our targeted debt.  I don't know if we can, but we won't know if we don't try.

So, how did we do ...

We did very little spending while we were sick except for prescriptions ... that's really about the only good thing that came from our being sick, everything got put on hold including spending!

Did we manage to come up with enough money to make another extra payment on our targeted debt?  Yes, we did!!!  All total, we made 3 payments on it in July.  I know it sounds silly, but every time we make an extra payment, it fires us up to try harder, sacrifice a little more and stretch what we have a little further in order to do it again.

Even with all the setbacks we've had this year, we've already met a good part of our financial goals we set for the year back in January.  If we were to stop right now (which we're not) this year would be a success in terms of reaching our financial goals.

When I chose our goals for this year, I tried to make them realistic and just a little stretching.  Success fuels success and I knew if the goals were unrealistic for our income that it would all be just a big failure and just as success fuels success, failure fuels failure too.  It's better to set realistic goals and meet them, then set unrealistic goals and fail them.

It will take longer to achieve realistic goals but unless you have a windfall of money the turtle method of achieving our goals really has the best long-term results.

It feels really good to set realistic goals and then work hard to surpass them ... that's what we've done and are doing!

Speaking of setting realistic goals, let's see if we can make a double payment on our targeted debt in the month of August!

What are your thoughts on setting realistic goals?

That's it for this week, what about you, how did your week go and what financial goals are you working toward?

until next time,

mrs. patsi @ A Working Pantry

She looketh well to the ways of her household … Proverbs 31:27 

You can view my privacy policy HERE.

Thank you for using my Amazon affiliate link when placing your Amazon orders. I earn a small percentage that doesn't increase what you pay, and it helps free up more disposable income in budget which we use to help meet our financial goals for the year.   

Disclaimer: Some of the links in this post may be affiliate links.  This means that if you click on the link and place an order, etc I earn a small fee at no increased cost to you. Thank you for your support through these means. 

Hunkering Down in 2024: Week #28

The big news this week is that everything went according to plan!

We were able to meet all of our financial obligations and make a double payment on our targeted debt!

That felt really good!

For the rest of this month, I'm going to try to squeeze out another extra payment for our targeted debt.  I don't know if we can, but we won't know if we don't try.

We have to try, don't we?

If we give up and throw in the towel because we're not achieving what we want, we lose the game the minute we admit defeat.  And isn't throwing in the towel admitting defeat?

This week's post is short and sweet, but I hope you'll recognize the message ... we must keep trying to do what we can to reach our financial goals ... we just must!

That's it for this week, what about you, how did your week go and what financial goals are you working toward?

until next time,

mrs. patsi @ A Working Pantry

She looketh well to the ways of her household … Proverbs 31:27 

You can view my privacy policy HERE.

Thank you for using my Amazon affiliate link when placing your Amazon orders. I earn a small percentage that doesn't increase what you pay, and it helps free up more disposable income in budget which we use to help meet our financial goals for the year.   

Disclaimer: Some of the links in this post may be affiliate links.  This means that if you click on the link and place an order, etc I earn a small fee at no increased cost to you. Thank you for your support through these means. 

Hunkering Down in 2024: Week #27

I didn't set goals for this week because I wanted to do an end of the month (for June) summary along with a halfway through the year summary.

Let's start with June, how did we do?

In spite of our out-of-pocket prescription medication costs increasing $350.00 per month starting in June, we managed to hold on and make some progress toward our targeted debt.

We made an extra payment on our targeted debt.

We were able to pay all of our bills on time.

We stayed under budget with our grocery budget.

We tightened our belts a little bit tighter!

What about a half-year summary, how did we do the first half of 2024.  In January, February and March, we did amazing.  We were laser focused and made some great progress towards our debt.   April, May and June saw some serious health issues for my husband that stopped us in our financial tracks.  The extra funds we were putting toward debt, went to paying doctor bills and added medicines.  Consequently, we didn't make near the progress we did the first quarter of the year.  However, we continued to chip away at our targeted debt.  When all is said and done, the six months as a whole found us exceeding the financial goals we set for the first half of the year.  We met our goal of paying off targeted debt and adding to our savings.  This was made possible because we 'made hay while the sun was shining.'  While things were going well, we put every cent we could squeeze out and or could get our hands on towards debt or savings.  It paid off!

For July, we will continue to pay as much (yes, even small amounts) as often as we can towards our targeted debt and add something to savings.

That will look like:

Having as many no-spend days as possible.

Eating mainly out of our pantry and staying out of the grocery store as much as possible. (We eat really well out of our pantry, so no need for pity here!)

I also want to take another look at our expenses and see if we can find areas to cut further.

We are determined to meet our financial goals if at all possible.

That's it for this week, what about you, how did your week go and what financial goals are you working toward?

until next time,

mrs. patsi @ A Working Pantry

She looketh well to the ways of her household … Proverbs 31:27 

You can view my privacy policy HERE.

Thank you for using my Amazon affiliate link when placing your Amazon orders. I earn a small percentage that doesn't increase what you pay, and it helps free up more disposable income in budget which we use to help meet our financial goals for the year.   

Disclaimer: Some of the links in this post may be affiliate links.  This means that if you click on the link and place an order, etc I earn a small fee at no increased cost to you. Thank you for your support through these means. 

Hunkering Down in 2024: Week #26

Hubby and I were talking one day this week about the bare facts of getting ahead financially and we both agreed that in a lot of cases it was simply to stop spending for non-essentials.  

That sounds so easy when reading it, doesn't it?  We also both agreed though, that that was hard, very hard at times.  

There are no magic solutions, it's just plain self-denial.

Self-denial is not something that we as a whole of people are very good at.  But in reality, at the end of the day, it's the bottom line.

It was that kind of week for us!

So, how did we do on our financial goals?

Let's see ...

Our goals for the week were ...

Stay within our grocery budget.  We spent no money at the grocery store!  We ate out of the garden and pantry all week ... and we ate well!

This week will be one of those 'daily grind' weeks where we're between paychecks, so we're going to be looking for ways to be extra frugal.  We stayed home, spent very little money and just plain hunkered down financially.

Have as many no-spend days as possible.  We had 6 no-spend days this week!

Next week we'll do an end of the month summation, a halfway through the year summation and set some specific goals for July.

That's it for this week, what about you, how did your week go and what financial goals are you working toward?

until next time,

mrs. patsi @ A Working Pantry

She looketh well to the ways of her household … Proverbs 31:27 

You can view my privacy policy HERE.

Thank you for using my Amazon affiliate link when placing your Amazon orders. I earn a small percentage that doesn't increase what you pay, and it helps free up more disposable income in budget which we use to help meet our financial goals for the year.   

Disclaimer: Some of the links in this post may be affiliate links.  This means that if you click on the link and place an order, etc I earn a small fee at no increased cost to you. Thank you for your support through these means. 

Hunkering Down 2024: Week #25

I just love it when a plan comes together, even when it comes together slowly.  Here we are in the third week in June, and we are on target for meeting our goals.  They are not the goals we had January - March, but they are the goals we can do now. Although we're not making the progress we were in the first quarter of the year, we are still making slow progress.  I can't tell you how good that feels and how thankful we are to be able to make any progress!

So, how did we do on our financial goals for this week?

Let's see ...

Our goals for the week were ...

Stay within our grocery budget ... we did it!  We spent less than $20 of our grocery budget so, yes, we stayed within our grocery budget boundaries.

Have as many no-spend days as possible.  We had two no-spend days this week, which is pretty typical for us.  Two is better than none, so, we'll take it!

Add any amount to our savings ... we collected and rolled our change this week and added it to our savings.  Small amounts add up and we should never disdain their importance.  If nothing else, it keeps the momentum going toward our financial goals and let me tell you that is so very important!

Take advantage of anything that comes our way that will help us further our financial goals.  We were given quite a bit of free produce this week and while it was not an immediate financial help in terms of cash in hand, it has been a part of several meals this week as well as adding to our pantry ... which as we all know saves money.  Money saved in any way, is money that can be put toward our financial goals.

Today is our anniversary and we opted not to do gifts, but to prepare one of our favorite meals and desert.  We only needed to purchase one extra item to complete our meal.  

What do our financial goals look like for next week?

Of course, we want to stay within our grocery budget. 

This week will be one of those 'daily grinds' week where we're between paychecks, so we're going to be looking for ways to be extra frugal.

Have as many no-spend days as possible.

That's it for this week, what about you, how did your week go and what financial goals are you working toward next week?

until next time,

mrs. patsi @ A Working Pantry

She looketh well to the ways of her household … Proverbs 31:27 

You can view my privacy policy HERE.

Thank you for using my Amazon affiliate link when placing your Amazon orders. I earn a small percentage that doesn't increase what you pay, and it helps free up more disposable income in budget which we use to help meet our financial goals for the year.   

Disclaimer: Some of the links in this post may be affiliate links.  This means that if you click on the link and place an order, etc I earn a small fee at no increased cost to you. Thank you for your support through these means. 

Hunkering Down 2024: Week #24

Whew!  What a busy week!  We've been involved in vacation Bible school most of the week which meant we had very little time to think about our financial goals.

Sometimes, it's that way, isn't it?  Busyness just takes over and we go into survival mode just trying to get from one thing to the next.  But what happens to our financial goals when we find ourselves in these seasons?

Let's take a look at how it played out for us this week ...

Here are the financial goals we set for the week ...

Stay within our grocery budget.  We did it!  This wasn't really hard as we had very little time at home and no groceries were needed (thank you well-stocked pantry).  Hence, our grocery budget went for grabbing meals on the run in and around vacation Bible school prep and activities.  We worked with and alongside a group all week, consequently, we ate together as well.

Being able to use our grocery budget for this purpose meant we could stay on track with our financial goals.  It was a win, win week in so many ways!

Have as many no-spend days as possible (Exception:  food/groceries, fuel for vehicle and bills that are due.)  We did good on this one too!  With the exceptions mentioned above we had a week of 6 no-spend days ... a rarity for us!  We can usually manage 2 or 3, but this week we managed 6.  I think it was because we were so busy!  Busyness can be a good thing when we're working toward financial goals.

Pay extra on our targeted debt.  This was a good week in this area too; we were able to pay the regular payment x's two.  Yep, we made a double payment on our targeted debt.  I can't tell you how good that felt after just being able to tread water for the last two months.

What do our financial goals look like for next week?

Stay within our grocery budget

Have as many no-spend days as possible

Add any amount to our savings 

Take advantage of anything that comes our way that will help us further our financial goals.

How did your week go and what financial goals are you working toward next week?

until next time,

mrs. patsi @ A Working Pantry

She looketh well to the ways of her household … Proverbs 31:27 

You can view my privacy policy HERE.

Thank you for using my Amazon affiliate link when placing your Amazon orders. I earn a small percentage that doesn't increase what you pay, and it helps free up more disposable income in budget which we use to help meet our financial goals for the year.   

Disclaimer: Some of the links in this post may be affiliate links.  This means that if you click on the link and place an order, etc I earn a small fee at no increased cost to you. Thank you for your support through these means. 

Hunkering Down 2024: Week # 23

Hello June!  This first week we regrouped, adjusted our financial plan and got right back to working on our goals!

Rising up out of the ashes of the financial setbacks April and May brought, we're ready to move ahead!

So, what did this week look like?

We paid our bills on time ... more and more I realize that being able to do this is a blessing!  So many are having to make difficult choices between paying their bills and providing food and shelter for their families.  While I realize that our choices play a big part in being able to pay our bills, I'm also seeing more and more those who are having their ability to choose taken away by our current economy.

We stayed within our grocery budget ... almost all of what we are spending at the grocery store right now is being spent on bargains, loss leaders and clearance.  Since we weren't able to do a summer garden this year, we are going to plan B, which is to utilize the grocery store, farmers markets, etc for the best deals we can find to keep our pantry stocked.  Keeping a well-stocked pantry is a high priority for us, it has literally been a HUGE help in achieving our financial goals for this year.

Our financial goals for the upcoming week are ...

Stay within our grocery budget

Have as many no-spend days as possible (Exception:  food/groceries, fuel for vehicle and bills that are due.)

Pay extra on our targeted debt

I'll report back in the next post and let you know how we did!

How did your week go and what financial goals are you working toward next week?

until next time,

mrs. patsi @ A Working Pantry

She looketh well to the ways of her household … Proverbs 31:27 

You can view my privacy policy HERE.

Thank you for using my Amazon affiliate link when placing your Amazon orders. I earn a small percentage that doesn't increase what you pay, and it helps free up more disposable income in budget which we use to help meet our financial goals for the year.   

Disclaimer: Some of the links in this post may be affiliate links.  This means that if you click on the link and place an order, etc I earn a small fee at no increased cost to you. Thank you for your support through these means. 

Hunkering Down 2024: Week # 22

Here we are at the last day in May and the burning question to be answered is, 'did we meet our financial goals for the month?

The short answer is no, we simply had too many unexpected medical expenses!  We were though, actually able to pay half of our goal amount toward our targeted debt.  Honestly, we really feel good about this as it was a tuff financial month.

Are we bummed about it, yes and no.  We know that we did the best we could and if we were faced with the same decisions again, we wouldn't change a thing.  This is called LIFE and LIFE happens!  We have no intention of throwing our plans out the window along with the towel!  No ma'am!  

So, where do we go from here and what is June going to look like?

Where do we go from here?  We keep on keeping on ... there's no such thing as a perfect financial journey and the month of May for us just proves it.  We're digging in and keeping on keeping on!

What is June going to look like?  June would have been the month we would have been able to pay off our targeted debt had it not been for the medical expenses.  So, we're going to divide the remaining balance by two and move our goal of paying off this debt to July.  In addition, we're going to work like it all depends on us and pray like it all depends on God.

That's our plan and we're sticking to it!  ~ smile ~

The lesson from the month of May for us is, pay as much as often as you can on your debt, or add as much as often as you can to your savings ... because you never know when LIFE is going to throw you a curve ball!

On a sidenote:  things really are looking up; we're getting answers regarding hubby's medical emergency and a treatment plan is being put into place.  More on that later!  

One more thing:  For those ladies who are following along with our ladies Bible class over on From This Heart of Mine, Lesson 3 in our study of 'Mary of Bethany: Choosing the Better' has been posted HERE.

until next time,

mrs. patsi @ A Working Pantry

She looketh well to the ways of her household … Proverbs 31:27 

Sharing 45 years' experience of frugal, prudent living and pantry building 

My second blog:  From This Heart of Mine, where I share my love for God and His Word through my personal Bibe study.  Physical preparedness is important, but not near as important as spiritual preparedness.  Ladies, join me over at From This Heart of Mine and study God's Word with me.

You can view my privacy policy HERE.

Thank you for using my Amazon affiliate link when placing your Amazon orders. I earn a small percentage that doesn't increase what you pay, and it helps me keep my pantry well-stocked! 

Disclaimer: Some of the links in this post may be affiliate links.  This means that if you click on the link and place an order, etc I earn a small fee at no increased cost to you. Thank you for your support through these means. 

Hunkering Down in 2024: Week #21

This week has been a week of just living out the financial decisions we've made. 

Less spending, less driving, and so on.  Its's what some would call the daily grind. It sounds boring doesn't it, but and this is important ... it's through the daily grind that we achieve our goals.

The daily grind is our ticket to success ...

The daily grind teaches us discipline ... 

The daily grind shows and confirms to us that there is no easy, quick fix way ... 

We can't borrow our way out of debt ...

We can't ignore our way out of debt ...

The way to a debt free and or building savings lifestyle has to be done through the daily grind!

We're five months into our financial journey and the goals we set for this year.  Honestly, at the beginning of the year when we set these goals, I didn't think we would be where we're at now.  It has taken more sacrifice than I have wanted to give at times, but having clear goals with broken down baby steps for each of those goals has helped keep me/us grounded and on track.

Has the sacrifice thus far been worth it?  Absolutely, we already have quite a bit more wiggle room in our budget and I can't tell you how good that feels.  It's that extra wiggle room that has kept us out of debt with the unexpected medical expenses we've incurred the past couple of months.

When I start feeling like I want to purchase something that's really not a necessity, I think back through these last 5 months, and I/we know that we can delay our wants just a little bit longer.  We can do this ... we are doing this ... through the daily grind!

Looking at it that way, the daily grind is not so bad after all!

One more thing:  For those ladies who are following along with our ladies Bible class over on From This Heart of Mine, Lesson 2 in our study of 'Mary of Bethany: Choosing the Better' has been posted HERE.

until next time,

mrs. patsi @ A Working Pantry

She looketh well to the ways of her household … Proverbs 31:27 

Sharing 44 years' experience of frugal, prudent living and pantry building 

My second blog:  From This Heart of Mine, where I share my love for God and His Word through my personal Bibe study.  Physical preparedness is important, but not near as important as spiritual preparedness.  Ladies, join me over at From This Heart of Mine and study God's Word with me.

You can view my privacy policy HERE.

Thank you for using my Amazon affiliate link when placing your Amazon orders. I earn a small percentage that doesn't increase what you pay, and it helps me keep my pantry well-stocked! 

Disclaimer: Some of the links in this post may be affiliate links.  This means that if you click on the link and place an order, etc I earn a small fee at no increased cost to you. Thank you for your support through these means.