Hello friends and new readers! 
Welcome to number four in my series of monthly updates to a Financially Fit 2016! Today I’m sharing the progress I made with savings and debt pay off in April. While my journey to get out of debt is not perfect, I hope by being open about it I will inspire others to improve their finances.
If you’re visiting my blog for the first time you might want to start by reading this post: How I’m Getting Financially Fit in 2016! Or catch up on March’s progress here.
Goals Update
I am still generally focused on the very big Goal #3: Pay off our debt using a debt snowball. I hope to reach this goal and be completely debt free (except our mortgage) by the end of 2016.
This is obviously a BIG goal, and you can see the progress made so far in the Numbers section below. I do need to come up with some smaller, bite size goals I can reach over the next few months I think. The positive feeling you get from crossing out an achieved goal can really be helpful when fighting your way out of debt. Those little boosts keep you going when debt fatigue sets in and you want to give up.
Action Steps Update
Make more money: In this section I’m discussing income from work such as virtual assisting, social media management, money earned on my blog, etc. I’m not including money that I make selling items through consignment, apps or other means.
I am rocking this! It’s still a small amount compared to our monthly expenses, our debt, and what my spouse brings in from a traditional job, but I managed to earn over $800 in April! I hope to keep increasing my earnings every month and I’m focusing on ways to stay organized and productive (one of the keys is asking for help!).
Stick to a tight budget & use a price book: Full honesty here – price book has grown very dusty! And we have also gone over budget in several categories. And going over budget adds to our consumer debt. 
Have regular family budget meetings: We did slightly better than March, where there were NO money meetings. But not much better. I am taking full blame because I need to initiate these meetings, and I haven’t. This is bad for several reasons – first it leaves me feeling alone in our finances and battle to get out of debt, and second, it means I’m not standing up for myself and saying “Hey! This is important to me! Let’s make time for it!” All things I need to work on.
Continue my financial education: After I wrote about rich habits, I really made reading more of a priority in my life. I have been working my way through Your Money or Your Life in April, but it’s a pretty thought provoking book, so I’m still slowly reading and absorbing. I also owe you guys reviews of The Automatic Millionaire and The Total Money Makeover and I promise they are coming soon!
I’m going through a music phase at the gym, so I’ve taken a bit of a break from the financial podcasts. I tend to flip back and forth, so I’m sure I’ll be back to them soon!
The Numbers Update*
*as of 4/29/2016
I know what you are really here for – the numbers! Here we go …
Consumer Debt (3 credit cards & cell phones) $10,727.12
Medical Debt (hospital & neonatologists) $0 (z-e-r-o)
Car Loan/Lease (one of each) $47,420.77
Total Debt $58,147.89
Savings: $75.60*
Progress? For sure! In a two steps forward one step back way as usual, but still progress nonetheless.
If you have been paying attention you will notice that our consumer debt number actually went up (again) over the last month. Explanation is just a little further down in the budget notes section.
We have $5,084.76 LESS DEBT than we did one month ago in March 2016, and $14,867.12 LESS DEBT than when this journey began in December 2015! $14,867.12 less than when this journey began four months ago. Read that a few times (I had to). I also checked my math about 14,867.12 times. My original monthly goal for debt pay off was $6,084.58 and we came pretty close this month!
*A note on savings: Even though our main goal has been tackling debt, I decided I will save at least a small amount each month if possible.
Where Did the Extra Money Come From?
You might be wondering where I found the extra money to throw at our debt (I would be!).
Obviously (if you are reading carefully) we got rid of one major debt category this month – MEDICAL! We were very lucky to have had family help with eliminating this debt. If you read my post titled On Couches Loss and Compromise you will remember we sadly lost my husband’s grandmother in March. As a result, my in-laws received some money and generously offered to pay off their grandson’s medical debt with a portion of it. We are very thankful for the relief from this debt but it does come with mixed feelings. The first of course is immense gratitude. Sadness that it took the loss of a family member to pay off this debt. Guilt (mine) that my in-laws have to help us, when they could have used the money to improve their own lives. Anger (my husband’s) that getting rid of this debt still doesn’t impact our monthly budget significantly enough. Shame that we needed help and couldn’t take care of it ourselves. A lot of those emotions really cancelled out the happiness of kissing that debt goodbye!
Throughout the month I also sent many small payments to our credit cards. These small, but still significant amounts came from consignment profits, Swagbucks (a $25 PayPal giftcard cash out), birthday money (don’t tell my three year old!), a $10 cash out from the Receipt Hog app (want me to do a review?), and randomly – a Red Bull settlement check for $4.25 (always open your junk mail!). And of course …
$28.75 came from the Ibotta app! $28.75 of FREE money, from a FREE app. If you haven’t signed up yet, this is my referral link, click it now! When you verify your first rebate (within 2 weeks of signing up) you will get $10 and I will get $5! That’s a win win and just part of why I think you are CRAZY if you’re not using this app! My year to date earnings from Ibotta are $160! Don’t you want your part of that?
Budget Notes
Why is our consumer debt sky rocketing? April did have a little overspending (mostly in the grocery category, which I struggle to keep under control, but also in gifts), but that’s not the only reason. Typically I put all of our spending on credit cards first, because we do not always have cash on hand to make our daily/weekly purchases (not recommended AT ALL, just our current situation). Then as soon as I can I start repaying the debt. I stopped making payments in April, leaving a higher than usual balance because we are trying to keep as much cash as possible in the bank for the month of May. Why? Because we are planning to refinance our mortgage for the first time and essentially need to have enough cash available to pay our mortgage twice next month.
April did have one unexpected expense – I injured my eye! I have been running a lot at the gym and somehow wiping sweat out of my eye turned into an emergency eye appointment a few days later. Very random I know! All is well now after some drops, but I paid a co-pay twice and picked up a prescription.
Looking Ahead
May terrifies me. I am not 100% behind our mortgage refinance plan. It will drop our interest rate and lower our monthly payment – sure, great! But to get there we have to rack up debt, which if not paid off immediately will begin accumulating ridiculous interest. The vicious cycle of debt continues.
Also, remember in March when I said I hoped to set aside cash for purchasing things like new clothing, new sheets and plane tickets? Didn’t happen. The plane ticket purchase will be delayed until June or July at least. Sheets can keep waiting (in my opinion). We will need to purchase clothes but will try to do it frugally. I’m well beyond my comfort level when it comes to our credit card balances so I will try to turn things around by focusing on my income potential so we can keep knocking the debt down.
Keeping my chin up and my eyes open to opportunities for both saving and making money! Hoping to report good things at the end of the month of May, even though I feel fearful and worried now.
If you read this far – thank you! Your time and your interest in my story mean the world to me! <3
Want to help?
If you’d like to help my debt payoff journey in a small way, consider signing up for Ibotta through my referral link! Or use my Amazon link the next time you need to shop there, I’ll earn a small commission at no extra cost to you!
I also recommend you sign up for Swagbucks and Ebates while you’re at it! Swagbucks is a great way to earn giftcards, and Ebates let’s you earn money back shopping online. I use Ebates most often for kids clothes shopping (especially at Old Navy, Carter’s and Target online). You can also check out my Hire Me page if you could benefit from my virtual assistant services – especially if you’re a fellow blogger!
(Stay at home yogi is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com)
If you found this post helpful or encouraging in any way – please share! Pin! Tweet! Stumble! Like! I’d love to have it posted on your social media of choice or sent directly to a loved one who is struggling to get out of debt!
How was April for you? Did you reach any goals?
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