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Books I’ve Read: Q2 2018

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Quarter 2 was off to a slow start reading-wise, focusing on the garden, running and other life activities, but in June I picked up speed and read three books before month end.

Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less by Greg McKeown // This book should have been at least 100 pages shorter; much of what he shared was repeated a number of times throughout the book. There were a couple of ah-ha moments that I connected with, like not doing it all. “What if we stopped celebrating being busy as a measurement of importance?” Taking it all on doesn’t mean you’re successful by any means and I’ve learned this over the past year. I’ve worked on slowing my schedule down by choosing what is truly important to me and saying no when I don’t want to commit or spread myself too thin. It’s been easier being on a budget and practicing saying no because of financial constraints, but I must add, now that I know what it’s like to slow down, being busy really wears me down and I crave a low-key lifestyle. Efficiency is greater than quantity in my book.

Raised Bed Revolution: Build It, Fill It, Plant It… Garden Anywhere! by Tara Nolan // This book, while inspiring from the photographs, was too general. I read it front to cover one evening while babysitting (don’t fret, the kiddos were sleeping), which inspired me to do more specific Google searches the following week. The MIgardener.com is an excellent resource, we’re obsessed with watching his YouTube channel.

The Book of Polly by Kathy Hepinstall // My mom highly recommended this book so I pushed it to the top of my list. It was hilarious, I literally laughed out loud a couple of times. All of the characters are real – they draw you in fast whether you can relate to them or not. Super easy read – I was done within two days. Great beach read.

Wild by Cheryl Strayed // This book has been on my must-read list for a number of years because so many people ask me if I’ve read it when they find out I’m a hiker. I can finally say yes. And I can finally respond, eh, it was okay. It was a slow read, taking me almost two weeks to finish. I suggest taking a hike instead of reading this book. I’m hoping the film is better, ha!

Up: A mother and Daughter’s Peakbagging Adventure by Patricia Ellis Herr // I started and finished this book within 24 hours: super easy read, super pretentious writer. Don’t get me wrong, a 5 year old hiking all 48 peaks is impressive but man oh man, this mother spends half of the book trying to convince us how exceptional they are – she gave up her Harvard PhD to be a stay at home mom, slinging *organic* bars to her bright, home schooled child. The dialog is so phony between the two of them, ugh, she just rubbed me the wrong way… and I’m ALL FOR kids being outdoors, eating organic and heck, I’d love to home school any future kid. It was just written in the completely wrong way.

I started Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams but to be honest, as interesting as it is, it put me to sleep! Ha! I noted the page I left off on (40) and returned it to the library; I’ll try again in a couple of months.

June in Review!

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June: the never-ending month of birthdays and extra spending.

Don’t get me wrong, I love the people we purchased gifts for this month, but golly, the extra spending seemed never ending because our gift envelope was empty before the month even started. I vow to never try to get pregnant that would result in a May, June or July birthday baby, ha! Too much information? I’m just being honest. Eight birthdays, two Dads for Father’s Day, a wedding and our favorite Troy brewery turned four… much to celebrate!

Despite all of the spending…

We paid off another student loan! 
When we started this journey back in September, we owed $14,443.03 on this student loan. It was originally taken out back in August 2005 and was originally projected to be paid off on 9/25/2029, according to Navient. We paid it off 11 years and 4 months ahead of schedule – boom pow!

We started tackling student loan 5 of 6! 
We are down to the final TWO debt balances! TWO! Yes, they are the largest but I can see that little flash of light at the end of the tunnel. We are now tackling unsubsidized Stafford Loan 1-03. The beau originally took out this loan back in August 2007 and its original balance at 5.8% was $12,000. When we started this journey back in September, the balance was $16,656.09 and if we stay on Navient’s track, our anticipated payoff date would be 2/25/2036. My personal payoff goal for this loan is October 2018… that’s a 17+ year difference! After all we’ve dumped on to the balance this month, the balance is now $11,239.87 rolling into July. *Note: we are just now under the original loan balance, ugh! Watch those income based repayment plans if you can…

Our income based repayment plan was denied. 
I discussed this on my IG stories a couple weeks ago, but realizing that some of you don’t follow me there, I’ll share on this space too. We refiled the income based repayment plan application at the beginning of the month and were declined because we filed our taxes jointly this year and both of our incomes were included in the decision making process. I then refiled indicating that our finances are separate, and we were declined a second time because the beau “makes more than the poverty line…”

…which is bullshit because when I asked what the poverty line is, she told me $44,000. Last year when we filed and were granted an IBR plan, he was making more than that number soooooo that makes zero sense and she couldn’t justify the difference in the decision making process. All they know is that he got a $2,000 raise and that’s “too much” money and think he can now afford a couple extra hundred dollars each month. A $2k raise only equals an extra $56 each payday. I’m frustrated because their process for granting IBR plans is flawed but I’m thankful I am on this plan because if we didn’t have a plan, going from a $65 payment to a $276 payment would be so so overwhelming. I didn’t fight it and they didn’t ask me why or how we were paying off the other loans so quickly, so I just let it be.

I got my fitness on!
The beau won a free gym membership at his work health fair day! Whoop whoop! Fully knowing he wouldn’t take advantage of the membership (he rows at home almost every day), he let me have it so that I could start spinning again. Love I tell ya. I reached out to my coach to readjust my schedule and I’m now spinning 2x per week, giving up my recovery runs. Spin it to win it! I’m still aiming to run 4 days a week and for the most part I stayed on track throughout the month of June. I ran 106.89 miles this month, a significant increase from last month! My mileage isn’t as high as I think it should be (because I slacked the last couple of months) but I’ve got two months to slowly increase the time on my feet. In July I’d like to hike at least 4x and complete 2 loops at each ARE STRS location. Gotta get more time on the trails, it is a trail race after all.

I survived my first month without meal planning!
This was hard, y’all. I’m a planner. We both enjoy knowing what we’re having for dinner when we walk in the door every night and I like walking into a grocery store with a specific list and a mission to come in under budget. It’s hard staying under budget without a plan! But we did it, BARELY, and I’ve already got a new game plan for July.

Instead of planning the meal, I’m going to plan the carbohydrate for each dinner. We’re pretty good at getting creative with ingredients and this way we’ll have a general idea of what we’re going to end up with. And this method will help me stick to shopping twice a month. In example:

Mondays: couscous
Tuesdays: rice
Wednesdays: homemade corn tortillas
Thursdays: pasta… and so on.

We have zero time to prep for our CSA delivery each Saturday but so far we’ve been able to easily incorporate / eat up everything. I can tell you it’s wonderful not purchasing lettuce! We’ve got so much growing in our garden, coupled with the deliveries, I’ve been adding lettuce to my smoothies to use it all up. I’m loving the variety – yes, even the zucchini (NOT my favorite)! I checked out the Chloe Flavor cookbook from the library and cannot wait to cook my way through it this summer; the scallion pancakes, cauliflower tacos and corn chowder were delicious! (You can photographs of those meals on IG FYI)

Other fun facts about June:
We finally got our chimney repaired! This home repair has been looming for the last couple of months but it happened the first week of the month and yes, not only did we pay cash ($1,000), but we got a slight discount for doing so. Cash is a motivator, friends! Once the work was done, we withdrew the last of our savings ($500) to dump toward debt, leaving $1,000 in our emergency fund per Baby Step #1.

The only other non-gift that we cash flowed this month that was not part of our original June budget were two metal clothes racks off of Amazon. Total: $2.89, using the Amazon gift cards that we earned from CDPHP to cover the remainder of the balance. We had one wooden rack that was probably 10+ years old and it finally broke from the weight of wet clothes and I knew this was an item I wanted to upgrade, and duplicate. Not only does drying clothes on a rack extend the life of your clothing, it also saves you money on your utilities bill. Win win!

Numbers wise, we paid off 23.41% of debt this month, totaling 68.14%! Two thirds of the way done! Our balance is now $28,401.41, having paid off $60,674.04 since September. LESS THAN $30K TO GO!!! Pinch. Me. It still blows my mind that that much money has passed through our hands over the last ten months. $60,674.04 of essentially extra money. That’s money we’ll never see again. That’s money that wasn’t spent traveling the world. That’s money that wasn’t spent fixing up our home, investing for our future, or given away to local charitable organizations that mean something to us. But soon we’ll be able to do all of those things, and more. February 2019 is my new payoff goal: I’d love to celebrate our second wedding anniversary debt free! You read it here folks, eight more payment months!

When I sent our final stats to the beau after I made our last payment of the month (I’m the nerd), he asked, “how’d our numbers get so big this month?!” This was my response:

  • $500 as mentioned above was transferred out of savings (we are officially down to $1,000, so this won’t happen again)
  • $1,500 reimbursement: the beau took a class this past Winter and paid cash from our savings in full; his job finally reimbursed him
  • June was a triple pay month for the beau: we deposited his entire 3rd check toward debt
  • the rest was all side hustle!

Story time!
For the last three days of the month, our bank account / spending was on hold (because we made our final payment for the month toward debt). The beau wanted a six pack – sorry, no money I kindly reminded him. The beau wanted to go buy waffles – sorry, no money I kindly reminded him. Well, the beau wanted ice cream… so he found a blood drive. After giving a pint of blood on Saturday, they gave him a coupon for one free pint of ice cream! I have never laughed so hard! Now THAT’S sticking to the budget and giving like no one else!

Goals for July: have any? Feel free to take the leap and share them below!

May in Review!

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May was a FABULOUS month for us!

Not because of our numbers, well, those helped too, but because I started teaching my first Financial Peace University class. I was nervous because I had never attended the class let alone led one, and because the response was lower than I expected. Our small group is pretty open with each other, not something that is required to attend the class FYI, but I think has really brought us closer. It’s a judgement-free zone and we make sure each of us leaves confident for the next step / week ahead of us. Nine weeks sounded daunting as I was making the decision to commit but we’re half-way through the course already and trying to figure out how we’re all going to stay connected when it’s over. And if you’re curious, I will most likely be teaching another class this fall! It won’t be free and it won’t be in my home — but I can promise that it’ll be just as good!

Now let’s get to the numbers!

Our income increased this month, which helped us DUMP cash toward debt! If you can’t cut your spending any further than it already is, you’re only other option is to earn more to make a dent in the process. I participated in Market Research one evening, I received a Young Living check, and the beau took on freelance work.

This month we reduced our principle balance by $10,785.23 or 22.53%!!! To date, we’ve paid off $51,992.72 or 58.37%!!! in 9 months! We only have $37,082.73 in debt left to pay off and to meet our goal, we need to keep this momentum up, big time.

To put things into perspective:

  • In September 2017, our monthly minimum payments totaled $718.27
  • As of June 1st, our monthly minimum payments are only $194.20

That means if an emergency were to happen and we needed to stop the snowball, only $194.20 would be needed to cover minimum debt payments. Not too shabby!

A lot of people are curious how we eat and stay on budget. We only plan our dinners, here was our meal plan for the 1st thru the 15th:

  • Mondays: fajitas
  • Tuesdays: veggie stir fry
  • Wednesdays: taco pasta
  • Thursdays: BBQ tempeh with a crockpot green bean casserole and sweet potato fries
  • Fridays: tofu & broccoli + a birthday dinner out
  • Saturdays: dinner out at a Mets game + tofu & broccoli
  • Sundays: king oyster mushroom pulled pork sammies + a Mother’s Day lasagna

My mom had been requesting this lasagna for months, so I offered to make it as an early Sunday dinner. I made the sauce and roasted the veggies ahead of time during the week so that it would be less to do on Mother’s Day (more time spent with my mom).

This was our second time making the pulled “pork” sandwiches via Bosh = so good! And we had enough leftovers for another meal, so we froze the cooked mushrooms…. we shall see how those hold up! I’ve never frozen mushrooms before, I’m hoping they’ll be okay and then we can just cook ’em up in the air fryer.

Oh yeah, we won an air fryer! Whoop whoop! Culinary Square had a giveaway for TNO and I entered after picking up a bridal shower gift. We’ve fried mushrooms, gyoza, sweet potatoes, chicken-less tenders, eggplant, zucchini, tofu and russet potatoes (home fries) – this thing is awesome! The beau tends to use more oil than I do (but he does get things a lot crispier than I do), so I was excited to use this device and cut back on oil. LOVE IT!  

The beau requested I buy canned green beans for the casserole because fresh or frozen were still too crunchy for him. Confession: I had never purchased canned green beans (or any canned vegetable for that matter). I was a skeptic at 40 cents a can but I have to admit, they were delicious! Yes, these canned beans were not organic and yes, they were in a can but I have to remind myself that these are the sacrifices we are making now so that we can invest more later. Don’t judge… at least we’re getting a serving of veggies.

Our meal plan for the 16th thru the 31st:

  • Mondays: tempeh jalapeno wraps with roasted broccoli
  • Tuesdays: veggie stir fry
  • Wednesdays: pasta with TVP sauce and roasted asparagus
  • Thursdays: Chinese takeout + tofu + broccoli
  • Fridays: tofu + broccoli + loaded potatoes
  • Saturdays: eggplant parm + loaded potatoes
  • Sundays: southwest quinoa burgers + tater tots

This month we cash flowed ($585) a CSA with Denison Farm – all USDA certified organic and I have to admit, I’m a little nervous about it. I’ve been rocking the whole meal planning thing and now I’m going to have to shop / cook on the fly with what we receive each Saturday at the Farmer’s Market delivery. I like shopping twice a month. And I also prefer shopping on my lunch break, avoiding the weekend crowds. Once the CSA begins in June, our monthly food allowance will decrease by $27 per week because of the prepayment amount. I’ll surely have an update next month with how I’m juggling this change.

We also cash flowed:

  • a birthday gift and two mother’s day gifts – sinking fund envelope
  • hair gel for the beau and soap for us both
  • a new website layout (business investment)
  • tickets for a show at the Egg (beau)
  • the beau signed up for a watercolor class at the Arts Center of the Capital Region
  • parking at the train station (the day we went to a Met’s game)
  • stuff for our garden (some seedlings, burlap, screws and twine)
  • our 6 month car insurance payment – sinking fund envelope
  • and a small gift certificate for an employee on my work team

This month I also tried to focus on my running more, as last month (April) it took a back seat… and I have a race to run in three months! I ran almost 70 miles in May, which wasn’t what I was aiming for but I’m happy with because I feel like I’m easing back into a routine and not overwhelming myself. I’m remembering what it feels like to be sore and getting use to being out of the house before 5AM.

June will hopefully bring a lot of miles… and a lot of cash because I’ll be working downtown again on Saturdays. I’ve picked up a side hustle at Annick’s during the farmer’s market – hey, I’m going to be down there anyway getting my veggies!

That’s it folks, we made yet another budget, told our money where to go, hustled and made it happen. No magic, just a plan!

[Again, sorry no photographs, I should be purchasing a new phone over the next three months prior to race day.]

April in Review!

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April showers bring HUGE payoff numbers!

Nah, who am I kidding? It was us who made it snow this month! Snowball that is.


The final numbers are in and we paid off $10,591.57 or 18.12% in debt this month! We’ve officially paid off 46.26% of our debt in 7 months AND we are officially under the $50k mark… only $47,867.96 to go! That number may seem daunting but it’s all about your outlook. While listening to the DR podcast, I heard one caller mention that instead of months, she started counting down the payments. Only 10 more payments to go sounds A LOT better than 10 more months. Hint hint…

Money used this month to eliminate debt:

  • Leftovers from our zero-based budget (this is what we find in our budget/income on a monthly basis)
  • Our tax returns minus two small personal purchases
  • Cash from savings

As mentioned last month, we have money in savings and are slowly withdrawing that account to bring it to $1,000. This month we made all of our regular monthly payments, trying to bring the balance on Debt #5 as low as possible, and then withdrew the difference to knock it out completely. Remaining transparent, we do have more money in savings that will be deposited toward debt eventually, but getting quotes for chimney repairs is taking longer than expected.


This month we cash flowed or purchased the following items (using cash):

  • 4 new tires for my car
  • 4 new tires for the beau’s car
  • a new piece of art
  • a weighted blanket
  • Easter flowers
  • a homemade soap workshop
  • a pasta claw & bottle of celebratory wine
  • and some deodorant cream for me

Eight new tires was a BIG cost for us! But I did my research and shopped around ($11 per tire saved). I also found a coupon in the local Clipper Magazine the day I found the cheapest tires ($40 off each time!) AND the brand we were buying was offering a $50 rebate for every 4 tires purchased. Zing! That’s a $134 savings, per car. I knew my car needed new tires but we didn’t know the beau’s would need them as well… and there wasn’t even an instant of panic when we got the news. I literally called him and said, “just buy the tires, we have plenty of cash in our budget leftover this month.” A $355 purchase and nothing, other than happiness. That has NEVER happened to me. The amount of security I now feel is well worth all of the hard work over these last 7 months.

This month we had some fun too! We continued to participate in Nine Pin’s 26er challenge (sampling ciders 7 & 8), we had Chinese takeout twice, I visited a friend and congratulated her on her 2nd year in business (seriously, support this mother + daughter team, it’s a wonderful addition to Troy), I visited a friend aka my partner in crime who FINALLY moved back to the area, and we spent three days in Portsmouth, NH drinking all the beer and eating all the fried food we could possibly handle. I also went to a bridal shower for a friend whom I haven’t seen in forever (life, I get it!) and had a lovely time (and paying cash for the card and gift from the gift sinking fund envelope).

Because we tapped into savings and used our tax refund toward debt, WE PAID OFF LOAN #5!!! That loan total heading into April was $10,402.27, BOOM!


We are now working on paying off Student Loan #6, which was consolidated with the first student loan we paid off in full, so unfortunately I can’t see all of the stats. I can see that it was originally disbursed in August 2005 for $13,064.96 and the fixed interest rate is now 3.75% (could have been higher or lower at the time of signing). The balance as of April 30th is $14,084.25 and if we were to follow Navient’s payment plan, this loan will be paid of on 9/25/2029. My personal goal is to have this loan paid off by June 30th 2018…. 11 years and 3 months ahead of schedule! The minimum payment for this loan is only $65.50 BUT if you add in all of the previous minimum payments because that’s what you do for a debt snowball, the minimum is now $589.67.

Jumping back into the month, we stuck to our meal plan pretty diligently. We tried one new recipe that I saw floating around on FB that looked delicious… and it turned into a major FAIL. We were laughing so hard, it was like one of those Pinterest fail slideshows you see with the birthday cakes. The meatballs crumbled the second we added liquid, and it just looked like slop. After adding some additional seasoning, I have to admit it was delish buuuuuut we won’t be making this a second time. I also spent Sunday making a favorite lasagna of ours while sipping on some boxed wine… it was very hygge. Ha! And inspiring to cook nicer or should I say, a longer meal on a Sunday. We eat fast, usually one pot meals throughout the week, slowing it down and enjoying a meal after an hour or two of work felt nice. Annnnnnd the other perk was leftovers. We rarely have leftovers.

Sorry for the lack of photographs – my phone is on the fritz and I don’t have a sinking fund for that expense. 🙂

What are your goals for May? When are YOU going to be debt free?

Books I’ve Read this Quarter: Q1 2018

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Working for a library system has one major perk: library books are delivered to your desk!

With the start of the new year, I set a reading goal for myself because the most successful people tend to have one thing in common: they read. (click here for more) I had heard this while earning my Master’s but was reminded of it while listening to an episode of the Millionaire Theme Hour on the Dave Ramsey podcast. Are you sick of him yet? One of the questions he asks these successful (and not famous) individuals is how many books they read a year. Four out of five times the answer is more than 10 books a year. Insert my goal: 15

I’ve started the year off strong with the help of a long, cold winter and a honeymoon. Here’s what I’ve read this quarter and a brief review of each:


The Bright Hour: A Memoir of Living and Dying by Nina Riggs // I really enjoyed this book. The author has a dark sense of humor that made me laugh out loud multiple times and really makes you think about what makes a meaningful life when you have limited time.


The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein // I read this book on the first full day of our honeymoon, relaxing in the sun; I couldn’t put it down! I cried and cried during the last two chapters – it’s written from the perspective of the dog and is just what I imagine a dog thinks during the course of its life. We don’t deserve dogs FYI.


Truevine: Two Brothers, a Kidnapping, and a Mother’s Quest: A True Story of the Jim Crow South by Beth Macy // I also read this book while on our honeymoon but wasn’t read in a day (5 to be exact). This isn’t my idea of a book to read while on holiday but I did enjoy the story of the two brothers who were kidnapped and forced to travel the world as circus freaks. The author does a great job at exploring the question: where they better off?


Living Well, Spending Less: 12 Secrets of the Good Life by Ruth Soukup // This book was on my must-read list for a number of months and I wish I had read reviews prior to taking it out. There was maybe ONE chapter that was exactly what I wanted/needed to hear – the rest, was mostly about living a good, Christian life = I can normally block this out (I am not a religious person), but it was really heavy and not for me. Her story felt very… weird… like a rich woman trying to act frugal but was still very much concerned with her designer clothes, car and perfectly decorated house. I’m not knocking her lifestyle, I just couldn’t connect with it while on my journey to financial freedom.


The Little Book of Hygge: The Danish Way to Live Well by Meik Wiking // I also really enjoyed this little book! The illustrations were beautiful and the reading was inspiring – almost makes me want to move to Denmark! I can’t wait to take this book into consideration when we start decorating our home – and by decorating, I mean replacing light fixtures and paint colors etc. Also important to note: hygge is not about what you HAVE, it’s what you FEEL.

I’m “ahead” of schedule but must admit I’m falling behind; I don’t know if it’s the longer days or what, but I’ve had zero motivation to read this month.

5/15

Have any good book suggestions? Do you use Good Reads to keep track of everything you’ve read? (the beau got me hooked!)