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November was busy, but we still managed to stay on budget and pay off a LOT of debt.
The biggest milestone this month, is that we were able to pay off all of our old hospital bills.
It always feels good to knock out a whole category of debt!
The most exciting thing is that we are very close to hitting 50K of debt totally gone! In fact, we will hit it here in just a couple of weeks.
Stay on the lookout for our December journey update next month, and a review of our year!
Keep reading for all the numbers for our November 2019 Debt Free Journey update.
Want to go back to the beginning? Start here.
Don’t forget to check out our debt free journey on YouTube as well. I’d love to see you over there!
How much debt did we pay off in November?
Debt Payoff Total for November: $6083.78
Total Debt Paid to Date: $47,697.10
This is actually our smallest debt payoff month so far this year. Mostly because we had to restock our emergency fund due to last month‘s tax payoff fun.
We are still on track to hit $50K paid off by the end of the year!
Here is how we were able to pay off $47,697.10 in 5 months.
After cutting out our car payments, downsizing our home, and getting on a super tight budget, we are able to live on well under $4,000/month.
More on our Debt Free Journey:
Half a Million Dollars in Debt
How we cut our Expenses by K per month
Debt Free Journey August Update
Debt Free Journey September Update
These are our basic “necessary” expenses that do not change (much) each month:
- Rent: $1,328
- Water: $110
- Electricity: $115
- Home Security: $60
- Internet: $64
- TV: $73 (We just found out they are getting rid of Playstation Vue, so this will change soon!)
- Netflix: $14 (haha, it’s necessary!)
- Groceries: $450 (This includes cleaning supplies, hair products, deodorant, etc)
- Gym: $22 (we use it!)
- Giving: $200
- Dan Fun Money: $150
- Shannon Fun Money: $150 (We increased our fun money in anticipation of Black Friday sales)
- Child Care: $320
- Contact Subscription (Hubble Free Trial): $36
- Health Care: (Health Sharing Ministry) $135
- Auto Insurance: $82
- Renter’s Insurance: $17
- Identity Theft Protection: $13
Total “Bare Bones” Monthly Expenses: $3339
Our “take home” income increased this month because we were paying $1500/month to the IRS out of our business.
We paid that off last month, and now bring that home as income which will go to “personal” debts (hospital bills and student loans).
We are still very much enjoying our smaller home, and low monthly living expenses.
The ability to live on about $48,000/year gives me security, knowing that even if our medical practice closed tomorrow, we could quickly find work to support our family.
Where does the money to Pay Debt come from?!
We own our own business and pay ourselves an income from the monthly business budget.
After taxes we bring home about $6000/month (with the most recent adjustment), leaving us almost $3,000 each month to use for whatever other miscellaneous expenses we might have that month.
We try to keep our miscellaneous expenses low, in order to pay more debt!
We always plan how we spend extra money…EXACTLY…down to the penny.
Related: How to do a Zero Based Budget
For example, in November we set aside money in our budget for things like:
- Black Friday
- School Thanksgiving parties
- Printer Ink (We use HP Instant Ink)
- Spending money at Disney World (we went with the Grandparents)
And of course….anything extra goes to debt!
Paying ourselves a simple set salary each month from our business, helps us to control our spending at home.
We also keep our office on a tight budget.
Since it’s a medical practice, the expenses are very high, and we have struggled to figure out the best way to budget the super inconsistent income.
The plus side, is that we have an almost 4 year history of practice financials to go by, so I look at our worst income month, and have reduced our office spending to be about equal to that.
This means that if we have a great month, ALL of that extra money is available to go to debt!
We do one giant debt snowball, that includes our home and business debt all together.
November Debt Pay Off
Total minimum debt payments November: $4207.45
Total extra debt paid November: $1876.33
Debt Payoff Total for November: $6083.78
Total Debt Paid to Date: $47,697.10
Big November Milestone: Hospital bills gone!
December Goals:
- Hit 50K debt paid off this year!
- Start paying off student loans!
Our next debts on our debt snowball are:
- Student Loan 1: $524.59 left (after November payment)
- Student Loan 2: $2060.33 (we have budgeted $1456.21 on it this month)
Changes to our Debt Payoff Plan for next month
Another very exciting change is coming to our budget!
After working for almost 3 years on building my online business, it’s finally starting to make a profit!
I’m hoping to start investing half of my blogging income back into the business, and the other half will start going to debt.
I haven’t decided if I will start that next month, or wait until the beginning of the year.
It’s super exciting either way!
Related: How to start a blog, How to Make Money Blogging
Are we on track with our Debt Payoff Goals?!
This might seem like a lot of debt to pay off in such a short time, but don’t forget how much we started with.
Our plan is to be debt free in by Summer 2022, which means we will need to pay off closer to $17,000/month!
In December, we will continue to work on getting new patients in the office, and I will keep working hard to grow my blog as a source of side hustle income.
Our medical practice is still relatively new, and has room to grow. We hope to double our patients over the next year, which could mean debt freedom MUCH sooner.
With the combination of controlling our spending, and increasing our income I am still confident we will do this faster than three years.
See you next month!
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hi! I'm shannon
I’m a wife, mom of three, doctor, and blogger! In 2018, I decided to turn my mom blog, into a personal finance blog so others could follow along on our journey to pay off over HALF a MILLION dollars in student loan and practice start up debt. I hope you enjoy following along, and maybe even find some inspiration along the way.
Just found your blog. I appreciate your number crunching details and your enthusiasm. My husband and I owe approx 110k on student loan debt (we aren’t doctors but he is an OT and I have nursing degree (but I don’t work right now – I stay at home and homeschool our 4 kids). So…it is nice to find a debt free blogger with numbers similar to ours. Thanks for posting!
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Awesome! So glad you found my blog and find it helpful! It’s easier to stay motivated when you find other people going through the same thing!