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September came and went like a flash of light!
Although, we didn’t quite reach our September debt payoff goal, we still made some excellent progress!
I’m so excited to share our September debt free journey update with you.
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 September?
Debt Payoff Total for September: $9,002.47
Total Debt Paid to Date: $34,041
Wahoo! I’m pretty happy with how far we have come, even though we still have a long way to go.
Here is how we were able to pay off $34,041 in just 3 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
- Our $625K Debt Snowball
- How we cut our Expenses by $8K per month
- Debt Free Journey July Update
- Debt Free Journey August Update
These are our basic “necessary” expenses that do not change (much) each month:
Rent: $1,328
Water: $110
Electricity: $194 (Yep. Still hot in Texas.)
Home Security: $60
Internet: $65
TV: $73
Netflix: $14 (haha, it’s necessary!)
Groceries: $500 (This includes cleaning supplies, hair products, deodorant, etc)
Gym: $22 (we use it!)
Giving: $250
Dan Fun Money: $100
Shannon Fun Money: $100
Child Care: $320
Contact Subscription (Hubble Free Trial): $36
Health Care: (Health Sharing Ministry) $135
Auto Insurance: $82
Renter’s Insurance: $19
Identity Theft Protection: $13
Total “Bare Bones” Monthly Expenses: $3421
Our “take home” income was lower this month, so I appreciated our low living expenses more than ever. So much less stressful this way!
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 $4900/month, leaving us $1479 each month to use for whatever other miscellaneous expenses we might have that month.
We always plan how we spend that extra money…EXACTLY…down to the penny.
Related: How to do a Zero Based Budget
For example, in September we set aside money in our budget for things like:
- A family outing to the circus
- Halloween Costumes
- Kid’s doctors appointments
- Cub scouts
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 chose to do one giant debt snowball, including our home and business debt all together.
September Debt Pay Off
Total minimum debt payments September: $4252.47
Total extra debt paid September: $4750
Debt Payoff Total for September: $9,002.47
Total Debt Paid to Date: $34,041
October Goals:
We will need to cash flow our 2018 tax bill, and finish off the last $2900 of our IRS debt.
This will make us DONE with all of our old (and new) tax debt.
We will then be ready to move on to a few small medical bills and our smaller student loans.
Who knew I could be so excited to PAY OFF DEBT?!
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 3 years (Summer 2022), which means we will need to pay off closer to $17,000/month!
This month, we will continue to work hard to grow our practice and increase our income. I think October will be a better month for collections and new patients.
We usually get pretty busy at the end of the year.
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.
We also participate in side hustles, whether it’s covering call for other doctors, or my personal favorite (this blog).
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!
August Debt Free Journey Update
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.
