This is our story of our we paid off $67,630.81 of debt in 16 months and we want to inspire YOU to get out of debt fast!During our first year of marriage, we lived the way that you would expect newlyweds in their 20s to live. We traveled a bit, decorated our little house, got a dog, and went on a lot of dates. In short, we were livin’ it up!Yet while we were enjoying life and spending money, we had almost $68K in combined debt. Our debt consisted mostly of student loans and two smaller car loans. We found our monthly bills to be affordable because we jumped on board the income-based student loan repayment plan that lowered how much we would have to pay each month. Score, right?!Additionally, I worked in social services and was banking on the government forgiving my ... [Read More]
Save on Food
Cheap & Easy Doritos Nacho Bake
This cheap & easy Doritos Nacho Bake will keep the whole crew happy and you won't break a sweat! This is a nostalgic family favorite in our household and we're excited to share it with you!As a kid, I always looked forward to Friday nights. That was our family night, which usually meant a movie and something extra tasty for dinner. You know, something that didn’t involve boiled vegetables or mashed potatoes.As a rule throughout the week, our dinners were a little more run-of-the-mill. For example, we ate a lot of simple meat and vegetable dishes – chicken and green beans or meatloaf and peas. It’s not that the meals were bad, per se. They just weren’t the kind of dishes that we got excited about. But on Fridays, after a long week at school, we ... [Read More]
Break ALL the Rules and Save Money Eating Out!
If you’re not ready to give up dining out at restaurants but need to know how to save money on eating out, this article is for you!Let’s face it, we all LOVE to eat out. It’s fast, convenient, easy, and fun to gather together with friends and family to be served delicious food. But eating out can be a HUGE budget breaker if you partake in it too often. It’s quite shocking to see how much small, frequent purchases, $5 here or $10 there, can add up $100s by the end of the month. Whether you’re trying to get out of debt fast or just pinch a few pennies, you don’t have to deprive yourself of eating out completely especially when you know how to save money at restaurants! We’ve compiled a list of our go-to tips and tricks to creatively save money from fast food to fine ... [Read More]
Nutter Butter No-Bake Banana Pudding
If you grew up attending the classic church potluck or summer backyard BBQ, you're probably no stranger to No-Bake Banana Pudding! Or maybe you've tried old fashioned, classic, or southern banana pudding. No matter what pudding team you’re on, we’re bringing you a twist on this dessert favorite. Once you’ve tasted it, we’re confident that you won’t be able to stop “pudding” it in your mouth! Our fun twist on No-Bake Banana Pudding is that we substitute Nutter Butters for Nilla Wafers. The combination of cool, creamy vanilla pudding and sliced bananas with that hint of peanut butter really is a match made in Heaven. The Nutter Butters soften a bit in the pudding mixture yet will remain firm enough to provide a textural component to the dish.This isn’t a ... [Read More]
How to Save Money on Groceries: the ULTIMATE Guide!
A big key to learning how to pay off debt is knowing how to save money on groceries!When we first evaluated our spending habits at the beginning of our debt-free journey, we realized that we wasted far too much money on food. Much of our overspending came down to not planning our meals wisely. For instance, an intended new recipe from scratch on a #ManicMonday would get trumped by Chinese takeout. Furthermore, this resulted in tossing out groceries and wasting a LOT of money.Our poor meal planning wasn’t helped by our equally poor mindset. For this reason, frequent fast food purchases were justified with an, “It’s only $5…” mindset. We eventually realized that allowing ourselves to repeatedly excuse bad behavior was becoming a problem.All things ... [Read More]
