The Numbers Don't Add Up | Personal

Right now, life is pretty wonderful for a whole lot of different reasons. I have a brand new nephew and a niece on the way, Nathan is full-swing into seminary and loving it, and fall is creeping into my morning runs and my weekend trips to the farmers market. This season of life, as we wait to bring our little one home and settle into our 5th year of marriage, is oh so sweet.

One huge thing that has made me so grateful for where we are is our financial situation. I blogged about big job changes a few months ago, when I threw myself into photography and Nathan stepped back from a demanding and very stressful job for a new career that has given him so much more peace. We came to those conclusions separately and firmly, not knowing how much it would affect our finances.

At that point, our house had been on the market a few months and we were hopeful we would sell. When our job situations changed, we realized we needed the house to be sold, but had full confidence this would happen. Then came the summer, with dozens of showings and no offers and at the end of the summer, we took our house off the market.

We weren't naive to the financial changes coming when we made decisions in the spring, so we did sit down and do some serious budgeting in light of everything coming. What we concluded brought us concern: until we sold our house, we would be losing money every month. We do have savings, thankfully, but we knew this wouldn't be sustainable for too long.

Here's where things get crazy - because remember at the beginning of the blog post, when I said how great everything was financially? Well...I meant that. Somehow, every month we have inexplicably ended in the black, meaning we are not losing money like we just knew we would. The day Nathan started working there was a change in the insurance that helped us a lot, which we knew was no accident. And every week and month since then, we have had no worries about paying the bills.

In short, the numbers don't add up. Of course we have cut back in a lot of areas, but I can still grab a cup of coffee when I need to with no worries. We can still enjoy a dinner out on occasion and not stress about it. We are no less happy than we were when we both had much higher paychecks - in fact, our stress levels have plummeted dramatically since we both made the leap.

What I'm saying is this - God is providing for us. We should be barely scraping by, but we aren't. We should be worried about the money we need for our adoption, but that thought doesn't dwell on our minds. The numbers don't add up - and for that, I am ever so grateful.

Living Debt Free // Monday Musings

You guys, I’m just flat out excited about this one! It may not seem like a big deal to some, but I’m really glad I can write this blog! At the same time, I realize that not everyone is lucky enough to be in our situation, whether through difficult circumstances or unavoidable situations. As much as this is a celebratory blog post, it’s not meant to be prideful – I just want to share what’s going on in our lives with you!

Nathan and I were incredibly blessed to both come out of college with no debt. We both had parents that made big sacrifices to allow us to earn a degree, and on my side I had taken a lot of classes in high school that allowed me to shorten my time in college so I didn’t extend past what was paid for. This is so rare, and I’m so thankful that we were able to buy a house right from the get-go.

We were also taught well by both sets of parents to spend and save wisely, and not go into debt for things we couldn’t afford. For this, I will be forever grateful. One thing we decided to do a few months after we got married was buy a new car. My car was on its last legs – the transmission was about to go, among a whole host of other problems – so it was time to make a purchase either way.

I was a little intimated by the idea of buying a BRAND NEW car, but after looking at some slightly used models, we realized we’d save money in the long run because we could get a much lower interest rate on a new car, and cars that are just a few years old aren’t usually that much cheaper anyways. So, we took the plunge on a Honda Accord, that I now drive all the time.

I’m glad we have the car, and would probably make the same choice if we had to do it all over again, but I hate having monthly payments on anything. I’m just not used to it! Of course I was prepared for utilities, but having a mortgage was a big deal to me…and then on top of it, a car payment?! We didn’t buy a fancy car or something we couldn’t afford, and even so, we were still tied down to a monthly payment for five long years.

Well…not anymore! A couple weeks ago, I paid off the car. And then I called Nathan and told him :) In all seriousness, we had talked about it, so I just did it. And it feels so good! Now the only monthly payment we have left is our mortgage, and we’re even trying to get rid of that, too.

Living debt free, when possible, is an amazing feeling for me, and for us. Thanks to parents who love us, and steady jobs, we are able to be well on our way. And that’s something to get excited about!

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