Speck of light in a grand plan.

I 
I feel like this today. I went to check on my checking to see where we was this week as far as who got paid and where we spent money. Talked to my hubby about it a little bit, let him know that we have to pay the cable bill, talked about how much he needs for a few days to get to work and have lunch. It felt good to do this.

My idea of how to budget is kind of crazy. I mean I literally send out checks weekly for my bills to be paid. Really we should do this and save it up to send out monthly. For some reason that does not always pan out. This works to a point for the most part. We may have a time or two that we find ourselves short for some reason. Mostly because we are not paying attention to what we are doing.

This is my general debt and household utilities. You know credit cards, medical bills, electric, cable and a car and house payment. The way I see it I have to pay off the smaller debts like the medical and credit card payments first before I can settle into paying off those Student loan bills! ugg it makes me sick to think about it. But well its life we much face it at some time.

So if you have an idea that you think will help you budget then try it. What works for some people might not work for another. I am finding that just because my parents did things their way does not mean it works for me. After all I do not make their kind of income, live the same lifestyle either so their way just does not work for me at all.  Neither does the neighbors way of doing things, or Joe Smo down the road.

This is not a quick fix. You will not be out of debt overnight. Unless we win the lottery but that chance is slim to none. lol.

http://teespring.com/dashboard/campaigns



I quickly designed this shirt on Teespring. I am going to try this and see what happens. Its a campaign and I am going to use the money to go toward my student loans.  The way I see it nothing is beyond impossible right.   I am not giving up on my dreams to be an artist one day. I may not be the graphic artist I went to school for. Because there are no jobs out there anyways. But I can still find a way to make that second income like I want. The situation sucks not but we just can not give up on ourselves. There are ways out of this. I know I can not afford to wait for the government to do something about it.

Click on the link and buy a shirt. Use the saying to inspire you in any way.

Prayer. Off topic but not so much.

I just watched a video and I wanted to share it with you. I'm a believer in God and prayer. And this kind of got my attention because I have been praying about this student loan stuff and well nothing is happening that I can tell. At least nothing to help those of us who might need it somehow. So I slacked off quite a bit. Then I saw this video.  Now if you do not believe in God that is fine. Not everyone does. But I do and this hit home. The black hole in my life is my debt and student loans. If it was not there things would be different. Not necessarily easier but not hard in what would happen if something happen to my husband or if we wreck a car or if a major thing broke in our home.  Because I come to realize that I can handle that kind of stuff and get my budget working so that we save for those kinds of things that happen in life. Small potatoes compared to a 60,000 loan that is a black hole of debt.

So as simple as this is but it takes heart and belief and faith but I"m going to pray about it more and more. It will not hurt, its not a waste of time really. So I'm doing it. Why not. Who knows something may happen one day soon. I believe that its possible.

Have faith. Pray.

Sallie Mae in the news again

I came across this article this morning and wanted to share it with you. http://www.mainstreet.com/article/moneyinvesting/education-planning/sallie-mae-poster-child-student-loan-crisis?page=1

Its about the same thing I have read in the past. Yes there is a crisis but what are we doing about it? How is it helping those of us who have these loans? I'm not saying that we are not responsible. But we need help to be able to pay this money back. Paying all interest for many years is not going to help at all. We have to be able to pay at least on the principle of the loans. Or I should say be able to pay more on our principal and less on the interest.  I think the problem is that these used to be low interest loans and now they are not. We overlook this fact these days.


I only hope something can be done soon. Time has run out and is running out on us.

Moving forward with life with a student loan.

I know this photo has nothing to do with Student Loan Debt. But this guy keeps me grounded most days. As silly as he is for a dog.

Hello there. I was thinking today I needed to do a little update here. It has been very quiet for awhile now. I have been working on my debt this summer. It is not easy or fun. But I am learning a few things along the way, I might be making mistakes also but I can learn from those as well.

What I am learning:

1. Take a look at your debt and own it.
2. Make any kind of payments you can even small payments will count toward your debt.
3. Find ways to make your life easier and less cluttered so you can focus on your debt.
4. Organize your bills, open them when you get them and take note of what is going on.
5. Pick up the phone and call and see if you can get help or an extension on a bill.
6. Brain Storm. (more on this in a bit)
7. Go over your budget weekly make it a habit. ( I am still learning to do this but when I do it helps make the week go by so much better)
8. Reward yourself somehow. (more on this below as well)
9. Do not give up on yourself.
10. Keep going and track your progress.

I have been thinking of these things lately. And one thing I have been doing is Brainstorming idea's of other ways to make an income. From second jobs to using my skills to bring in another income.

Another thing you have to do is get your home in order. No one can think about extra jobs, work, income and additional things if your home is a mess. I know because I am in the process of cleaning out my home. And it does make a difference when you realize that when it takes less time to get around the crap the more time you will have for other things like taking on another job one or two days a week, or creating another job for yourself.

I put reward yourself down as well. I know when you have not money how can you do this??  It can be as simple as sitting down and reading a book, catching up on a series of movies or TV shows, a day off of everything to recharge. You do not always need to spend money or spend a lot of money to have a reward. Even cooking a good meal can be a great reward. Sitting out on the porch and enjoying the summer evening can be a reward. Just something to get your mind and heart off the debt for a short time and enjoy something so you can face the next step in this challenge.

I did not put this down and I just thought of it. You need to make goals in your life.  I have started to make envelopes for things I want to save up for. When i get an extra dollar or two I put it in the envelope. Some weeks I might not have that extra sometimes I do. Right now I am saving toward a set of new sheets for my bed. This is something I do not want to take out of my grocery budget or other budgets. I am 1/2 way to my goal! Then I'll save up for the next envelope and so on. Its a reward all in it self.

You can not stop living life because this is the situation you find yourself in. We are capable of finding ways to pay this off. I know I will not stop finding ways to pay off this debt until I find something or a few things that will work. Life is to short to let this ruin your life any more than it already has. Own the debt and take care of it.