2022 Year in Review: Finances

 I received my 2022 year in review and thought I'd share. As a reminder, I follow The Budget Mom on Instagram. I have implemented her budget by paycheck and have seen great progress. 

My credit score went up by 83 points in 2022. Yes, you read that right; eighty-three points. I'd love to know how they calculate it because from the sounds of it I had a really low credit score to begin with, but in all reality I really didn't. 

I've been able to keep my average credit card usage to under 30%. This is a big deal for me. I used to high credit card usage. 

I was able to pay off $5,733 of credit card debt. My mind is really blown on this one. How?! It just goes to show a little bit really does add up in the long run. That is so hard to see in the beginning, which is one reason I never really tried before. When I first started this process, I did not have extra money to throw at debt. I had to wait until I was able to pay off a debt and snowball that payment into the next debt. 

I paid off $4,135 of my car loan. 

Other finance wins in 2022 include having a fully funded Christmas sinking fund. Whereas I did go over budget for Christmas this year, I did not accrue more debt. I started my house savings fund. We will just pretend it wasn't a forced savings lol. I feel very defeated in saving for a house. I feel like it will never happen. I'm trying to remind myself that much like debt, a little will turn into a lot in the long run. The last win is being able to afford new phones for my daughter and me. I did finance them through Apple; however, they are interest free for two years, and I have a plan to pay them off sooner than two years. Our phones were no longer going to be supported with the next update, so we needed to go ahead and purchase new ones. I now have a phone savings set up and plan to have it funded within the next four years. 

Was 2022 a good year for you financially? I'd love to hear about it!

Ways I Save Money

 I am always looking for ways to save money. Several years ago, I cut the cord to cable. I went from paying $100 for the basic DirecTV package, to paying $54.75 for Sling. That was almost half the price of what I had been paying, and I got more channels. In full transparency, Sling has gone up on their rates. I tried to figure out a way I could go to a cheaper streaming service, but at the end of the day Sling was still the cheapest. I purchased the 4/$10 entertainment package, which included all the hallmark channels. I found it was cheaper to drop the extra package and use frndlytv for hallmark and lifetime movie network. In dropping the extra package, I was able to get my Sling bill back down to $54.75, but I now have a $9.84 frndlytv bill. It saves me $3 doing it this way verses having it all on Sling. If Sling keeps increasing rates, I may just drop it altogether and solely use frndlytv and a few other streaming platforms.

Another way I save money is by using Ibotta. Ibotta gives you money back on certain offers. I was able to earn $79 last year through Ibotta. If you haven't signed up, I highly recommend in doing so. You can click here to sign up. I have a referral code you can enter when signing up: nhpkaw. When you use the referral code, we will both get cash back when you submit your first receipt. Just a tip for Walmart pickup orders. If you use Walmart pickup, you will need to choose online in Ibotta. I learned that the hard way and missed out on some cash back. You will need to make sure you add the offers in Ibotta prior to purchasing them, otherwise you will not get credit for it. I left .30 in my account from last year, so I am excited to see what the new year brings.

The next way I save money is by using Fetch Rewards app. This app just requires you to submit receipts and you will get points for each receipt. It's similar to Ibotta in the fact that there are certain offers that give you a lot of points, but even if you don't redeem an offer, you still get 25 points per receipt. I have not gotten a lot of rewards off this app just yet. I am less than 10,000 points away from getting a $25 Visa card. My issue is I primarily shop at Walmart for groceries and when I switched to curbside pickup I no longer get receipts to scan. 

The last way I save money is by shopping at CVS for household products. I shop their CVS bucks sale as often as possible to earn extra care bucks. I then use the extra care bucks to purchase household items, and sometimes you can get them for free. 

Do you have any tips on saving money? I'd love to hear.

2021 Victory

 I just received my 2021 success from Credit Karma and am amazed at the progress I made in 2021. I don't feel comfortable sharing my actual numbers just yet but will share the overview. 

In 2021 I raised my credit score by 84 points!

I have paid off over 50% of my car loan.

I have also paid off most of my student loan, thanks to 0% interest :)

This is a very small update, but I wanted to share the wins I have had just from applying the Budget Mom methods. I will be credit card debt free in 2023. It has been SO hard to not do all the things we used to do, but I am starting to see the rewards and the finish line is just up ahead. We have big plans for the future, and this is the first step to achieving those plans.

When I first started this process, I had to watch the Budget Mom YouTube videos every single day. That was my motivation to stay on track. After I got the hang of it, I was able to motivate my own self. I talk so much about the Budget Mom because she has really helped me to achieve goals I thought were impossible. It takes baby steps and before you know it you will be well on your way to achieving the bigger goals you may have set.

If I can do it, anyone can :)

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliate links. This means that, at zero cost to you, I will earn an affiliate commission if you click through the link and finalize a purchase. 

One of the hurdles I faced when trying to stick to a budget is entertainment. My budget is pretty tight, and as I pay off debt, I snowball the minimum payment onto the next debt I am trying to pay off. With prices going up and my paycheck not going up, every dollar is going to necessities and debt. I had to get creative in how we could do fun things for little to no cost. One thing we have found is we enjoy hiking, or at least our version of hiking. I had no idea until I googled trails near me what all our town had to offer. We have been to several new places within our town, and still have more to check out. We tend to only hike in the wintertime because I am terrified of snakes. Below are some of pictures I took on our hikes:

There is nothing better than taking in the view :)

There are a few places we will hike in the summer. This is around Benton Falls.

Another place we love to go is Cades Cove in Pigeon Forge, TN. We have seen several bears there, and usually hike the Abrams Falls trail. 

We like to find trails that have interesting things along the way. 

I highly recommend Raccoon Mountain. It is so beautiful! 

We love to find new places to explore. We are definitely NOT experienced hikers. I often say we are like the Gilmore Girls when it comes to hiking. We might have some of the gear, but we are not real hikers lol. We have gone on enough hikes that we now have proper hiking boots. I purchased our boots through savings. I purchased ones like these

The other thing we like to do for fun is go to our local park. Our park is in a country setting, so it is quite peaceful. We tend to make it to the park more in the summer/fall.

Another low-cost thing we like to do is go for a drive and sing our heart out. Sometimes we will sing in a country accent while other times we will try to sing in a British accent. If you have watched Grey's Anatomy, instead of "dance it out," we sometimes "sing it out." We have dance parties as well, but when we need to get out of the house "sing it out" is much better. 

It is possible to find cheap or free things to do. During Christmas time we love going downtown to see all the Christmas lights. We have something to do for every season. Sometimes it may get a little boring doing the same thing over and over again, but it sure beats sitting at home being bored.

Going, Going, Gone

I wanted to do a small budget update. I did not expect to pay off anything in 2021 since my debt was so high, but I was wrong. In December I was able to pay off one of my higher balance credit cards. I was beyond ecstatic!! I have paid off almost 50% of my debt thanks to the Budget Mom!

If you are like me and think there is no way possible to save a dime, you are probably wrong. My initial savings started with loose change. In about a year's time I was able to save $100 in change. Once I saw how much was saved I decided to step up to dollars. One savings challenge idea from the Budget Mom is to save every $5 bill you get. I tried this for a month, but had to stop because it was taking too much of my already low food budget lol. I did participate in the savings challenge courses the Budget Mom creates every year for a small fee, and that was helpful in paying off debt. 

My Christmas fund struggled a bit. I normally save a certain amount of money each check. With the rising cost of food, gas, and rent, all my extra money was gone. We saved up enough money for a PS5 last year. We waited in several queues to try to purchase one with no luck. I thank God we never got to purchase one because that was able to go towards the Christmas fund. We were a little disappointed to not be able to continue on with our PS5 plans, but we know it is just a temporary set back and as soon as we can we will start saving again :)

Through this debt free journey I have included my daughter in the plan. I want her to see why credit cards are bad. I want her to learn up front you should always save for what you want, instead of throwing it on a card. I want her to learn to create a budget and stick with it so she can support herself when the time comes. Whenever I work on my budget, she will pull out her money and work on hers. She has goals she wants to achieve and thankfully she is learning to achieve them the right way, by saving her money. 

I am so thankful to have stumbled upon the Budget Mom. She has helped to keep me motivated to become debt free. She has helped me realize I am an emotional shopper. I have gotten so much better, but those old tendencies like to creep up every now and then. Some days I feel like I will never have financial freedom, but I know as long as I do what I can, I will get there. 

I am excited to see what progress is made in 2022!!!

Happy New Year!

The Budget Mom

If you are in charge of finances, you will want to follow The Budget Mom on Instagram. I have been following her for a year now and am blown away at the progress I have made in my budget. Prior to finding her I didn't have a budget. I charged all of Christmas. I had zero savings. Financially I was a mess and didn't even know it. I now have a budget for each time I get paid, although I am still learning and tweaking. I am now prepared for Christmas and I have some savings. My journey began because I have so many places I want to travel to, but I never have the money. I got fed up throwing away my check to debt and finally said enough is enough. Throughout 2020 and a pandemic, I have been able to pay off five small credit cards, have saved for Christmas, and a few other things. I am now working on my larger debt and will not see the same amount of progress in 2021, but I am okay with that because at least progress will be made. 

This is an older picture from The Budget Mom's Instagram account, but her workbook is pretty much the same.

I am so excited to see what progress is made throughout the year!