Blog - Making Sense Of Cents

How (And Why) We Paid Off $34,000 Of Debt In Our First Six Months Of Marriage

August 7, 2020 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - Leave a Comment

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you. Please read my disclosure for more info.

Hello! Today, I have a great debt payoff story from Zach Buchenau. He is a reader of Making Sense of Cents and shares how he and his wife paid off $34,000 in debt in the first six months of their marriage.

A little less than two years ago, my wife Katie and I were enjoying a warm, relaxing honeymoon in Arizona. Like most couples, we spent that time decompressing from all the hectic wedding festivities, enjoying each other’s company, and planning our debt payoff strategy.

Wait, what?

Ok, I understand that paying off debt might not be the most romantic topic of conversation for newlyweds.

But here’s the thing, the moment we got married, our individual debts combined to equal a whopping $34,000.

And as you might suspect, we were both pretty overwhelmed by that number. (Truthfully, I still get a little queasy thinking about it.) [Read more…]

How To Make a Resume – Your Questions Answered

August 3, 2020 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 1 Comment

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you. Please read my disclosure for more info.

Looking to learn how to make a resume? Here, you’ll see a resume example, tips for writing a cover letter, and answers on how to create a resume.

Resumes are important for many reasons.

The job you’re applying to may require one, and it’s how you stand out among other applicants.

The one position you are applying to may have hundreds or even thousands of other people applying to it, so a resume that grabs the attention of the company is extremely important.

I interviewed a resume expert, Katie Pelton, on the subject of how to make a resume. You may remember her from when I first interviewed her back in 2013 – Extra Income Series: I Run a Resume Business.

As the founder of Resumes By Katie, Katie Pelton is a career development aficionado, both for herself and others.

She loves helping people realize their accomplishments and she has helped hundreds of people across the country improve their resumes, cover letters, LinkedIn profiles, and interview skills. When she’s not enjoying the challenge of a job hunt, you can find her eating pizza with her fiance and rescue pup in Minneapolis. [Read more…]

Yotta Savings App Review – Win up to $10 million weekly by saving in an FDIC insured account

July 27, 2020 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 2 Comments

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you. Please read my disclosure for more info.

I recently came across an interesting new savings account, and I am excited to share it with you all today.

I think you’ll want to hear about this as it’s such an interesting and new concept.

Here’s a quick overview of the new savings app that gives you the opportunity to win $10,000,000 every single week.

Yotta Savings uses the psychology that drives Americans to play the lottery to instead motivate Americans to save money.

For every $25 that you save with Yotta, you have the chance to win $0.10 all the way up to $10,000,000, every week.

And, if you don’t win, your cash that you’ve saved still has a 0.20% savings rate, which is twice as high as the national average.

The creators of Yotta built this savings app to help Americans meet their savings goals. This is especially important because according to the Federal Reserve, 40% of Americans do not have $400 for an emergency. However, even though that is a crazy statistic, Americans still spend $80 billion on the lottery every year, which averages out to $640 per U.S. household. [Read more…]

Pay off our mortgage or not? A glimpse into a couple’s final decision

July 24, 2020 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 14 Comments

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you. Please read my disclosure for more info.

Hello! Here is a guest post from Melissa Brock about her decision on whether or not to pay off her mortgage. Melissa is the Money editor at Benzinga and founder of Collegemoneytips.com. Enjoy!

My husband and I like to make excellent financial decisions. He says I’m obsessed with our finances — which is kind of true. I mean, I listen to the “Afford Anything” podcast and read every personal finance related piece of content I can get my scroll-happy finger on. I’m also the Money editor at Benzinga for my full-time job. (Okay, okay, he’s right.)

Our mortgage is a source of well… pain, for me, if you want to know the truth. All the reading I do probably contributes to that. One day, I’ll read an expert post about how so-and-so plans to invest like crazy, pay the minimum on his mortgage, then run, giggling, toward retirement (early!) and revel in the spoils of compound interest.

This person might say, “Why would you pump money into a non-liquid asset?”

And so my mind goes, “Yeah! That makes sense.” [Read more…]

How Do Student Loans Work? What You Need To Know About Borrowing Money For School

July 22, 2020 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 2 Comments

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you. Please read my disclosure for more info.

Have you ever wondered how do student loans work?

Maybe you’re thinking about going to school and taking out a student loan, perhaps you are a parent trying to help your child find the best options, or perhaps you are about to start paying down your student loan debt.

Whatever your case may be, I am hoping today’s article will help you learn more about how student loans work, so that you can be prepared for your future.

There are just so many different components to student loans, and it can make it very confusing to understand how student loans work.

There are federal vs. private loans, you can pay them back in a variety of ways, and more.

Student loans are a big part of many people’s lives.

The average amount of student loan debt per borrower is $35,359 and 44.7 million people in the U.S. have student loan debt. [Read more…]

10 Easy Camping Meals For You To Try

July 20, 2020 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 3 Comments

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you. Please read my disclosure for more info.

Camping is super popular, and I completely understand why.

Being able to camp is amazing. You can breathe in the fresh air, embrace the outdoors, try something new, connect with nature, and more.

Whether you are camping with a tent, RVing, trying out van life, or something else, easy camping meals are always great to have.

With these 10 easy camping meals, you’ll have a bunch of delicious and budget-friendly meal options.

These easy camping recipes are simple and have quick clean up and prep.

What I love the most about these easy camping recipes is that you will end up with meals that are more interesting than what you may normally have. And, because you can prep some of these meals in advance, you can spend more time having fun while you’re camping. [Read more…]

Full-Time RV Travel With Kids – Are They Crazy?

July 17, 2020 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 9 Comments

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you. Please read my disclosure for more info.

Hey everyone! Today, I have a great article from Jacob Wade on how to become a full-time RV family. I’ve known him for years now and it’s been so much fun watching him and his family on this RV adventure that they are on. Jacob Wade is the budgeting expert who started iHeartBudgets, a place where Millennials and young families come to learn EXACTLY how to build a budget that WORKS. Jacob quit his job in 2018, sold his house and 95% of everything they owned to take off on an adventure of a lifetime. He is now on mission to spread the message of Financial Freedom around the country, and help others build a “Freedom Plan” of their own!

18 months ago, I quit my job, we sold (almost) everything we owned (including the house), and we hit the road with 3 kids, 6 and under!

Hello Making Sense of Cents family!

I’m Jacob Wade, Founder of iHeartBudgets.net, and Michelle was kind enough to let me share our story with you fine folks today.

I know Michelle has shared all about her adventures around the U.S. in an RV (and in her sailboat!), and I as I’ve read through her stories, I found myself nodding my head all the way through.

There is something about giving in to your sense of adventure, having a curiosity to explore and taking hold of the FREEDOM that is right in front of us!

We’ve had such an incredible journey over the past 18 months, and get SO MANY questions about what it takes to up and leave EVERYTHING.

So today I’ll talk through the details of HOW we saved for and planned our adventure, what it looks like to sell EVERYTHING and downsize our family into 300 sq. ft., and the day to day of traveling full time WITH KIDS.

And hopefully inspire some of you who feel “stuck” to take a chance at something BIG! [Read more…]

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