Budget Archives - Page 2 of 158 - Making Sense Of Cents

How We Paid Off $189,000 In Student Loans In 4.5 Years

Last Updated: December 16, 2022 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 12 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’s how Sarah DeShaw and her husband paid off $189,000 in student loans in 4.5 years. Please enjoy this debt payoff story.

Learning how much student debt my husband had was one of those moments in life that is absolutely seared into my memory.

We were on the beach. I was 20, he was 26. We were in love. We were both born and raised in the Midwest, but he moved to the coast of southern Georgia while we were dating and I had traveled to visit him.

Although we hadn’t been dating for too long at the time, we both knew this was a special connection – marriage material if we wanted.

My strategy while dating my husband was to ask as many hard-hitting questions I could – each a test of sorts to make sure I liked his character and instinctual responses.

I was trying to protect myself by asking what I felt was all the “hard stuff” up front.

He always passed with flying colors.

We’d never really talked about our financial situations and I knew we needed to start the conversation if we were thinking about joining our lives together one day.

I was nervous. I thought he might be disappointed in how much money I didn’t have. I didn’t have any debt, but I didn’t come from money either. I had maybe $7,000 to my name from working summers and around my school schedule. [Read more…]

70+ Goal Ideas For 2023: Make This New Year The Best Yet

Last Updated: January 1, 2023 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 4 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.

What are your goal ideas for 2023?

Do you want to improve your finances? Focus on your health and fitness? Want to build better relationships with your friends and family? Are you looking for inspiration to reach your life goals?

There are so many different yearly goal ideas, and since 2023 is almost here, now is a great time to start thinking about yours.

Whether you want to call it a New Year’s resolution, a New Year’s goal, or simply just a goal, setting personal goals for 2023 is a great way to start the year.

Your goal ideas can give you a fresh start and focus your energy on what you want in the new year.

Setting goals for the new year comes with many benefits, and you’re probably well aware of that.

Your New Year’s goals for 2023 can keep you motivated toward improving your life and trying new things, and goals can also keep you excited about your future.

Goals can help you grow, give you motivation, help you learn new skills, improve yourself, and more. There are so many benefits!

For me, I enjoy setting goals. I may not reach all of my goals, but they give me an idea for how I’d like my life to look in the future.

It’s also an exciting feeling to set new goals for myself!

Setting goals helps me create some sort of plan, and honestly, the planning aspect is something I really enjoy as well.

Now, that doesn’t mean that goals are easy to keep. Good things don’t always come easy! In fact, they usually require some hard work, but that’s what makes it feel so good when you achieve them.

Today, I am going to share some great 2023 goal ideas and tips for making each one attainable. If you’ve been wondering:

What are some ideas for goals?
What are some fun personal goals?
How do I set goals that I can actually reach?

Then this post is for you! This is a long list of goals for 2023.

With the New Year’s goal ideas on this list, you will be ready for a motivating and exciting new year. [Read more…]

My Favorite Black Friday Weekend Deals

Last Updated: November 28, 2022 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.

Hey,

The deals are now over.

I recently published How To Save Money During The Holidays (20+ Ways To Save & Make Money!) if you are looking for ways to save money this holiday season.

Even though the sales have ended, I have other content you may be interested in:

Tip for shopping this holiday season:

There are a few other ways to save this holiday season by using easy cell phone apps! Don’t forget to:

Scan your grocery receipts with Fetch Rewards. Fetch Rewards is a cash back and gift card cell phone app that rewards you for purchases that you’ve already made. With Fetch Rewards, you can earn points by submitting your receipts to the Fetch Rewards app from any grocery store. Yes, ANY! You can sign up for Fetch Rewards here.
Shop with Rakuten and get cash back at online retailers. All you do is click on a store that you want to shop through (they have tons of stores such as Kohls, REI, Toys “R” Us, etc.) and shop just like how you normally would shop online and get cash back. Plus, when you sign up through my link and make a qualifying purchase, you receive a free $40 cash sign-up bonus.
Get cash back at gas stations with Upside. I recently downloaded this and it is very easy to use. GetUpside is a mobile app that helps you find gas stations, groceries, and restaurants where you can earn cash back. You simply sign up for a free account, and then look at the GetUpside app to find places near you. You can earn up to $0.25/gallon cash back at gas stations, up to 30% back on grocery purchases, and up to 45% back at restaurants. You can check out GetUpside here to learn more.

I use all three of these apps and highly recommend them if you are looking for easy ways to save money right now.

Enjoy!

How To Get A Free $40 When Shopping Online For The Holidays + $100 Giveaway

Last Updated: November 23, 2022 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! I have partnered with Rakuten in today’s holiday shopping tips blog post. Don’t forget to enter the easy $100 giveaway at the end as well.

Did you know that there’s an easy way to get $40 cash back this holiday shopping season?

Yes, there is! And, it could not be any easier.

If you have holiday shopping to do, you can save a quick $40 today.

Here are some of the purchases that you may be making in the near future:

Gifts
Travel, such as flights to see your friends and family
Postage for any gifts or holiday cards
Holiday cards
Decorations for your home
Food for holiday get togethers

And more.

The average household spends over $1,000 over the holiday season. This can be a significant amount of money to spend.

Luckily, there is one easy way to save some money this month and all throughout the year.

You can actually get cash back on your purchases, and it is super easy to do! [Read more…]

Bask Bank Review: Earn Airline Miles For Saving Money

Last Updated: December 7, 2022 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 4 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.

This Bask Bank Review is in partnership with Bask Bank.

Are you looking for a savings account that will allow you to travel more and help you diversify your savings?

Bask Bank offers a new and unique way to save money. With a Bask Bank Savings Account, you can actually earn airline miles instead of interest just by saving your money in a savings account.

Yes, Bask Bank will pay you to save!

Bask Bank is helping people reach their savings goals by offering three ways to save – a Mileage Savings Account rewards account holders with 2 American Airline AAdvantage® miles for every $1 saved annually, an Interest Savings Account that earns 15 times the national average APY* (as of December 1, 2022, you can earn 3.85% APY with the Bask Bank Interest Savings Account) and a Certificate of Deposit Savings Account.

That is a very competitive interest rate and one of the highest that I have ever seen.

Sounds great, right?

If you have questions, such as the below, then this Bask Bank Review is for you:

What is Bask Bank?
Is Bask Bank safe?
Can Bask Bank help me travel more?
What is the Bask Bank Mileage Savings Account?
How many American Airlines AAdvantage® miles do I earn with a Bask Mileage Savings Account?
Is Bask Bank FDIC insured?

You can learn more about Bask Bank by heading to their website here. [Read more…]

How We Bought A House And Only Pay A $116 Monthly Payment

Last Updated: November 18, 2022 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.

Hey everyone! I have an update to share from a reader named Nichole. She first shared her story in August of 2021 about how she went from -$20,000 to a six-figure savings by 26 years old. Today, she is sharing her story on how she bought a house and has a low monthly payment.

The following will outline the steps my husband and I, both 27 at the time of purchase, took to buy a house during a high market.

We did a previous post titled How We Saved Over $100,000 By Age 26. Although we did not reach our original goal of paying all cash for our home, we did get our monthly payment down to $116!

Yes, you read that correctly, one hundred and sixteen dollars.

I encourage you to read our story above before reading this one, as this is an update to the previous post. My husband and I have lived in a room the past 3 years with our 3 cats, and yes, it is as bad as it sounds. We are happy to announce we are living in our own home and our cats are very happy to run around and even have their own catio (cat patio)!

First, let’s start with the house details! Below is a short description of the purchase of our home. We bought early 2022 during a hot market in Southern California. [Read more…]

How We Retired At 29, Travel, And Keep Our Expenses Low

Last Updated: November 7, 2022 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 10 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.

Are you interested in early retirement and financial independence? Today, I have a great interview with Lauren and Steven, a couple who managed to save enough money to retire from their full-time jobs at the age of 29.

They have done some really fun things since freeing themselves from full-time work, such as spending six months in Hawaii, visiting every U. S. National Park, and more.

In this interview, you’ll learn:

What they do for health insurance now that they don’t have full-time jobs
What Lean FIRE is
When they began saving for early retirement
How they’re able to keep their expenses low
How much they spend traveling in early retirement
The jobs they had before they quit
Whether or not they still work

And more!

This interview is packed full of valuable information on reaching early retirement. [Read more…]