Student loans are paid off. Now what?
It feels so strange not having a debt payoff countdown ticking through my calendar and brain on repeat! Now that I'm not immediately putting $1,800 toward my student loan every month, I've allowed myself to be a bit more spendy in the last week, although spendy for me now means finally buying some new full coverage underwear for $3/pair (thanks to liquidation prices at the soon to be closed West Towne Mall Gap). #ThisIs34?
While I probably won't be featured on TLC's Extreme Cheapskates anytime soon, I'm pretty impressed with my new penny pinching techniques. I'm sure the employee at Athleta was super impressed when I used their exclusive $25 coupon (no minimum spend required - never happens!) on two pairs of $12.50 Balega socks.
$0.00. BOOM.
I'm also not above using every email address under the sun if it means that I get an additional 20% off my purchase or free shipping. If you don't have a promotional code that I can find tucked away on my some obscure influencer's site, I don't want your sunlight alarm clock anyway. You're obviously welcome to gift it to us for Christmas if you're so inclined.
I'll admit, it's now very tempting to have an additional $1,800 at my fingertips. Having a budget really does feel like you've gone and gotten yourself a raise (although an actual salary raise from your job would probably be super appreciated too). It might be easier for me having a debt to pay down because it didn't require me to think twice about what to do with the money - just give it to the creditor. But now it's MY MONEY and it's up to me what to do with it!
Dave Ramsey's financial advice has gotten me this far, so I'm going to continue following his baby steps plan until I'm to the last step: Build wealth and give. Until that joyous day comes, I'll be building up my fully funded emergency fund of $10,000 (step 3) until July 2020 and then investing 15% of my income ($8,400) into a 401k (step 4).
Since I'll still be putting that $1,800 toward fully funding my emergency fund, I've decided to put my weekly dog walking paychecks and surprise income into an old school cash envelope in my sock drawer.
Very legit system.
The dog walking money was always supposed to be just a little extra sumpin' sumpin' to cover a weekly date night out or an unexpected bill, so it feels nice to have a designated spot to put it now.
After dating for over four years now, Nick and I still haven't taken an international trip together, which is surprising, but mostly disappointing. While we have gone on some great local and domestic trips, we simply haven't prioritized our time or money for an international adventure together. Every January we start the year by saying we're going to book that big trip and every December has passed without one. This year we even gave ourselves an easy international destination - Canada. We live in Wisconsin, y'all. How did we miss this one?
Admittedly, during our rather rough patch last fall in Austin, I booked a free flight to Belize with my Southwest travel points (and didn't invite him - oops). The universe ended up punishing me tenfold for that unkind decision as I forgot to tell my bank that I was traveling to Belize and all of my bank accounts locked immediately upon arrival. As usual, Nick saved my ass and was able to Western Union some cash my way so that I could finally leave San Pedro, where I had been physically stuck for three days without any money.
Don't worry, that lovely Courtney-sobbing-on-a-corner-outside-of-a-closed-Western-Union story is coming in a future travel post! With Belize as my last international trip, I have some sparkly universe juju to get back - which brings us to 2020.
Today, one of my social media buddies wrote about this new decade being our own version of the roaring 20's. I adore this idea, but with fewer flappers, less mass commercialism, and just as much jazz. To start our Roaring 20's off right, Nick and I have been spending a lot of time creating our shared life vision and dreams together, as well as our individual personal and professional goals. He's got his new Bullet Journal and I've got my new Passion Planner and it's pretty sickening watching us go to town with our colored marker packs.
Now that he's watched me dominate my debts so quickly, he's becoming more dedicated to doing it himself too. He's already making big sacrifices, like selling his beloved road bikes. I like to think it will all be worth it when we're both debt free, setting aside large chunks of money for travel and recreation every month, and maybe one day a down payment for a house...or a cozy cabin in the woods.
So, where are we going to go first?
I mean, at this point I'll say yes to pretty much anywhere that will have us. I've already been to most of Western Europe and Central America, so I really want to check out Scandinavia or Eastern Europe, or maybe go farther East to Cambodia/Vietnam/Laos. Nick wants to see the Tour de France in person and has even mentioned Bali. So, who knows where we'll end up come next summer. Regardless of the final destination, this cash envelope system (and Scott's Cheap Flights) is going to get us there without putting everything on plastic, which feels incredibly encouraging.
My Top 10 Dream Trips (as of this second because we know it will change tomorrow):
1. South Africa
2. Greece
3. Prague
4 Amsterdam
5. Norway
6. Egypt
7. Austria
8. Jordan
9. Cambodia
10. Australia
Fine readers, to which countries are you traveling to kick off the Roaring 20s?