Updates: It's been a while since we've update you guys on our progress. We started this journey in August. Since then:
- We have cut our spending from a little under $4K a month to $1700 a month not including tithing which we do every week now. We are searching for a new church home and think we may have found one.
- We have completed Baby Step 1 (1K in the bank for emergencies).
- In Baby Step 2, we paid off 15K in credit card debt & a truck loan. We now own that truck free & clear.
- We have sold so much stuff including a Nissan 350Z that had a loan on it & a living room set. We are using this Spring cleaning time to rid ourselves of everything we don't need. To help ourselves do this we look at the items and say, "Do we want "X" more than we wanna get out of debt." The way we're going we should be out of debt by 2016.
However, we had to put a pause in the debt snowball. There's are only one reason to ever do this: If there is something coming on the horizon that is big, costly, unavoidable (like medical treatment, a baby, move, change/loss of job that you have notice of). In our case, it's a change of job/move.
My husband has felt a call by God to leave active duty and continue his military duty part time in the Guard so he can pursue his Bachelor's Degree in Finance and become a CFP (Certified Financial Planner). That means choosing a state in which to join the guard and moving. Moving takes money. We'll also have to find work. My husband's Tuition's Assistance, GI Bill & Guard Pay will make his education free and give us some money, over $1800 a month actually with more during his 2 weeks a month. Shaun will also get a part time job. I'll be getting an agent so I can resume acting in film & singing in more professional venues. I will also find a full-time job in the entertainment industry as a performer, in Broadcasting (which is the field in which I currently work), Journalism, or another background job like Publicity or Event Planning in which I also have previous experience. I hope to secure a new job before the move, but that might not happened living so far away from where we're moving. After we are debt-free and have 3-6 months in our emergency savings, I will then reevaluate where I'm working and determine if I want to quit to be a full-time actor/singer again if I'm not already by that time.
We've picked a state that all our family is in, has a great in-state college for my husband to attend with the program he's studying, has a lower cost of living than our current state, and plenty of opportunities for me in the entertainment industry (much more than our current state). However, if we're not able to secure jobs before we move, we'll need money. We also will not be using the GTC (Government Travel Card) to move because it's a credit card that the government pays off when you turn in your travel voucher. We don't believe in credit cards anymore. We will pay out of pocket, turn in our vouchers, and get paid back. We might even just move ourselves instead of having TMO move everything which will make us money.We're putting all of our leftover money away for this move and maybe to live on temporarily til we find work. We don't need much we have come to find out.
We will post more in depth articles & videos on how we have done this such as how to budget, how to trim the fat off your budget, couponing, etc.
BTW, my indie film The Legend of Seven Toe Maggie I acted in right before I moved had 2 Red Carpet Premieres (I missed cuz we're on this plan and can't take trips right now) & is being selected into various film festivals in hopes of getting wide release. These are in GA if any of you out there wanna go. I will give more updates on our jobs/careers in future videos & articles.
We'd love to hear your advice, comments, & stories. We want to hear from you out there who have made a cross-country move or transitioned from military to civilian life.
Stay tuned for a new video next week on Debt Myths :)
