May Recap- Using Economic Stimulus to Pay Debt

Well, we are slowly making progress at paying the debt. We went over budget during the month of May, but not by much- only about $150 over budget. This was due to 2 major things- going out to eat too much, and the rising cost of gas. Dinner out, grocery shopping, and gas were the only budget categories where we went into the red. Hopefully, we can stay under-budget for June.

This month, we were able to pay $2700 toward our credit card with the largest debt...$1500 of that was from the economic stimulus check- which I'll admit took a lot of will power to not spend on something "fun". We'll have a lot of fun when we don't have credit card bills to pay though!

Since September, we've paid back 19 % of our debt and that is just amazing to think about. We've also gone 5 months without using a credit card whatsoever- which obviously helps in seeing our debt decrease rather than remain the same or increase.

We only have 2 more months of daycare tuition to pay for, and once that is done, we'll have an extra $800 a month to put toward the debt. During the month of July, we do have our daughter's birthday and a vacation week coming up- so that will give us less to throw towards the debt in the summer. I have a feeling that we will make a lot of progress this fall. I'll be getting a small raise in July, but every little bit of extra money helps.

Our biggest challenge right now is to stay within the budget and plan and budget for future expenses- like gifts and travel money for July.

I have to say that I'm very proud of my family for working so hard at spending less and paying back the debt. This is the first time our debt is under $25K in years!