A Dime at a Time

Navigating life and finances

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Merry Christmas!

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Two very special Christmases.

On this Christmas morning, I can’t help but to take a moment and reflect on two very special Christmases.

For Hubs and I, the first one is by far the most important as we celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior.  The holiday isn’t really about the presents, the lights, the tree or even Santa.  It is about an incredible gift given to all those who believe and accept Jesus into their heart.  Nothing under the tree can compare to the incredible gift of God’s Son to us.   [Read more…]

Adding a mid-month progress update

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Because “Oh crap” moments are not an option.

Now that Hubs and I have a goal to pay off a minimum of $1,500 each month, I realize that I will need more accountability to make sure this happens.  I say “I” only because I’m the one who makes sure our creditors receive their money.  With Hubs traveling for a living, there is no way he could handle paying the bills.  He has enough on his plate with being our primary breadwinner.  As long as he sees that we are meeting our goals, he is happy.   With that in mind, I realize I can no longer wait to do a monthly update as that could lead to an “oh crap” moment.  [Read more…]

2018 Monthly Minimums

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18 for 18!  

With 2018 just around the corner, I’ve been giving a lot of thought to what I’d like to see accomplished in the coming year.  2018 will be our second year on our journey to debt freedom, and I’m feeling optimistic!  Although we didn’t pay off near as much as I’d hoped in 2017, we are still in a far better position than we were 12 months ago, and I genuinely believe from this point that it will only get better. [Read more…]

Nine to Five

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The adjustment of working more hours.

Okay, so my hours are more like 11-5 (yesterday) or as for today, 11-2.  I also haven’t seen that old movie Nine to Five in what now seems like forever, but hey, I like the song and this business of going to work every day makes me feel like I’m working 9-5.  Lol.

My additional hours are still not set, and I doubt they ever really will be.  Fortunately, it isn’t an on-call type of position, so I do still have some flexibility.  The job calls for anywhere from 5-20 hours per week, which makes it a perfect addition to the very part-time hours I was already working.  Keep in mind that I do still work my side business and work full-time for a couple of months during the Summer at my seasonal job.  I still need to figure out the logistics of next Summer but will cross that bridge when I come to it.  For now, I am happy with more money for snowballing our debt! [Read more…]

Facing the Numbers

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To win our war on debt, we need to know what we are battling.

It has been quite some time since I updated our numbers.  The last third of this year has been one thing after another with our finances.  Starting with major car repairs, transferring balances and medical bills of over $4300, I knew our debt would go up.  Adding to all of that, with Hubs being off for an entire month, we lost a twelfth of our income.  Despite that, there are good things.  Now with most of our debt being at zero-percent interest, we will see more progress.  Hubs again has a clean bill of health, and you certainly can’t put a price tag on that!  As for the lost income, it has been a long time since Hubs and I have had an entire month together.   [Read more…]

It’s a new day!

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What a difference 24 hours can make!  

After a self-induced restless night, I made it through yesterday.  It was no surprise that I felt tired most of the day, but only getting a few hours of sleep does that to a person.  Despite my lack of sleep, the day turned out okay.  While not my usual type of post, I’d say that blogging away my stress was indeed therapeutic.  I feel it helped me identify what was stressing me out, at which point I could then do something about it.  And I did! [Read more…]

Dear Stress, please go away.

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Blogging away my stress.  

Ugh, I hate it when money and life stress me out.  You would think that after all this time on this journey, nights like these would be a thing of the past.  Nope.  Here I am, stressing yet once again.  Usually, I would get up and blog about something with a more positive nature.  Not tonight, though.  For this post, I have decided to blog about the why behind my stress.  I think in doing so, it will equally serve to help me work my way through the woes keeping me awake.  Or at least I hope it does!   [Read more…]

The Two Scrooges of Black Friday

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Just because it is on sale, doesn’t mean we need it!  

Don’t you just love all the consumerism surrounding the holidays?  No sooner do we finish giving thanks for all we have only to turn around and think we need so much more!  Don’t get me wrong; I enjoy looking at all the great deals, too.  But, I also need to remind myself that there is a huge difference between want and need.  And that is when Hubs and I became a Black Friday Scrooges! [Read more…]

First day on the job…again!

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Today I felt like the new kid on the block.

Today was my first official day of training at what has been my very part-time job.  Funny but even though I have worked in this office for over two years, I felt a bit like a newbie.  I think I’ll be fine once I learn all the ins and outs of the different programs. Jobs are hard to come by in our remote area, so I am thankful for the opportunity to learn.  In a larger area, most companies would want someone with a degree in business administration.  Here, well, while jobs are hard to come by, apparently so are employees.  Lol  While the position doesn’t pay super well it isn’t too far off from what nurses earn in our area.  Nurses here are grossly underpaid for the responsibilities they have.   [Read more…]

Customer is King, except at Walmart

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Why I am taking my crown and my money elsewhere.  

Has Walmart completely lost sight of who it is that keeps them in business?  In the highly unlikely chance that one of their higher-ups may be reading this (hey, you never know!), let me offer a clue: it is the customers!  Fortunately, at least for the majority of us, we are in control of where we spend our hard-earned money.  And after yet another horrendous experience in Wally World (aka, Walmart), I’ll be spending mine elsewhere!  [Read more…]

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