money diaries vol 3: a very pricey week

I wasn't kidding when I announced our financial goals for 2020 and said that we were being extremely mindful of our money this year, so don't be surprised about seeing lots of these money diaries around the blog. 

As a head's up, this week is definitely not typical of our average spending. But not every week is a frugal balanced week. In particular, we had a lot going on with making purchases for upcoming holidays, birthdays, and travel. 

january 2020

Oh January!

You are always the best month with the excitement of a new year and a chance to start fresh. 

friday favorites 01.31.20

Happy Friday friends! It's been a while since I've done one of these, but with it being the last Friday of the month-it feels like a good way to recap a few things and get back in touch with this space. So here are a few favorites lately below. 

financial goals for 2020

As promised, I will be sharing a bit more about money and budgeting in this space. And what better way to kick things off than laying out our goals with money for 2020 to show how we plan to start this decade on good financial footing.

tackling six-figure student loan debt

Confession time. As you might have surmised from the title of today's post-we have six figures worth of debt. And every last dime of it is student loans. As it turns out, pursuing higher education for nearly a decade doesn't exactly come cheap. 

Even though we had financial support from our families, each earned more than a $100k in scholarships & free tuition, and worked during school--we still finished with six figures worth of student loan debt. It's not something that I'm ashamed of or embarrassed about. It's just a fact of life. We made a conscious decision to invest in our education and I 100% do not regret it.

money diaries vol 2: what we spend in a week

Here for another money diary! Compared to last month where we were indulging in the holidays, this week feels like a much better depiction of our regular spending. 

how much did we spend $$ on Christmas?

I love the holidays and tend to be one of those people that go completely overboard. Over the top with decorating and excessive gift giving. That being said, I still have a Christmas budget that I stick to because at the end of the day, I want to enjoy the holidays and not have to stress about money. 

We normally save up for Christmas well in advance, but found ourselves cash-flowing the entire thing this year instead. I always base our budget on the year before, but somehow it keeps increasing. Ha! Here's what we spent on Christmas 2019...