This month, you're actually looking for a random word. The word is BANANA. When you find it….reply to this email with a screen shot and you're entered to win! 

Our giveaway this month is: a Neon Highlighter Stanley 40oz. + Maracuja Juicy Lips

I'm a BIG fan of the Juicy Lips and never leave home with out a stick. 

Hey First name / friend,

As I write this, it's 66 degrees and the sun is shining. I slept in (which is 6:30am for me) and started my work day a bit more refreshed than if I'd gone to the gym at 5am. 

 

Working out is VERY new for me. And even though I don't look forward to it, I will tell you that I'm sleeping better. Better for me may equal 4-5 hours a night instead of 2-3 and that's a WIN.

 

The Lord has been working diligently in my life this season and now that I'm through much of the “CRISIS” I'm able to see his hand at work in bigger ways. 

 

If you didn't know, we spent most of last year building a home and working while living in a very small rental! Just 2 months after we moved into our home, my husband lost his job of 15 years. A job that allowed us to build this very home. I'll be honest and say that the last 8 months have been difficult in more ways than you can imagine. Financially, emotionally, spiritually. I have been drained and drained some more. 

 

On top of that, Kurt and I went through a very dark season in our marriage that left both of us hanging on to life by threads. I may share the details of that one day, but for now, I know that anyone reading this who has been in a relationship already knows what that looks and feels like. 

 

All of these situations led to major life changes for us. And a lot of those changes have been VERY hard. I had to take on another full time job to help support us. Kurt was able to find work, but at a major salary cut. 

 

We had (and still have) long term decisions to think about and make. And this had me in a pretty dark state that I was finally able to come out of these past two months. 

 

Today I told a dear friend, “I am one of those people that the Lord must hit with his neon sign in order for me to hear him.” And let's just say, he's gotten my attention. When I finally stopped trying to fix and control all of the above situations and I came CRAWLING to the throne, he welcomed me with open arms and offered me an instant reprieve. 

 

These last 6 weeks, I've stopped all panic attacks. I've felt joy. I've felt peace. I've found a bit of myself again. 

 

I am so excited to share some ways in which I have seen his hand at work, and I hope that in next months newsletter, I'll have BIG news about all that's been going on behind the scenes. But for now, I just want you to know that there is more than likely something going on in your neighbors life that you know nothing about. Be kind. Offer grace. Take them a meal. It could even be a banana. Check on them. Text them. Text them, again. 

 

I'm so thankful for those who have literally held me up in this season of life. The Lord has used best friends, co workers and even random strangers. He is good all the time. 

 

I hope you're in a spring season in your life, friends. And if you're not, know that you absolutely aren't alone. Reach out to anyone, but especially the Father. If you don't have a relationship with him, let's talk about that. Because that peace that only he can provide will truly change your life. I'll be more than happy to share how it's changed mine.

 

CHEERS, 

All I can say is look her up! We've enjoyed so many meals this month with this find!

I'm coming at you with some fun new things, some very everyday practical items, and a few things that I consider LIFE. CHANGING! 

As always, I never promote debt, so if ya don't need, scroll on, friends!

*Disclaimer--if you use my link below, I may make a TINY commission. I'm talking so small that I'd have to have a lot of clicks just to buy some coffee. This isn't making me rich. Just products I believe in and use on the daily and I'm happy to promote them. ;)

I am a big fan of tv, reading, music, all the things. I am constantly asking for recommendations and so I thought it would be fun to share a few of my own each month! 

My passion in life is to see others succeed with their finances. Budgeting is some people's scariest word and I get that. But, after the year my family has the only thing that's saved us has been our discipline with finances. We live debt free for a reason and I'm thrilled to help you in any way that I can!

 Welcome to Money Matters. 

 

*Disclaimer: I am not a financial adviser. None of this is financial advise, but just what has worked for us.

If you missed last month, we shared that Dave Ramsey's Baby Step #1 is to have $1000 in an emergency fund. This money should be easily accessible and there shouldn't be a penalty for removing it. 

 

Baby Step #2 is the Debt Snowball. This is often the longest (and hardest) step to get past, but if you are disciplined, you can do this! There are a couple controversial ways to go about this and I'll share them both. You can make an educated decision on what works for you!

 

First, there is the Small to Large factor. This is the route we took. Let's say you have 3 debts. One is a medical bill for $289 with a $45 monthly payment. The second is a credit card of $2,390 with a $223 monthly payment. The third is a student loan of $6,776 with a $100 monthly payment. 

 

After your budget is created, you see that you have $302 left to put towards your debt. This is AFTER you make your minimum monthly payments on all three debts! Never stop paying those. The interest will eat you alive.

 

In this situation, we can see that we have enough money ($302) to pay off our medical bill our very first month. This then frees up an additional $45 a month (from our minimum payment) to snowball into our original $302. So, for our next month, we now have $347 to apply in addition to the $223 payment we were making. By this math, and assuming we stop adding debt to our credit card, we can now make a $570 payment towards our credit card debt. If we were to continue with this plan, we will have our credit card paid off in 5 months. This then allows us to take $570 and add it to our $100 student loan and make $670 payments. At this point, we owe $6276 (because we've still been making our minimum payments for 5 months). By this math, we can pay off our student loan debt in a little over 9 months. 

 

This is the method Kurt and I used when we first got married to knock out our debt. It took us almost 3 years because we each brought quite a bit of baggage to the table. It was HARD..but it has set us up for success.

 

The other method some people choose to use is the Highest Interest Rate method. Using this scenario, you'd put every extra penny into paying off your CC first, then your student loan and then your medical bill. I get the logic behind this, but think the snowball works better when those successes happen quicker. For that reason, we use the first method.

We have launched a new subscription product that digital creators and influencers are LOVING! We have a trending audio subscription that delivers all the trending audio directly to your inbox every single week for only $7 a month! Interested in learning more about that? Click the button below.