Both my spouse and I upped our contributions for retirement so we had to adjust some of our budget to accommodate. It was not that big of an adjustment but in the past few months, we went from a savings rate of four percent to ten percent just in retirement alone.

As we pay down more debt we have gradually been increasing our contributions to both savings and retirement accounts. Our debt will hopefully be paid off completely by the end of November baring any unforeseen expenses.

We did have some additional spending on medical bills. These were things that we put off when the pandemic hit, not necessarily emergencies. But as everything has been reopening we have played catch-up on our health.

An Ounce of Prevention

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. This statement is extremely important when you have a for-profit health care system as we do in America. We have good insurance but it still comes at a cost.

Four years ago I went to the doctor for a routine physical. During the blood work, it was discovered that I had hypothyroidism as well as low Vitamin D. I had been feeling tired and gaining weight so the diagnosis made sense. Having this diagnosis has allowed me to make adjustments to my medications and figure out how to fix some of the underlying symptoms.

This helped me figure out how to maintain a healthy lifestyle. This is important because simple issues with your health can turn into greater problems if left untreated.

Furniture Bill Paid

We also paid off our furniture bill from last year. It was a zero percent installment loan for four years but we paid it off in less than a year. The purchase was necessary as it was a new bed, however the type of bed was overkill for what we ultimately needed.

This was before we started the current path and we were prone to making these types of mistakes. It is easy to get lured into a purchase when they dangle zero percent for up to four years.

I love the bed but may not have gotten all the extras that the salesmen sold to me. We have only used the sheets once and they were terrible.

School Started Again

With the schools back in session, my spouse has been commuting more to work. She works for the school district and has to be there in person. We had to adjust our budget a bit but with most of the debt paid off already, the adjustment did not change much.

I did finally get paid from some work that I do on the side. I had sent the invoice back at the beginning of July and finally got the check yesterday.

My old self would have taken the money and either bought something frivolous or put it towards savings. The new self put it right towards another debt payment.

Our current debt is now:

Card 1: $8939.38 – 0% interest
Automobile: $23,522 – 1.9% Interest

I added an additional one percent to my retirement accounts and three percent to my spouse’s retirement accounts.

This will increase our net worth to approximately: $54,922 +/- market fluctuations.

Within the next few weeks I will pay an additional $1700 towards the debt, split between the car payment and the credit card.

A Setback Should be Manageable

As I said, we did have a bit of a setback with some medical debt but that will be paid off through budgeting and we did not have to use our emergency fund for the payment.

The budget has also had to take a hit in some of the categories that we adjusted for the pandemic. We have increased our spending on gasoline, but have tried to decrease the spending in restaurants to offset the costs.

I am also looking to convert my garage into a workspace. It would be ideal to build a workbench that I can use as a stand-up desk. That would give me three work areas in my home to use. It helps when I am needing a change of scenery.

As it stands, we will be working from home until January. They also suspended all business travel so the next year will be more of the same. While the pandemic has been an overall negative experience for the world, individual I have been able to re-prioritize my life.

Come 2022, things will be the best they have been in years!