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This is the 26th month into our debt free journey. We’ve paid $102,085 so far with $25,144 remaining. It still boggles my mind that we’ve managed to pay off over $100,000 in just 2 years, crazy!
Also can’t believe that it’s November already, what a year 2020 has been.
Really hope everyone reading this is staying safe out there.
The holidays this year definitely won’t be the same but as long as everyone is careful, that’s the most important part.
Holidays
With all the COVID cases out there, I’m sure many families are not going all out this year. If that’s you then make the most out of it by saving money. We all know how expensive it can get hosting Thanksgiving dinners and parties.
Hopefully by this time next year, things will settle down and resort to going back to normal once again.
If you like to plan holiday dinners and parties then definitely start saving money now so you can do it big next year. You don’t have to save much each month.
For example, create a fund for your ‘Holiday party / dinner’. You can set aside $50 a month starting this month and by next year you’ll have $600 left to spend to host something very nice during the holidays. That way, you’ll be financially prepared for holiday events next year.
Student Loans
This month I’ve paid $1,000 towards my student loan bringing the balance down to $17,000. I plan on continuing to apply payments to bring the balance down to $10,000 then I’ll hold off until there’s additional news on what the Biden administration plans to do for federally held student loans.
If you hold federal student loans, currently there should be a pause on your payments. The government may also prolong this pause for a while, it’s just a waiting game for now.
If you don’t have any savings, now is a good time to stack up some savings while you can.
Technically, you don’t have to make any payments towards student loans. With the extra money you may have, you can either use it towards paying down other debt or savings. Keep in mind that it’s important to save some money for student loan payments if the pause doesn’t end up getting extended.
For now, there’s high hopes that $10,000 of student loan debt will be wiped out for everyone. But we’ll have to wait and see.
Free Thanksgiving Dinner From Ibotta
Did you know Ibotta is giving away a free Thanksgiving dinner from Walmart?
This offer lasts until November 25th 2020.
What you can do is:
- Get the Ibotta app
- Redeem the free offers pictured above
- Scan your receipt
- Get full cash back for those items
I use Ibotta when I shop for groceries on the regular. It’s super easy to get cash back for food items. First I would add grocery items to my list on Ibotta, purchase the items, scan my receipt, and get cash back right away.
If you do a lot of grocery shopping, Ibotta’s going to save you a lot of money over time.
Sign up to Ibotta using code YDIGCFJ and get your $20 welcome bonus
Takeaway
The holidays sure aren’t the same this year. Hopefully you all still had a wonderful and safe Thanksgiving with your closest loved ones.
Start preparing to save some money each month for next year’s holidays. Even if it’s $20 a month, that’s still something that can add up for you to spend towards holiday dinner’s and parties in 2021.
Let’s all keep an eye out on what’s going to happen with student loan payment pause and debt elimination, time will only tell. Hope we can all get $10,000 or more knocked off our federal student loans, how great is that going to be?!
Lastly, keep your cash back at the grocery store going with Ibotta. You can eventually make enough back for a free week’s worth of groceries or more.