I quickly heard from one of our couples this morning. Their lives have become hectic with Noreen working her part time job so she hasn’t been able to e-mail me as often. The following is what she told me this morning.
She and Bruce have paid $5300. on their $21,000. debt since the end of September. They have been able to do this with her part time job paycheck and cutting every expense that they can since the last time we spoke. They expect to continue doing that until the credit card bill is paid and then they will reevaluate where they are at. They are making one exception. They are going to use $300. this month of her paycheck to purchase Christmas gifts for their son and some nieces and nephews. Any extra will be used for some special food items for Christmas.
They have not spent anything for clothing or eating out. They have cancelled all entertainment and hobbies except for Netflix. They decided that gave them enough things to watch.
Through careful planning, they have cut their monthly grocery bill down to $100. They had a small stockpile and they have been eating some of that which is helping their grocery budget.
Noreen says that Bruce has always gotten a Christmas bonus from his company. So if that happens this year, they will apply it to their debt to pay it down faster. They also expect that they may get a Tax refund in early 2019, so that will be put on the debt also.
I have to say that I am impressed that they have stayed the course. They are doing really well and are still very motivated to get all of their debt paid in full. They have done what needs to be done to get themselves on secure footing again. So many people start working on it and then give up. Some people continue to use their credit cards for every bump in the road and that gets them no where….just farther in debt. But not Bruce and Noreen. They have not used a credit card since they started this journey.
I have not heard from the Joneses. I have e-mailed and e-mailed and get no response. I am wondering if they have given up. I hope not because they were doing very well! If I ever hear from them again, I will let you know.
4 replies on “Updates on Our Two Families”
Noreen and Bruce are doing super! When I first read both couples situations, I wasn’t expecting either to change but they have.
They sound truly motivated!
Good job, teacher.
Thanks Rhonda! But they deserve all the credit.
Hi Liz, this is Chris. Thanks for the update on the 2 families, I was wondering how things were going for them. Congratulations to Bruce and Noreen for keeping faithful to their program. I am impressed they are keeping their grocery budget to $100/mo while eating down their stockpile. That is great! And paying $5300 on their debt in right around 2 mos. is outstanding! I am cheering them on from here.
Hi Chris,
Me too!