Tips like these helped us pay off $127K in debt. You can read our story in Slaying the Debt Dragon: How One Family Conquered Their Money Monster and Found an Inspired Happily Ever After.
The month of March is speeding by here in the Queendom. We’ve been here, there, and everywhere. There’s been some awesome and some, um, not so awesome. Here’s what’s what with the Royal Family and me the Queen of Free.
We spoke at Indiana DECA’s State Career Development Conference. The King of Free has actually volunteered at this particular conference for more than two decades (dang, we’re old). For the past 16 years, he’s been the emcee or narrator of the conference and for the last two we’ve been happy to lead a breakout session – 5 Things You Need to Know About Money NOW – for young adults pursuing dreams of becoming future marketers and business men and women. They were a great group and we were excited to share our story to hopefully help them avoid the pitfalls of debt that we fell into as young adults.
Our car broke down on the way home from said conference. Side rant: Why is it always rainy when your car breaks down? Humph. We knew the end was near for this family friend who brought one Princess home from the hospital and then eventually start elementary school and saw the other Princess through all of elementary school and over halfway through middle school. SIGH. Unfortunately, it is beyond repair and we made the choice to donate it to Good News Ministries where the car will be repaired and then sold. Men living in the mission there are trained in vocational skills – like car repair. Then the vehicles are sold and the money put back into the many outreach arms (the homeless mission, a clinic, a camp, a youth center, a family shelter). I LOVE the model. Note: If you ever find yourself needing to donate a car, a place that repairs and then sells the car will give you a better deduction on your taxes than a charitable organization that simply takes cars like ours to the auction and gets $100-150 out of it. We’ve done this once before and have been incredibly pleased.
All of this to say, we’re on the prowl for a new-to-us car. It will be the second car purchase we’ve been made since paying off our debt. We had planned to purchase a vehicle this spring but this forced our hand about a month and a half early. Owning two cars is a major blessing. I am not nearly as thankful as I should be until one of them goes down.
Also? I hate car shopping – even though we are paying cash. More on that another day.
After a couple of months off to promote the book, I’m in full swing speaking at libraries and MOPS groups galore. This month found me at a book signing and author chat at the Irvington Public Library in Indianapolis, one of my favorite MOPS groups at Rocklane Christian Church (their meeting space is gorgeous and so are the ladies who assemble there), and a lunch and learn at Greenwood Community High School (where I got to sign a library card for my book, super cool!).
Next month, I’m in Bloomington, Lafayette, and Columbus, IN 3 times. I’m also currently accepting requests for the summer and fall. The calendar is quickly filling so if you have a conference, MOPS group, congregation, or business who would benefit from our story, hop on over to the Speaking Request Form and give me a shout.
March is always fun because the Princess Youngest – Zoe – celebrates her birthday mid month (hence why I was talking about How to Save Money on Birthday Parties a couple of weeks ago). You guys?! She turned 7! My baby. Sigh. We had a big Mario celebration because she is obsessed really into playing Wii right now and Mario Party 9 is her jam. I NEVER make birthday cakes for my kids. I know it might seem anti-frugal. I know it seems off message. However, I can freely and openly admit that when it comes to pressure baking – for birthdays, special events, preschool graduation – I always stink it up. I burn it. It tastes awful. The King of Free kindly asked a few years ago that I knock it off and simply purchase cupcakes from Sam’s Club (which is incredibly affordable, yummy, and should have been on my The Best Ways to Save Money at Sam’s Club & 10 Things to Buy There post, whoops). However, this great idea that I found on my friend Brooke’s site Hoosier Party Girl and I must say, I rocked that little giant Toad Rice Krispy Treat. I still bought the cupcakes as a back up. And for the record, I can bake just fine if it is a random Tuesday. Just no holidays. Or birthdays. Or Life Celebrations. I psyche myself out and crumble under the pressure.
The other big news for March is that I’m now a regular contributor to the Karl and June Show on Moody Radio Chicago (tune in tomorrow 9:10 AM EST to hear me talk about specific ways to cut down on your cleaning costs and make your own cleaners). I was on the Chris Fabry Live Show this month on Moody, too. You can hear the entire interview here.
I had the high privilege of contributing to The High Calling (like what I did there?) this month, too. There was a fantastic thoughtful discussion of borrowing and lending within the Christian community and I was excited to share a little bit of our story. I’d love for you to read Borrowing and Lending: Slaying the Debt Dragon. Over on Living Well Spending Less (where I’m a monthly contributor now, wahoo) I had the chance to share 7 Lies People in Debt Tell Themselves.
Plus, did I mention that I’m a March Madness crazy pants? I love, love, LOVE the squeak of basketball shoes on the hardwood floor. It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy on the inside. I’m an Indiana girl 4-eva, friends. Also, I’m back to taking spin classes at a local church. I’m hoping to get my legs back into shape to do some major road rides on my bike this spring and summer. I read a couple of fantastic books too – Scary Close by Donald Miller and Undone by my friend Michele Cushatt. I’ve also done quite a bit of Netflix binging when I should have been reading – Friday Night Lights, y’all. Clear eyes, full hearts, can’t lose.
Friday marks the beginning of Spring Break for our girls and WHEW after a crazy, busy March, we’re looking forward to laying low and enjoying time together and then EASTER – the best FREEDOM holiday of all.
Grace and peace debt slayers. So thankful to have you along for the ride.
My book is now available: Slaying the Debt Dragon: How One Family Conquered Their Money Monster and Found an Inspired Happily Ever After. You can also check out Inspiration to Pay Off Debt: 30 Days of Encouragement from the Queen of Free
This post contains an affiliate link. That means when you get a great deal or maybe even something for free, you also help our family pay off our mortgage early. And for that, we royally thank you!
