A Force To Be Reckoned With

232. Debt, Marriage, and Morning Coffee: Small Acts, Big Impacts

• Bethany and Corey Adkins / Adkins Media Co.

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What if paying off debt didn’t mean putting life on hold?

This month we knocked out some debt, paid off a line of credit, and finally feel the snowball rolling. It’s gonna take a few years—and that's okay. We’re in it for the long haul without putting life on hold.

Instead of extreme cuts that leave us burned out, we're learning to be intentional: letting the kids play sports (no $6 concession stand nachos for us), fixing up the backyard, and choosing joy where we can.

Funny thing—getting serious about money has actually made our marriage stronger too. Turns out a little margin (and a hot cup of coffee) can change everything.

You don't have to pick between financial freedom and a full life. You can have both. One small step at a time.


Episode Highlights: 

  • Neighborhood mailbox drama.
  • Finding margin.
  • Morning coffee and words of affirmation.
  • Debt update.


Links Mentioned in Episode/Find More on A Force to Be Reckoned With:

This show has been produced by Adkins Media Co.


Speaker 1:

We are at war and it's not against our neighbors, spouses, children, politicians or whatever else we feel like we're battling against.

Speaker 2:

So the questions are who's the fight against, and are we winning or losing? We're the Adkins, and we are a force to be reckoned with.

Speaker 1:

Are you ready to?

Speaker 2:

join the force. Welcome back everyone hola, it is the last week of april, and actually it's also the last week of April and actually it's also the first week of May.

Speaker 1:

April showers are counting on no May flowers.

Speaker 2:

We sure are. We sure are so wanted to say hey, Hope you guys are all doing well. Corey might have to keep excusing himself.

Speaker 1:

Excuse, you excuse you.

Speaker 2:

He keeps having to leave the studio because he fed himself prebiotics and probiotics.

Speaker 1:

Today, that may or may not have happened. There may or may not be ramifications from some hypothetical adventure adventure the story you just described may or may not have happened.

Speaker 2:

Oh Well, with all of that, this is a Money and Marriage episode, so diving into marriage.

Speaker 1:

Hold on Before we dive into that, can I just? This has nothing to do with what we're talking about, but I feel like I just need to get this off my chest.

Speaker 2:

Okay.

Speaker 1:

And I've said it to you, but I just need to get it off my chest. Okay, and I've said it to you, but I just needed to get it out to at least the other five people listening to this podcast right now. Okay, I, okay, moving from Ohio to California and coming back. There's one thing, well, there's two things. There are two things that I have a really hard time controlling my anger traffic people driving slow in ohio why?

Speaker 1:

why do people drive so bad in ohio? I don't know. They're so slow like, so slow, like under the speed limit, going 10 miles under this speed limit just moseying around, and I'm sorry to say it, but it's mostly old people like what, why, at?

Speaker 2:

what point just taking a sunday stroll?

Speaker 1:

and when I'm 70, 80 years old dude, I do. I got life. I don't have much left man, I'm getting from A to B fast, like I'm about to be driving my age all the time, so you're going to be zooming and zipping. Zooming and zipping baby.

Speaker 2:

Okay, what's the second thing?

Speaker 1:

Okay, they seem like they're a little bit contradictory with each other. I'm all for driving fast on the freeway, I'm for driving fast in like normal main roads, but when there's roads that people walk in, specifically neighborhoods, yeah, why Everybody drives slow on all the commercial, or like the main roads that nobody walks on, and slow on the freeway, but as as we get to, the neighborhood, they decide that they want to zip around.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I mean, I might get arrested this summer, the way people were driving around this neighborhood tell them about the mailbox story from two summers ago oh but a quick version okay, so it was like two, two summers ago, I think I was where he was in the middle of his 75th 75th part.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I was out walking it was when we had brave, and so it was our dog yeah, our dog. It was hot out. I didn't have a shirt on, that's relevant and I had brave and we had the special leash for brave. That it was like this it wasn't a harness.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, it was a harness, but it like strapped around your chest too. So we're walking and this car just comes up the street and just takes out our neighbor's mailbox and I'm just like, standing like right in front of me, I'm standing there. I'm like are you kidding me? What is going on? So I'm just like, standing like right in front of me, I'm standing there. I'm like are you kidding me, what is going on? So I'm like watching this car. They zip on down, pull into an apartment a little bit down the street. So I'm like, dude, I'm walking. I like walked over to the mailbox to make sure. It's like, yeah, they wiped out the mailboxes. So I walked back down to where the car was and snapped a picture of the mirror because their mirror was actually laying in the yard from where they had just hit the mailbox Snapped a picture of their broken mirror, snapped a picture of their license plate and went to go back to our neighbors, who are like a retired elderly couple, and it's like I don't know, 1030 at night.

Speaker 1:

As I'm walking over there, their daughter and son-in-law are like unloading groceries, so I just walk up and introduce myself and it's kind of awkward. It's 10.30 at night, I've got no shirt on, I've got a dog strapped to my chest.

Speaker 2:

Were they like what are you doing here?

Speaker 1:

I never met him before. He just kind of looked at me. It wasn't our actual neighbors, it was a son-in-law. Oh, I just explained to him. I said, hey, I just saw this car. They wiped out the mailboxes. I said I don't, I have the license plate here. I said I don't know what you want to do about it. But, um, yeah, so and I found out that the son-in-law is from new york and he just he had a new york. Look to him so let your imagination fly.

Speaker 1:

He's not a person that I would expect you mean like um, what's that show?

Speaker 2:

which one oh, oh, no, they're New Jersey guys.

Speaker 1:

No, it wasn't a Jersey guy.

Speaker 2:

Like I'm thinking about the Impractical Jokers.

Speaker 1:

He looked like a. No, he looked like a college professor or a doctor or something.

Speaker 2:

The guy that smashed the mailbox. No, no, no, no, no.

Speaker 1:

The son-in-law Looked like just smart guy, glasses thin, not somebody you expect to be confrontational like just smart guy, glasses thin, not somebody you expect to be confrontational?

Speaker 1:

I see a mild manner, was he confrontational? So when I went to him and I showed him the picture and everything, he was like, well, do you know where the the house is? I said yeah, and I was like pointed down there. And he's like, well, he's like I'm gonna go down there. And I looked at him. I was like well, I'll go with you. I said, just so you know that I when, when I walked down there, they have a having a bonfire in the backyard. I think people have been drinking and I don't know how many people are there. I just want to give you a heads up before we walk in there. I said I'm down, but just giving you, letting you know what we could be getting into. So we go walking down there and he's got glasses like just full on, looks like a doctor. So we go down there and everybody's in the backyard. So we round the corner of the house.

Speaker 1:

Some dude's leaning up against the house, peeing like, wobbling, like he's been drinking you should have called ed bevy yeah, I probably should have goodness gracious one of my that's our police officer friend one of my one side of my headphones just went out huh weird anyways.

Speaker 1:

So he's like look, this guy's looking at us kind of stammering. We walk around the backyard. I think there's like maybe five, six guys back there having a big bonfire and a couple of girls. But if you just imagine from the perspective of the people having the bonfire, these two guys just come strolling back in the middle of your bonfire. One of them's got no shirt on, with a big dog, big lab strapped to his chest and they're all like looking at us, like what is what's going on? So then they come walking over and the guy said hey, somebody that's driving this car out in your driveway just took out our mailboxes and he carried, he like brought the mirror down and carried the mirror down he brought the mirror to the car he, yeah, that was left in the yard.

Speaker 1:

And um, they were like oh, oh, I don't know, are you sure? And I was like, yeah, I said I watched it. And then I watched them pull in your driveway and it was this, this car, and like oh, this car with the mirror missing yeah, the car with the mirror missing right here, and they're like, oh, oh, and so then the guy they find the guy that did it he goes walk around he's like oh, I didn't, I didn't know, I thought maybe I ran it, maybe he'd run into something.

Speaker 1:

I said, yeah, dude, you took out the their mailboxes and here's like, here's your mirror, like oh. And then so we go walking up to look at the mailboxes. These guys are hammered. We would go up, look at the mailboxes and the guy the guy that owns or that lives in the apartment gave the son-in-law 500 bucks to replace the mailboxes. Dang, but it's just like. It's so funny, like from all perspectives, like I'm just walking out at night.

Speaker 2:

Well, how, did that go? Was he like? What do you want me to do? And he's like give me some money, or was it?

Speaker 1:

were they just like? Oh, he just wanted to give you some money.

Speaker 2:

And they were like a hundred bucks.

Speaker 1:

And he's like no more, he's like mailboxes and he was like the drunk guy said that. No, it was the guy that lived in the apartment. I think he I don't know that if he had been drinking he wasn't drunk.

Speaker 2:

Yeah.

Speaker 1:

And he said he was just like the 500 cover it. And he was like yeah, Nice. So it was pretty easy. Like this could have gone so many different ways. You know what I mean.

Speaker 2:

Yeah.

Speaker 1:

I could have had to unleash Brave on somebody. He probably would have ran off because he looks scarier than he is.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, interesting.

Speaker 1:

And just thrown down with a bunch of drunk dudes in a bonfire, with Dr New York besides me here.

Speaker 2:

I got to meet this guy, so where do we go from here on this episode?

Speaker 1:

We're supposed to be talking about debt.

Speaker 2:

Money and marriage. Well, on the marriage front, things are pretty much on standby.

Speaker 1:

On standby. I don't really know what to say. They're fizzling.

Speaker 2:

They're fizzling, they're fizzling, they're fizzling, they're, fizzling, they're fizzling. Good, they're sizzling.

Speaker 1:

They're sizzling Okay.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, Our marriage is sizzling. There's nothing I mean. Here's the thing.

Speaker 1:

I know why it's sizzling.

Speaker 2:

Life's been kind of on autopilot. We're going to give our dad update. We're going to have an episode in a couple weeks talking about our goals that we set in the beginning of the year and the progress on those, and I think sometimes you just get on autopilot, is that?

Speaker 1:

a good thing or a bad thing, I don't know.

Speaker 2:

Okay, actually here's what I'll say. We didn't map out anything for marriage, but we're feeling the pressure to talk about it. Here's what I will say about marriage. I do and I think that we've mentioned this before I do think one things go better when we have a common goal the debt. We've talked about that. But two things go better when we're working on our own stuff too.

Speaker 2:

Like I feel like we are. Finally it's end of April we're into a good groove with our health stuff, with our exercise things, and giving each other that space to do those things, I just I think I like you better.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, for sure, like, but you both kind of have to be doing it.

Speaker 2:

You both have to be doing it, and you have to be considerate enough to give each other space, for it Like if you if I'm just always giving you the space to do your workouts and I'm taking on everything at the home front and I'm not? Also getting that space resentment, but when I'm giving you that space and you're giving me that space, yeah, like if I'm giving you that space.

Speaker 2:

It's not even like. Sometimes it might in your mind be like well, he does it for me, so I have to do it for him, but also it's like no, I want that for you because I know what it does for me, like I know.

Speaker 1:

Wait a minute. What do you mean by that?

Speaker 2:

Shut up. No, the space, bro Space.

Speaker 1:

I thought you were talking about like you were thinking about the opposite of space.

Speaker 2:

I thought you were talking about, like you know, the physical strength. My parents listen to this.

Speaker 1:

Oh man.

Speaker 2:

No, what I mean is like I like I know what me going to the gym or me going for a walk alone does for me.

Speaker 1:

Yeah.

Speaker 2:

So and your mental or me going for a walk alone does for me, yeah.

Speaker 1:

So, and your mental, and it makes me feel like I can give more to the family and I just feel more, less crazy, like you know, like, and even I would say even too like from the learning aspect of the reading, like we literally sat and had a conversation on the porch for like 30 minutes all based on that was so good From a book that I was reading.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I just, I think in this season which we have a whole episode planned for more to go into this and just like changes that's happening in our life and we've talked a lot about, like struggling to make room for margin, I feel like we're finally hit, we finally are, have done that this year, like truly not just saying we're going to.

Speaker 1:

Yeah.

Speaker 2:

But and it's been really hard it's been a true surrender, like like actually having to sacrifice things that we haven't wanted to let go of, to sacrifice things that we haven't wanted to let go of, but in return, it has given us more margin, which I don't want to get too into this, because that's a different episode.

Speaker 2:

But yeah, like you're saying, we were able to sit on the porch and not just have conversation. It's not even like the time margin, like the hour to sit on the porch together and talk about a book that we're talking through, but it's the brain margin where two or three months ago, even if we had that time margin because of the things I was clinging to in my life, I didn't have the brain margin to even have a conversation, to what you had to say, because flipping reels will not, or you would just be talking and I would just be like it would be like about, like I couldn't even comprehend, because my brain explains so much

Speaker 2:

but like now that margin of like letting things go, it's given me the ability to like we had a really good conversation, like you said about a book, and like we're both reading and growing and learning, and like saying, oh yeah, I learned about this thing, or yeah, I'm reading about this and it made me think about this in our lives, and like, truly just talking through those things, I don't know I've got a simple practical tip for all my brothers out there, and maybe some of you already know this and maybe it's going to sound like it's completely common sense.

Speaker 1:

But we're what? What are we? We 14 years in marriage now. Is that what it is? Is it 14 years?

Speaker 2:

No, Ah, 13. 13. 13.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, yeah, 13 years Getting ahead of myself.

Speaker 2:

Yeah.

Speaker 1:

Getting ahead of myself. Slow your horses, Okay. So I don't know. A number of episodes back mentioned something about love languages on here.

Speaker 2:

Which, by the way, was a hit. We got so many responses on it.

Speaker 1:

We only talked about it for like five minutes or something, but okay, so just real quick. My love languages are words of affirmation. Physical touch and Bethany's are acts of service and quality time.

Speaker 2:

Am I getting better?

Speaker 1:

Yeah, but I think some of it's in part to the margin and me figuring something out so what are you about so? I went on and on about this acts of service thing and about how, like, all you got to do is you? All you have to do is say a few words to me and like, give me a hug or like a kiss, and I'm like, yeah, man, I'm gonna rip through walls, I'm ready to go for you.

Speaker 1:

I gotta like do the dishes and all the stuff that takes like an hour or more right well, I mean, I think that there is a potential that I may have just been doing the wrong right acts of service. Yeah, so I'm gonna stop doing the dishes, no, no, but maybe a little bit. But, um, anyways, I found oh, she kind of told me.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I was going to say did you find it out or did I tell you?

Speaker 1:

No, you told me, and I was just like is this going to work? Is this even going to work? She's full of it.

Speaker 2:

And this is a lesson to the ladies out there.

Speaker 1:

Don't make us guess.

Speaker 2:

Like finally, I was like this guy is dumb. Just kidding, I didn't think that, but I just. It's like literally 13 years we've been married and he doesn't connect the dots of what would make me not want to.

Speaker 1:

Your dots are not like the connect, the dots you drew when you were a kid, like one go to two. No, yours are like freaking starts with four and go to z and true it's.

Speaker 2:

You're trying to do calculus when I'm just simple arithmetic.

Speaker 1:

You're expecting me to do calculus.

Speaker 2:

No, you're thinking I'm calculus, when it's just simple arithmetic.

Speaker 1:

Actually, it's not even calculus. You're trying to get me to read your mind.

Speaker 2:

That is not true I told you, and only. God can do that, so anyway.

Speaker 1:

Just tell us what you want, I did, I did. And I said just tell us what you want.

Speaker 2:

I said do you know what would make me? What did I even say I forget how.

Speaker 1:

I said so happy and did you know what? Would make me I'd be nicer to you.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I literally said like so happy and I would be so much nicer to you.

Speaker 1:

And my ears perked up.

Speaker 2:

No, they didn't. I told you this the first time and you did it one day and then the next three days. I was like he is dumb, he doesn't get it.

Speaker 1:

I don't remember that part. I went another three days after that.

Speaker 2:

And then I had to tell you again, but it was. If you would just get up in the morning and make me coffee, it would make me so happy and it would make me like you, which I do like you so sometimes.

Speaker 1:

So I started making her coffee and then we have, we got this hydrogen water. You drop these little tablets in the water and then you get to wait like a minute or two and I bought her some. But I thought she would want to drop the tablets in her own water because you have to drink it like within 30 seconds of when it's done to get the full benefits. And so I thought I just practically in my logical mind, just so you know, I'm thinking she's going to want to do this, because if I do it and it's not the right timing, then she's going to drink it too late where's the buzzer wrong?

Speaker 1:

so anyway. So I was making the coffee and then she's like I really wish you'd make me my hydrogen water too. And I was like, oh, all right. So anyways, for like the past week or so, I think, or two weeks, I've been making her coffee and her hydrogen water and I, as soon as that hydrogen water tablet's done, I'd wherever you're at in the house, I just bring it it was.

Speaker 2:

I felt like I was on an episode of, or in the movie of beauty and the beast today, where I was just the scene where they're just like serving all the plates oh yeah, I literally got to the bottom of the stairs and he handed it to me. But this makes me sound really demanding and bossy, and I'm not. I am not. I don't usually ask for stuff like that. That's the thing, because the thing on my side is like I don't, I'll just do it myself, I'll do everything myself and more.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, and then you hate me for it later, and I'm not going to, because you expected me to read your mind.

Speaker 2:

It's like just freaking, do it, I'm not a mind reader, bro.

Speaker 1:

I just want you to think oh, you know what would be nice making our coffee, okay, so hold on. So I'm just I'm learning.

Speaker 2:

he didn't make the coffee. He I had to wake up and I was like I just told him yesterday please get up and make me coffee. It would just. It's just the thought that counts, ok, so we have a French press and I put the, I put water on the coffee pot or the pot on the stove and I just let that thing scream for like 30 seconds. Did you hear it?

Speaker 1:

No, didn't work. No, I don't even know that the part didn't work. Your little masterful, it didn't work. No, that didn't work. Your little masterful plan didn't work.

Speaker 2:

Alright.

Speaker 1:

Oh my gosh.

Speaker 2:

The kids are like. The kids are like Mom. I was like, don't turn it off. Don't turn it off. I'm just kidding, I'm totally kidding about that.

Speaker 1:

You did that. I could totally see you doing that, don't you dare. I'm trying to make teacher dad a lesson no I burdo you. Who's supposed to make this coffee?

Speaker 2:

If there was a way for me to make it continue whistling and bring it beside your bed, I would have.

Speaker 1:

Oh my gosh, I'm kidding.

Speaker 2:

Now what were you saying?

Speaker 1:

I was just going to say I was sitting here talking about the lesson that I learned and but I think there's a valuable lesson for you and the ladies is like you said, ladies, we don't read minds, we're not nobody, no, no. And when you, when you say that, when you say you're not asking us to read minds, I just want you to know, you just take all of the romanticism out of it.

Speaker 2:

It's like, hey, you know what I want you to do, take me on a date.

Speaker 1:

Okay, did it really take all the romanticism out of it? Because you just liked it when I handed you your water at the bottom of your steps. I don't know, I guess, Ladies, tell us what you want, just tell us.

Speaker 2:

What you really really want.

Speaker 1:

We can't read minds. We're not going to connect the dots. It's not whatever you think. You think it's simple. You think we should just know it's been 13 years. We should just like know every single one of your needs when you need it. It's not happening. Tell us what you want communication and then two guys, you may be up in that love language, but you're just doing the wrong thing within the love language.

Speaker 2:

So like what.

Speaker 1:

Like I thought doing the dishes was going to get me some like words of affirmation or something Wasn't it.

Speaker 2:

Has the coffee gotten you anything in return?

Speaker 1:

Oh yeah.

Speaker 2:

Oh my gosh no. What did you think I was going to?

Speaker 1:

say when you asked me that question.

Speaker 2:

It just made me happier is what I was saying.

Speaker 1:

You've been happier and I've got a lot more physical touch.

Speaker 2:

No that is not true. Okay, dead update. Moving on, moving on. We're done with that. What I want to know, I think it's just because I'm really good at self-degradating.

Speaker 1:

It's like why in these stories, I always sound like the bad guy. This is one of those questions that I'm dangerous to answer either way, but you're not the bad guy.

Speaker 2:

You're not. I wish you guys could see his face right now. He's so scared about how to answer this right now. Somebody help me. No, but seriously, I don't even know what to say. Okay, dead update. Okay, so, dead update. We're going to give our numbers. Is there anything? You what to say? Okay, debt update. Okay, so, debt update. We're going to give our numbers. Is there anything you want to say before it? Let me ask you this, because I pay the bills. I mean, we both contribute, but I do the task of paying the bills.

Speaker 1:

Yeah.

Speaker 2:

And so I tally up all the debt and do all the Excel sheet and everything like that, being hands off of it. How do you feel like each month? Do you feel like?

Speaker 1:

well, I think, well one. I think, if that's somebody's situation like you really have to trust your spouse to like we come up with the overall plan together, but then it's your task to execute on that plan yeah.

Speaker 2:

I'm not hesitating.

Speaker 1:

No, I know. I'm just saying because I feel like I I can trust you with that. So you need to be able to trust that your spouse can do that. You need to be on the same page and you should be able to have that, that trust factor, not even if you don't have trust, but even a better way. Honestly, like we probably should be doing this, because you did make that comment one time, like what if I died? You wouldn't know where this one would go, and it's like, yeah, that's kind of true.

Speaker 1:

So Would be to maybe to do those things together so that you did know where. Like actually, when you go to pay the bills and we're executing on the plan, like, honestly, we probably should do that together. We're executing on the plan, like, honestly, we probably should do that together. Um, but with things the way that they are now, like for me, I trust you to execute the plan, and then, just from my own perspective, like I just have to be mindful of not spending extra money. You know myself not spending extra money, you know myself. Yeah, and I feel like to be honest with you, I I feel like I'm pretty good at that, like yeah, you really don't spend much money at all no like my money is spent on like.

Speaker 1:

If I spend money, any like is on like supplements and stuff, but like we know that that's happening, there's no like random you're not like going to starbucks every day, right? Or going out to eat or any of that so like, from my perspective, I feel like it's going pretty well yeah, but I mean like throughout the month, do you?

Speaker 2:

I guess my the reason I'm asking that's because what I feel is we have our bills on a pretty good maintenance mode, so and then, like we talked about our habits last time, we have our. I think our habits are also in a good maintenance mode and all but like kids are expensive and we have all these like costs and things. And I get to the end of the month and I'm like, oh my gosh, I'm nervous that, like I mean I know we're not spending, but it's like where we're going to end up.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, up, yeah. Are we even gonna make a dent in it this month?

Speaker 1:

and yeah, I don't know but I mean we've been staying below our means with the income that we've had, yeah, but also still living, and that's what's different is this time.

Speaker 2:

so I feel like this is, this is maybe I've said this, I don't know. Know, this is something that I've learned To do better this year, and it's with health stuff, eating stuff, planning with the finance stuff. Not just planning is like, if we're just going to be so restrictive, that that we don't live life and that that's not sustainable and like we're not still doing something like taking the kids to get ice cream, or something or something like. You know what I mean.

Speaker 2:

Like still staying within a budget, but like living life, that's not sustainable, because if you're so, so, so restrictive about it that you which this is not Dave Ramsey- right.

Speaker 2:

This is just us, this is just how we yeah, but like with dave ramsey, it's like no, cut every extra expense out. You know you can have I don't know, but it's just not sustainable. And like we're playing the long game. We're in the heat of, you know, raising a family. We have kids with a huge age gap, kids in sports. We're very active, we're we're very social people. We like to do things.

Speaker 2:

We don't just want to cut all that stuff off, because that stuff is important too right like the having the christian fellowship and like hosting and or like we'd haven't really hosted, because our house is more a summer house, but like going and contributing in some ways, and so it's like juggling.

Speaker 1:

A friend over and stuff like that, yeah, and like it's like being wise still and being frugal and smart about it, but also I would put it this way, that I feel like in the spending, whether it's the eating out or taking the kids to the movies, like we're more intentional about it. It's not just willy nilly, it's a free for all. You know, we can go and eat out as much as we want. No, we're intentional about it because we've planned the meals throughout the week. Make sure that we have food that we can primarily eat at home.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, home, yeah. But we're like, okay, well, hey, maybe this night, maybe we can do something with the kids and we can order pizza or we can go to the movies or whatever. Um, but I will say at the same time, like knowing that we're on this mission and we have accountability, like it's been a lot easier for me to and and to say no to the kids yeah on stuff too, like if we're there's been multiple times I was like no right we're paying off debt, like we can't just go and eat out all the time right.

Speaker 1:

Or it's like oh, dad, you just picked me up from practice, can we go to mcdonald's? It's like no, dude, like mom made dinner at home.

Speaker 2:

Like we're gonna go about the kids very clean.

Speaker 1:

Now I'm just, we're gonna go eat, we going to go eat at home, yeah. So, and even in teaching them about finances, like we're going to all these AAU basketball tournaments and they are those in and of themselves are ridiculously expensive. It's insane, yeah, it's absolutely.

Speaker 2:

If we didn't do AAU, we would have made so much progress this month.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, probably, but like concession stands and stuff, like our kids will ask like, oh, can we get a snack at this? It's like no Like in teaching them. Like those items are overpriced. They're priced higher than what you would get at the store and you need to make sure that you eat at home and we can bring snacks to the tournament, so we bring snacks for them to eat yeah, and so I think in this it's like good, valuable life lessons for our kids like we're doing this, we're sticking to it and just teaching opportunities like yeah, like reading your receipt, like my dad always does, making sure things add up.

Speaker 1:

Yeah.

Speaker 2:

Because the number of times that my dad it probably happens, I don't know, I would say 30% of the time realize like no, you can still have goals and stick to your goals and be disciplined and still have a fun. And fulfilling life.

Speaker 2:

So I think that's what's different this time around is being disciplined, continuing the goals, but it is a little bit probably slower, because it's like slow and steady wins the race, instead of this extremist mentality of going to make so much progress and be super strict. But then now I just want to go off the rails because we haven't lived at all be super strict, but then now I just want to go off the rails because we haven't lived at all.

Speaker 1:

yeah, no, and that's where I think you know and this maybe is a gray area, depending on what your personality type and things like that but, um, we, our mind has shifted somewhat on things that you would normally consider you, you know, not needed expenses and they're really they're not needed. But we have looked at some of these things, whether it's eating out, doing things to our home, like upgrading and getting some work done at our home and stuff as investments into our family, into our kids friends, into our friends, into our extended family.

Speaker 2:

Now, we're not putting these on credit cards. We're not getting into debt to do them, so we're not advising that we're saving the money for it.

Speaker 2:

We're saving the money to do these things. But it is tempting as we're on this debt journey, as we're getting our yard fixed up, for me to sometimes with my all or nothing mentality, it's easy for me to be like man. We could just pause the yard and have no pool this year and put all this money that we're spending on the yard toward our debt and be so much further along in our debt journey. But again, much further along in our debt journey.

Speaker 1:

But like again, but it goes back to.

Speaker 1:

It's like okay, carter's gonna be in eighth grade next year, we've got five more years of him being in school and like in one summer without the pool may not seem like that big of a deal, but it is as far as like investing into him and having his friends over and being able to pour into them and get to know them and build those relationships and getting to know more of our neighbors and and having our friends and our family over to spend that time together and enjoy time together.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, yeah, so which we're going to talk about that next week. So that is kind of where we're at next week. So that is kind of where we're at. So last time we talked, in March, we had seven lines of credit, with our lowest being around $1,500 and our debt total was at $86,288.55.

Speaker 1:

dollars and fifty five cents this month. Do you want to give the number we are now up to? No, just kidding. We are now down to eighty three thousand five hundred and eighty two dollars and ninety five cents. So we are down two thousand seven hundred and six dollars and sixty cents and with that we paid off our first line of credit.

Speaker 2:

So that's like the first one rolling into the debt snowball. So you had made a comment when we were talking about this before hitting record. What were you saying?

Speaker 1:

Like, at the rate that we're like oh yeah, it's like at the rate I said wow, we've made a lot of progress, being down a little over $8,000 since the beginning of the year, but at this rate it's going to take us like two to the rest of this year and two more years at least to get out of this.

Speaker 2:

Which I mean. If you think about it, that's really not that long. Three years goes by so fast. So, even if we did stay like slow and steady wins the race. Yeah that's fine, you know three years. But no, the debt snowball is about to start kicking in.

Speaker 1:

So hopefully, Snowball, better start picking up some speed.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, because.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, but but also you made a good point when you bring up the work done in the yard, like the money that is going towards that next year can go towards debt.

Speaker 2:

Right.

Speaker 1:

As long as.

Speaker 2:

I mean long, as you don't say the whole house needs recited. Even the second half of this year. We're taking our excess this month and basically taking some of it to put toward cash, toward the backyard, and the other part of it to go toward debt.

Speaker 1:

So once that's taken care of, yeah, I'm just thinking next, next year you're gonna be like. I feel like we should build an addition under our house I mean, there's always a house project that could be done. So let's pick a cheap one yeah, the roof needs done I just need a strong storm to come through, Don't say that. Not one that, like a tree, falls on the house, just one to rip up a couple shingles.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, don't say that the insurance company is going to think we committed insurance fraud.

Speaker 1:

I can't make. What do you think I'm God? I can control a storm ripping through here.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, okay, so that's it for our debt update and, honestly, that's pretty much it for this episode. Is there anything you want to close the episode out with?

Speaker 1:

No, that's pretty much what I got.

Speaker 2:

Okay, I feel like we were a little bit boring today, but we'll be back again next week. Just Corey and I.

Speaker 1:

If you're on this journey, stick with it. Man, Just keep plugging away Stick with it, don't give up.

Speaker 2:

And if you haven't started, what are you doing? What are you doing? Just get started.

Speaker 1:

And find out if your wife wants you to bring her a cup of coffee in the morning.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, that's your homework.

Speaker 1:

It could change your world and wives, if there's something that you really want your dude to do, just tell us, pete, just tell us.