On to Baby Step 3

 It’s been just over a year since I made my last student loan payment and experienced living debt free for the first time since I was 18.  

If you can avoid any major life changes in the year after that big moment, please do so.  But, I write that last sentence knowing that, for most of us, big life changes and the timing surrounding them are out of our control.  

At the time I paid off my last debt, I was temporarily living with some friends who offered me their basement when my teaching position was cut.  I was offered a long-term sub position in a new district for the coming year and needed to find an apartment that was affordable, cat-friendly, had a garage (car thefts have been skyrocketing in my area) and within reasonable commuting distance to work- and the only options were expensive.  I had also promised myself and God that if He got me out of debt, I would enroll in seminary as I felt He was calling me to do.  The transitions from roommates to living alone and paying tuition, combined with the uncertainty of my job after the end of the school year (and having my purse stolen earlier this summer- a financial and logistical headache!)made for a bit of a roller coaster of a year financially- I found myself spending most of my time just trying to avoid going back into debt.  

But, now I’m feeling more settled in, I found my new accountability partner, Beth (check out our YouTube channel, Mountains and Mustard Seeds!), and I started  a new position which came with a small pay raise and I have a steady side hustle working the front desk at Orange Theory Fitness.  My first check hits next week, so I’m setting some ambitious goals for Baby Step 3: 6 months’ worth of expenses in an emergency fund.  

I opened a money market account (which includes debit card and check writing) with Ally Bank and I’m setting this lofty (possibly unrealistic) goal: Set aside $1000 a month from August 2022 until Sept 2023.  My final goal is $14,000 in savings.  


(The video shows my two giant glass “debt” and “debt paid off” jars from Baby Step 2, with their labels crossed out and rebranded “Savings Goals” and “Saved for Emergencies.”  In front are 14 party cups with labels saying “August 2022, Sept 2022…to Sept 2023. Each cup is heaped with 100 colored glass marbles.)

Each marble represented $75 debt paid off in Baby Step 2- now they each represent $10 saved in Baby Step 3.  Between summer school and my summer serving job (plus my teaching salary, which I spread over all 12 months) I was able to get about $1500 put away so far in August and this first week of Sept, plus $92 from Rodan&Fields sales. So, 37 marbles left to go for September…and everything beyond that!  


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