Baby Step 2 – shemakescents

How You Can Learn From Our First Money Fail of 2020

Published on January 11, 2020March 18, 2020 by Danielle YB VasonLeave a comment

If you follow @shemakescents on Instagram, you know that we became a party of 3 with the birth of our daughter, Chloe, back in October. Since her arrival 3 months ago, she has learned to hold her own bottle, sleep through the night, and has stolen our hearts. Seriously, I cannot believe that she is 3 months already and I now understand when parents say they wish time would slow down.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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In 3 months, the Mr. and I have mastered overnight diaper changes, morning snuggles, and baby swaddles while being sleep deprived yet grateful. What we completely bombed was our plan to pay for our week-long hospital stay when she was born.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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We received a series of bills in November that totaled over $40,000.00, not including insurance. My entire jaw hit the floor when I read that number and the breakdown given from hospital. A big part that that number was because we had to stay for a week due to complications that happened during childbirth. Even so, that five-figure estimate had our anxiety in high gear because we had to wait several weeks to see what the final bill was, after insurance. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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After another few weeks, we received a final bill with over 90% of it covered from insurance. THANK YOU, GOD! With very little left on our FSA card, we decided to schedule a payment after the new year so that we can use our new FSA cards with replenished funds. 𝐁𝐈𝐆 𝐌𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐊𝐄!⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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While this is probably a DUH MOMENT for most of you reading this, I had not considered that we wouldn’t be allowed to pay for a 2019 medical expense on a 2020 FSA card. [le sigh] Thank goodness that we had a sinking fund for something else that we could borrow from. I would much rather borrow from myself than credit. That being said, the money saved from the SMCmoneychallenge will now be used to replenish my sinking fund.

Update: Using the SMC Money Challenge, I was able to pay back the full amount of the money I borrowed from a sinking fund to cover our budgeting mistake by week 6 of the money challenge.

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How To Save Real Money With This Money Challenge | February Savings/Income Report 52 Week Bingo Money Challenge from Money, Career, & Lifestyle Blog, She Makes Cents

2018 February Recap | 52 Week BINGO Money Challenge

Published on March 7, 2018March 7, 2018 by Danielle YB VasonLeave a comment

We are approaching week ten of the 2018 She Makes Cents 52 Week BINGO Money Challenge and I must say, that this year’s money tribe is the most committed tribe we have had in three years. For those of you who may be new to this blog, the She Makes Cents Money Tribe (SMCmoneytribe) is an uplifting community of women from all over the world that supports each other’s financial journey and savings endeavors. Every week, we share our wins, big or small and celebrate each other’s progress. At the beginning of the year, it is easy to be motivated by the “newness” of everything, but as the year goes on, many people find it Generally, the month of February is when most people abandon the goals and habits they resolved to attain. In fact, according to Business Insider, 80% of people fail their New Year Resolutions by February so the #SMCmoneytribe is going strong means that we are beating the odds with our money goals and resolutions we made for ourselves at the beginning of 2018. WAY TO GO, TRIBE!

February Recap: 52 Week BINGO Money Challenge

Back in January Recap of the 52 Week BINGO Money Challenge, I shared a MAJOR goal to have my student loans PAID IN FULL by October 2019. In order for me to reach this big money goal, I have to aim for smaller milestones along the way. For the month of February, I saved a total of $210.00 on this challenge by crossing off $45, $15, $50, $49, plus a $51 bonus. Every week, without fail, I select a number from the She Makes Cents Money Guide and I send that amount to my student loan provider. Additionally, since the Mr. and I are knocking out this debt together, the Mr.’s contribution of $250.00 helped us to send an extra $460.00 (in addition to the monthly payment) toward student loan debt.

This time last year, I had over $18,000.00 in student loan debt with a goal to get my student loan balance to $12,505.00. Not only did I hit that goal, I surpassed it before the end of the year. By January 2018, I had a balance of $12,505.00 (the extra $5 was because of the daily accruing interest) and I closed the month of February at $11,378.37.

How to Join the 2018 SMC Money Tribe

The new 2018 SMC Money Tribe Facebook group will serve as a “home base” for the #SMCmoneytribe. There you will be directed to fill out a quick registration form and download the money card. This is a space for active members and as a member of the SMCmoneytribe, you will gain exclusive content, motivation, and financial tips and tricks that will help you whether you are saving to pay down debt like me or saving to take a fabulous trip or two in the new year (also me). This year, you will have the option to do your weekly check-ins on Friday and/or Saturday on all of our social media handles to make it easily accessible to people who are only active on certain platforms.

HERE IS HOW YOU CAN JOIN THE TRIBE & THE MONEY CHALLENGE…

Join the SMC Money Tribe Facebook Group
Complete the registration form to select your weekly check-in date
Follow She Makes Cents on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook
Pick a savings goal & get ready to save some $$$$ in 2018

{Week 3 Progress Report} 52 Week BINGO Money Challenge

Published on January 15, 2016May 23, 2017 by Danielle YB Vason1 Comment

It’s Friday and week 3 for me for the 52 Week BINGO Challenge. This week I am crossing off $50 and my first bonus box for $100.00 for a combined savings of $150.00 for week 3 and a grand total of $225.00. Every day I receive emails with inspiring stories of people, their financial goals, and their progress of making smarter money moves. It makes me so happy to get check-ins on Fridays, especially from people who have joined the challenge. I hope is it shows readers of shemakescents that you are not on this financial journey alone.

If you would like a personalized check in, please leave your twitter handle below or tweet me at @shemakescents.

How Much Have You Saved So Far? Please Share Below.

shemakescents{at}gmail {dot}com | Instagram @shemakescents

{Week 2 Progress Report} 52 Week BINGO Money Challenge

Published on January 8, 2016May 23, 2017 by Danielle YB Vason15 Comments

It’s the start of the year and people are still very focused with their resolutions. For some, the 52 Week BINGO Money Challenge is another goal on their resolution list. For me, it has to be a lifestyle. For the past few years, I have accepted the challenge to save for a specific amount to help with paying down my credit card, saving for the holidays, or even saving to help out with my wedding to the Mr; however, once I accomplished the goal, I fell off. I was doing well with a zero balance and then I started to swipe my credit card for wedding expenses so now I am back to the beginning of Dave Ramsey’s Baby Step 2. That’s why they call it a challenge because it is challenging.

This year, I am back at the goal of wiping out my $3,886.78 credit card balance completely by or before May 1, 2016. My plan is to pay a set amount every two weeks plus the savings from BINGO money challenge, every Friday. Once the credit card balance is non-existent, I can start snowballing my student loans so I can shorten the length of the term dramatically and reduce the amount of interest I would have to pay back. Today, I marking off number 40 on my Bingo Money Sheet (leave a comment below for your FREE copy of the 2016 BINGO style sheet).

What Are You Using Your BINGO Savings For?

shemakescents{at}gmail {dot}com | Instagram @shemakescents