In a follow up to yesterday’s video which should have been titled
- How we went from being almost 30K in debt (not including cars) living with my Mom in 2014 to being able to save over 40k in 2017 -
I realized I forgot so many topics that I wanted to discuss - so here is one!! ??‍♀️

We were able to save so much money in 2017 while still splurging on (some) things because we said NO to MANY more things than we said yes to(like i said you can’t have it all, all right now)..like :

1) Cable TV - We haven’t had it since we got married almost 7 years ago
2) New fancy cars with car payments - we drive older used not fancy cars that are paid off = $500 + a month savings
3) We said no to moving to a bigger nicer newer house - our current house is CHEAP like less than $900 a month mortgage cheap. Moving is expensive and we quickly realized how much more money a month we would have to put out to upkeep and maintain and furnish a bigger newer house. Live small (in regards to your housing) & you can really rack up some serious cash!!
4) Lots of clothes & fancy clothes
I think I only bought 4 pairs of shoes in 2017 Including one I had to buy for a wedding which speaking of that wedding - I got my bridesmaids dress for $12 off amazon! You can save so much money on things if you try or buy used!!! I buy clothes at Walmart and H&M. I have a few nice things. But most of my stuff is affordable or even cheap. I haven’t bought a purse in over a year. And I don’t buy nice purses. $30 is like my max haha I wear the same thing over and over again and I am totally ok shopping at goodwill. extra sized items with sleeves to wear of the wedding
5) Say NO to Target and shop at Walmart - Target is more expensive and it gets ya every time! Stop going if you can't control ya self ?
6) We don’t spend a ton of money on groceries AND eat out too. We choose one or the other
7) We don't buy fancy things for our house - everything is used from Craiglists or from Ikea with very few pieces from Home Goods (cuz y'all know it an't cheap haha!) - which speaking of IKEA - we saved THOUSANDS using IKEA Cabinets and putting everything together ourself.
8) Say NO to being lazy & not returning stuff and waisting so much money! RETURNS Y'ALL!!!! How much stuff do you keep that you never end up using? wearing? needing?? I am SO diligent about returning stuff. And I don't buy something unless I can return it!!! I swear it saves us so much money...because how many times do you get home and realize o I don't need that, or it doesn't fit right, or the color doesn't match etc... (And!! You can return USED makeup! Just keep the original packaging and receipt!)
And so many more things but this is already long enough - hopefully you get the point ?

We have very little coming out every month because like the title says we paid off our debt & this was YEARS in the making! We weren’t always this way. But 2017 we finally got to a place where our monthly payments were extremely minimized. And we worked hard to keep it that way!

Hard work pays off. Sounds cliche but it’s so true. We both hustled hard all year! I worked A TON!!! With almost 75 weddings + photography + makeup lessons + a ton of other things. I diversified my business and every single dollar added up!
Josiah worked super hard and got a new job and pay raise!
God definitely blessed us financially - and just like I said at the beginning this was YEARS in the making. Not an overnight success type thing.
This was the first year we were able to really dig deep and save a lot. So almost 7 years into marriage in the making y'all.

All in all we make conscious choices on where our money goes and we pick and choose what works for us. Find what works for you!!!

I promise you every single dollar adds up if you choose to be diligent and make a decision and say NO to certain or (a lot) of things!!

Mindset, Perspective AND Contement is everything!! Stop running that rat race to keep up with the jones'!!! Put your blinders on, stay in your own lane & don't let society pull you into the "more, bigger, better, newer, fancier" trap that will eat you alive!

I hope this encourages you that anything is possible with hard work and a direct vision!!

Wishing you all the best success in 2018 ❤️