Forwards and backwards

Today has been what I would call a ‘forwards and backwards’ kind of day. I moved forward in my journey to becoming debt-free by: 1) planning ahead for dinner so that I wasn’t tempted to buy dinner out; 2) packing a lunch for my road trip so I wasn’t tempted to stop at a fast food place or convenience store; 3) selling the snow tires from my old car; 4) planning ahead for what I would buy at Walmart and using the Ibotta app to get cash back on items I need [$9.25! Woot-woot!]; 5) NOT buying another season of Chopped on Amazon and instead watching movies I already owned.

But it always seems that when you move forward, you also move backward. Today that manifested by: 1) the person I sold my tires to requesting a partial refund [his tire people told him the tread was too low for legal use; but MY tire people said that they should have at least another year in them]; 2) realizing a medical bill I needed to pay wipes out my FSA for the year [and since I’m a teacher, my plan year runs from September to August, so I’m only 4 months in and OUT of money in my FSA. So now, all my monthly prescriptions will have to be paid out of my monthly budget.] 3) spending more at Walmart than I wanted to – even though I paid with the cash I got from selling my tires.

I am starting to see why so many people struggle to climb their way out of debt – it’s hard! And frustrating! And annoying! But all I can do is try every day and keep working towards a better future.

The Intelligent Zebra