No matter how hard you try to plan everything, life throws new things at you and changes it all! I truly learned that through April and May.

In April I gave birth to my second son. You may remember that in my first post I mentioned I was expecting a daughter…that’s right, the ultrasound was wrong! I am completely thrilled and in love with my son, Ezra. But in terms of the Spending Fast, he changed things a bit. While prepping for the fast, I sold nearly all of my first son’s clothes to several consignment stores. With that money I bought a wardrobe fit for a little girl and I did it during some amazing sales at the same consignment shops; think 90% off sales and fill-a-bag for $10 sales! So these past couple months have included some shopping for new (consignment) clothes. I did sell a lot of the girl clothes back, which helped.

One more thing to mention regarding the birth of my son, my husband passed out while I was in labor and he suffered a concussion! It’s nuts. My son has the craziest birth story ever! So my husband, who is doing well now, had to see a concussion specialist several times, had to attend physical therapy weekly, and had to be off of work for three weeks. Despite having insurance, the bills racked up. I didn’t count on that. Who would?

We had some unexpected moments during April, but overall we still were able mostly to stick to the Spending Fast. I’m proud of that because May was a doozy. My husband was let go from his full-time job. He was back for one week after the concussion and then fired for a few mistakes. We had so many emotions in May. Happiness in spending time with our sons, worry for my husband’s health, and then anger regarding his job. But one thing we didn’t have was anxiety about paying our bills. Because we did the Spending Fast through March and April, we already had an emergency fund and had cut our spending drastically. I made minimum payments on our credit cards. I really didn’t want to do that, but I know if it takes my husband a few months to find a job with the same pay scale, then we will be set, making minimum payments through September.

I keep thinking I should be much more worried, but I know I officially have made a change. If this had happened last year, then I just would have started charging all of our expenses and definitely gone out to eat all the time because I was scared and depressed. This change in our money habits is real. I know if we can make it work in a time when money is tight, then it is possible no matter what the situation.

Starting Debt: $159,253
Start SF Date: March 2016
Debt Paid Off Total: $7,700
Estimated SF End Date: March 2017

To see all of Annie’s Spending Fast journey posts click on her name at the top of the post, and to follow all of the Spending Fasters click here.

P.S. Ready to get out of debt ASAP? Check out the Spending Fast Bootcamp!