For the first time in more than a year, we made it through the pay period without borrowing money. Sort of. There was a snag with the tag for our new vehicle (bought before we started the program), and I had to take money out of the car repair fund to pay for it. As I stood at the ATM trying to figure out how much to withdraw, I decided to take out $175...just in case. The total transaction was $63, and the smart thing to do would have been to put the rest of the money back. You already know I didn't do that, but what you don't know is my rationale. I paid the new car payment (yes, payments!) one month early, so I knew we had that bit extra. But I also used this line of thinking earlier in the week when I wanted to buy something else. The Power of the $0 Budget There's a flaw in my thought process sometimes, and the truth is that the $0 budget is the best way to combat this. As I worked the numbers for December, I realized the power of this tool. After paying a

Can we pretend that there's not been some ridiculous period of silence here? Can we pick up right where we left off? Can we go back to being friends? Life is in full swing here in the mountain. With the immigration process behind us and both sets of feet firmly planted in the U.S., we're now navigating the waters of living together without knowing there's a return flight waiting somewhere around the corner. No more monthly flights out of the country. No more running two households. No more dog kennels. No more rental cars. No more credit cards. We made the decision this week to get out of debt. I tallied up everything, and we currently owe $119,000. It's time to pay this off and create a life for ourselves in which we don't have to raid the change jar to go grocery shopping or dig around under the cushions for gas money or play the fun little game in which we make sure there is at least $1 of available credit on a card so we can fill the gas tank before t