Getting Schooled on Expenses

July brought our first team meeting with our new financial advisor, Savana, preparing for the girls to go back to school and Kirk finishing his summer semester – it’s been a busy month!

 

Cashing In & Saving Some Green

We’re in good shape thanks to Savana and her tips on how to save money on some of our favorite shopping sites and purchasing school supplies. I was able to get a lot of the supplies from the Amazon Warehouse, which saved about 20-30% off regular prices! Savana also suggested we utilize the tax-free weekends in Alabama AND Florida – an added benefit of living so close to the state lines. Combined with other sales, we were able to capitalize on some great deals for some special items that the girls like to have each year.

Our schools also had a grant this year for a lot of supplies, allowing us to not have to purchase as many materials as in year’s past.

Growing Pains

However, both girls have grown this year and needed a lot of new school clothes. It was hard to budget for that, not really knowing how much we would have to spend to fill their needs.

Kirk just finished up another semester at the University of Alabama. After meeting with his advisor, he found out additional classes are now required to finish his degree. Per Savana’s suggestion, he has applied for a federal student unsubsidized loan to cover an old subsidized loan that we have been paying interest on even while deferred. This is going to save us interest while he finishes school.

We have also been preparing our savings for an upcoming medical procedure that Jennifer will be having. She will be out of work for at least two weeks. Savana has given us some ideas on how to prepare for that.

We are looking forward to next our check-in with her.

~ The Rider Family