NOW- The Miller Family: Transitioning Causes Some Challenges

Last Fall we made the decision for Brett to transfer within the company that he works for. The move was mostly lateral, but gave us more time together, a consistent schedule for him, no more shift work. He went from performing a mostly physical job to behind the desk – a break his body desperately needed.

Brett also became a salaried employee. So while his paycheck was more consistent, there was no more overtime to be had. And the biggest adjustment – he went from being paid every other week to just once a month. This change has required a lot of discipline on our part in terms of budgeting. When Brett gets paid we pay as many of our monthly expenses as we can and then live the rest of the month off of Kerry’s weekly paychecks.

There are many months when we find ourselves in the last week of the month holding our breath, hoping unexpected expenses don’t pop up and that the ends meet… forgoing the weekly dinner outing with friends, and mentally spending/paying bills with money that hasn’t come yet.

Our hope is that at the end of our NOW Financial program, we’ll have a little more wiggle room in our monthly budget and to breathe a little lighter. With the help of Jennifer, our NOW Financial Advisor, we’re making great strides! We’re in the process of refinancing our home to a lower interest rate and we opened a Home Equity Line of Credit (HELOC) with PenAir that we used to pay off Brett’s student loan – the interest rate reduction on both bills will save us about $250 a month combined.

While we’re committed to using that $250 to pay down debt and save money, that savings also equals up to a bit of peace of mind and some much needed breathing room in our family budget.