I made a decision to make a big purchase towards my health. With the pandemic, I stopped going to the gym and wasn’t motivated to work out at home. I was going walking but not consistently. It got harder in the fall to go walking because it started getting dark early and cold in Connecticut. […] Read more…
My goal for 2020 was to pay off my car but that went out the window when we went into lockdown in March because of the virus. I shifted and decided to put most of my extra money into my savings account to have more money in my emergency fund. I had about $4000 in […] Read more…
The world has shut down and we all are stuck in the house and can’t go anywhere. Are you finding yourself shopping online more because you are bored and trying to find something to do with your time? Debt is just a click away and so easy to accumulate. Replace shopping with staying connected with […] Read more…
In the month of July, my husband and I enjoyed a long weekend in Niagara Falls. We drove about 7 hours from Connecticut. Niagara Falls is one of the oldest American State parks. People from all over come to experience and see the beautiful falls. Here are some tips that I learned after our trip […] Read more…
2019 is winding down, 4 more days until 2020. A new year and a new decade. It went by so fast. So much happen. I had my ups and down, but I survived and striving to be my best self. At the end of the year I like to sit down and write down all […] Read more…
On Oct 31, 2019 I made my last payment on my Under-Grad Student loan. The last payment of $493.44 paid to Navient. I couldn’t wait until 5:00pm to check the balance and it says zero. I paid off $7,704.30 this year. I am doing the debt snowball method, throwing all my extra money onto the […] Read more…
Buying your first home is a big deal. So much to know and to learn. I bought my first house after getting married. Hopefully when you start looking at houses. You have saved up for a down payment. There our first-time home buyer programs that can help with the down payment. Check out your local […] Read more…
Christmas is around the corner, less than 70 days away. It’s the most wonderful time of the year. I love decorating my house and having family over. Spending time with family also brings, good food to eat. I love me some desserts. The holidays can bring some stress for people if you didn’t budget throughout […] Read more…
I won a scholarship to go to FinCon for starting my blog Budget to Be Free. I was so excited. I didn’t know what to expect. Before coming I did read many other blogs about their reviews of previous FinCon conferences. I felt a little prepared, I got my cough drops, business cards, hand sanitizer […] Read more…
I am so excited I won a full scholarship to go to FINCON in Washington D.C. FinCon is where money and media meet. FINCON is a big conference for financial bloggers, influencers, podcasters and youtubers create better content. You can read more about FINCON here https://finconexpo.com/. I learned about the conference last year and have […] Read more…
Budgeting and paying off debt can feel restrictive. You feel like you can’t go anywhere because you are so focused on not spending money so you can pay off debt. Being debt free is a journey and you must budget fun in, or you will drive yourself crazy and quit. You don’t have to spend […] Read more…
My name is Samara Diggs. I am a wife, sister, aunt and a Jesus lover. I have a passion for all things about personal finance. I have been intrigued with personal finance since my first job out of college. While working at the hotel I was introduced to a book called Automatic Millionaire by David […] Read more…