See ya, Sallie

We have some big news to make...we've paid off Sallie Mae! I (Ashley) started paying beginning in January of 2009 but since I was saving for our wedding, I only made minimum payments. We started really attacking this group of loans that were all by Sallie Mae in November of 2009. 11 months later....we're done (with Sallie Mae). Total amount paid since January of 2009: $25,562.20. We still have about another $15,000 to go but we are well on track to knock it out! We have learned so much about managing money through Dave Ramsey and specifically his program "Financial Peace University." That's one of the first things we did as newlyweds and it is paying off! Even if you think you know a lot about money, you should check out his book "The Total Money Makeover."
We are on Step 2 of the Baby Step program (based off the comedy What About Bob)

Baby Step 1: Save $1000 emergency fund. Little emergencies no longer become emergencies that, gasp, would require putting more debt on a credit card.
Baby Step 2: the Debt Snowball. Pay off all your debts from smallest to largest. The reason for this is to build momentum (think: snowball rolling down a hill)
Baby Step 3: 3-6 month emergency fund.
Baby Step 4: Invest 15% of household income for retirement
Baby Step 5: College Funding for Kids
Baby Step 6: Pay off house
Baby Step 7: Build wealth and give!

For more on the baby steps click here: http://www.daveramsey.com/new/baby-steps/

And just as a side note....we are not rich. We have just been on a very tight budget over the last year. We ate all our meals at home, spent very little on entertainment and gifts, and many other things, but most importantly at the beginning of the month we sit down together and do a written budget and only spend what is in the budget. Another thing that has really helped is the cash envelope system. I could go on and on but I'll stop there. If you want more details you can talk to me. :)

I wanted to share some pictures that I took recently. Taylor somehow got elected to be the elementary lunch teacher. Basically, he takes them to lunch in the cafeteria, makes sure they eat and don't pick on each other, and watches them until they start their next class. The entire elementary consists of about 11 kids. Most of them have lived in the U.S. and I think all of them have parents that are employees of the school.

Here they are attacking Taylor.

I think this is super cute...Taylor walking all the kids to class.

Here's Noah. He's my favorite!

Update on Taylor's mouth: He's doing great! He's managed to heal up without ever experiencing a dry socket. The stitches were removed a few days ago and his mouth is slowly recovering.