mtm - I've heard that staying on track in BS3 is almost more difficult than staying on track in BS2. It's almost like "Hey, look at all this money I freed up, cool!" I have no advice but just best wishes.
sparkprincess - We bought years ago but got caught up in the HEL trap and so we're about where you are - even steven if we sell. We're going to stick it out for 2 more years and then put the house on the market while we rent in a different school district. Once this house sells, we'll buy a new house in the other school district. However, we're still in BS2. If we weren't still in BS2, I think I'd be hard pressed NOT to move. If you WANT to move, then go for it but if there is no pressing reason to move then it might pay off to stick it out for 12-24 months. Since you love the house, neighborhood, and neighbors I'd probably stay. You aren't losing anything by being there, at least not IMO.
beansma - Congrats! Seeing everyone's progress in BS3 helps keep me motivated so thank you for sharing. ROTH 401ks are nice and I agree, 5% is a good start. Are you planning on doing the 15% overall to retirement per DR? Make sure you come in here and virtually jump for joy when BS3 is funded.
proudmamanow - Welcome!! It helps to have your partner on board so yay for that! I haven't gotten rid of all of our cards but kept two open plus my husband has a corporate card (his company pays it off directly, he didn't have to sign anything). I haven't used credit in over a year though so I have that controlled. I think I'll feel more comfortable getting rid of the last cards once I have that FFEF. I know that is anti-DR thinking but it is *my* comfort zone. When I travel I use my business debit card because it has a $7,500 daily spending max (no I don't have $7,500 in there heeh).
Like you, I do get sucked into that sense of entitlement every now and then. I think "We make X so why can't I spend Y on Z?" The answer is "Because you have a buttload of consumer debt." If I look at what we could be doing without these payments on BS2 the answer is "I'd be in that house in the school district I want to be in." For me, that keeps me on track. We have a 2 and a 5 year plan and each month we look at our progress towards it. My children have varying special needs so for us, *that* school district is important.
As far as extra money, I'm a freelance writer but also a student. I've picked up some extra writing gigs to throw at our snowball.
I've been eating out too much the past few days - I'm not over budget for the month but definitely ahead of the curve. I joined the home cooking challenge and then I've been dealing with some crazy health issues and quite frankly haven't felt well, at all. I need to get back…on…track…!
My DH got his final numbers on his bonus and it looks like I'll be pretty close to that 9% progress towards goal at the end of the month.
Hope everyone is doing well!
So, I am have been lurking around here, but never jumped in until now.
, doesn't it? It is hard work and most of our friends do not understand. I am the only SAHP in our group of friends, so they cannot understand our frugality sometimes, but that is ok with me!
