Student loan paid off!

I PAID OFF MY ONLY STUDENT LOAN!

I mean, it was only $4,500 back in 2012 when I graduated so, not a huge deal. I can still celebrate another debt gone though!!!

I have been paying $50 a month on this loan since 2012. That only equals to $4,800 but what a waste of $300!

I saw that the loan was down to $455 and I’ve been holding onto this one simply because the interest was nonexistent anymore and it was my oldest line of credit technically. I’m sure my credit will take a hit for it being paid off, but I definitely feel better.

This reduces my monthly spending by $50, to bring my spending to a whopping $1579 per month-that’s with the $500 loan payment I have still that is my LAST DEBT! How awesome is that?

Now onto my LAST debt! It has taken a bit longer than I had hoped, but life is messy for sure! A few more months and I will be debt free!

Chugging along

I am still plugging along on my FI journey. I haven’t posted in a while because with COVID 19 things were crazy for a while. I had my kids at home while working, I moved, I went on vacation among other things! Speaking of moving and vacation, I used some credit for those things, however they will be paid off this Friday! Very short term use of credit in order to get the points mostly! We aren’t always perfect! I have carried a small balance for about a month on one card. It will be okay though!

Weekly Summary

Financial Win of the Week:

This week I sent $1,000 to debt! Five star is going to be paid off by July! I originally predicted June, but recalculated and am being conservative. I also did something I don’t usually do…and it wasn’t very FI minded of me. Our community has been doing something called wine fairies. I decided to give back after having gifts dropped off on my porch twice! I spent about $200 to get gifts for 15 local ladies who deserve it! It feels SO GOOD to give back. In these times we really need to support each other and lift spirits. So, I consider this a win!

Why I haven’t looked at my investment accounts in over a month.

I haven’t bothered to even look at my investment accounts in this crazy time. Why? If I look, I may see a dip in my funds. Even though I don’t have much right now in the way of investments, this still might be a bad thing to see. My brain might freak out and I might try to “time the market”. I won’t even bother taking the chance! I am just keeping the faith!

When the market evens out some, I might look. I am unsure when that even will bet obviously. They say on the Biggerpockets money show…the investor who ends up with the most wealth, is the dead one…meaning that the person who never looks at it, or forgets it is there becomes the wealthiest.

Even the best investors and most savvy people, are human. Humans have emotions. Humans make mistakes. Take the emotion out of it by not even knowing. Honestly, if you looked what is something good that could happen? Probably nothing.

So, my advice is for you to do the same. Just don’t look.

I plan to increase my contributions over the next few weeks. I know, the rule of thumb is to only invest the match in your 401k until you’re debt free, but during this time I think an exception is to be made. I have around $8800 worth of interest accruing debt left to pay off. Buying stocks on sale is more worth while to me right now. I plan to still pay down debt and it still should be paid off within about 2 months.

So, DON’T look at your portfolio if you can help it. Also, put MORE MONEY in if you can! The way I see it stocks are currently at a discounted price.

Don’t lose faith and remember what all the greats have spoken of. The 4% rule has accounted for this! Just keep on the path to FI!!!!

Thank you for reading!

How do you keep your emotions out of your investing?

Car is PAID OFF!

It’s been a while since I have written anything!

Here is the scoop, with this coronavirus I have been in a funk. I have been homeschooling 5 kids, working from home, taking care of the dog and trying to maintain a household and my sanity! It has not been easy!

Also, my finances were at a standstill as we were saving for a house, so I kind of lost ambition to post here because it didn’t feel quite right. Well…our house was AGAIN ripped from under us. This time, by bad business practices on the listing agent’s part! That was taken as a sign that the house will not work out this year. I am a believer in everything happens for a reason and CLEARLY buying a house this year was not meant to be! We made the decision to stop pursuing a house and use some of the savings to pay off debts and some to fix up our current apartment a little more!

BAD NEWS!

So, we found out the bank messed up on our contract and we are now not able to get the triplex we are under contract for. This is really bad news. I was very excited to be moving forward with real estate investing! I am upset with the bank for messing up and upset with myself for getting my hopes up. But…

Stay the course!

With the world in panic, it is easy to buy into the hype. Understandably people are afraid right now. People are calling this the “apocalypse”. They’re saying the economy may never come back and that the world as we know it is over. Luckily, if you pay attention to the news you know that isn’t true. China has gone two days with no new cases of COVID 19. Sure, it took them about 3 months to get to that point, but the United States has really responded quickly to this virus. New York and several other states are now under a “stay at home” order. This is long before the timeline China or Italy instituted this. I am glad that the response has been so swift by our government here in the states. As far as the FIRE community goes…the posts I have seen and the conversation…is concerning. It seems that many people have joined the community between 2008 and now. Although, I am one of those people, hearing so many testimonies of FIRE still working in 2008 and the years after have given me faith. Staying the course is still THE BEST COURSE! Remember, the market ALWAYS goes up, over time! Remember what you’ve been taught, remember what retiring early or reaching financial independence means to you. Remember your why! Stay the course!

Fun free activities to do at home!

Hey everyone, since we’re stuck at home I figured I would give everyone some ideas for keeping busy. Since the FIRE community is already pretty good at this, a lot of these will be known to many of my readers…but who knows, so here it goes!

Keep calm and save on!

Hey everyone,

I’m here to say be cautious, wash your hands, distance yourselves but STAY CALM!

This whole pandemic is unlike anything I have seen in my lifetime! I live in New York state which is the worst hit state so far. As of Sunday they will be closing all “non-essential” businesses (fun fact: apparently liquor stores are essential guys-woohoo). So many people are upset about everything closing and are on social media complaining of being bored etc. Luckily for us FIers…this is just another normal day in the life, with the exception of maybe having friends and family over. The rest of the state has to go without malls, movie theaters, salons or bars! It is crazy to see how upset some are about this. I mean, having a drink with some friends on a Saturday night is grand and all, but this is only temporary for a few months at most. People are acting as if they will never be able to go to another place of entertainment ever again! Luckily, with China starting to return to normal life there is a silver lining for everyone! It will be okay everyone!

Credit score updated! And in a good way!

Hey all, I know with all the doom and gloom going on it’s hard to see the bright side of things. Although, it seems like the world is shutting down (literally), we have to know this will pass! And so, keep pushing on with our financial journey!