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!

Smart ways to use your stimulus check

As everyone knows by now, the first wave of stimulus checks will be in tomorrow! It has been pending in my account since Saturday. $4400. So many people are happy to see this waiting for them. I know this check is meant to STIMULATE the economy-which means spending/helping people pay bills…but, there are smarter ways to use this check!

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!

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!

HSA eligible items you may be surprised to see!

The HSA is a powerful tool for investing! After my HSA funds go to the bank my employer uses (they will not allow me to deposit it directly into investment account) I transfer it to my fidelity HSA where i’m invested in their total stock market fund! I know most people use it for eligible expenses that year as needed, however if you can afford to invest in your HSA and pay out of pocket for medical expenses this can be an amazing tool! It is pre-tax, grows tax free and is tax free upon withdraw as long as it is for eligible medical expenses. Disclaimer- you must have a high deductible health plan to be eligible.

Tax Refund- $10,000

$10,000?? This is pretty good actually since our incomes both slightly increased year. Our rentals still showed a loss with depreciation. This is with no contributions to my 401k as of yet and only a small amount to HSA. (My 401k started beginning of January and I’m at around $800 total between accounts -hey, better than $0).