Dear little monkeys,
I was listening to a podcast recently about a married couple in their late twenties who had made all the "right" decisions that allowed them to quit their jobs and take a year long road trip around the country. I say "right" in quotes, because it was the right decision for them based on their priorities. They were luck enough to figure out early that money is a tool, and if you learn how to use that tool and use it well, it can be used to do pretty much whatever you want.
I have to admit being jealous of them. I had made similar decisions starting off, not really with the mindset of being financially independent or retiring early, but I made some decisions specifically because I knew it would get me money. And my folks helped out with that. I graduated college with no debt, something I didn't realize was quite the blessing it was. I also graduated with a degree that was employable and made good money. The decision to major in computer science was in part because I enjoyed the work, but mostly because it was practically a guarantee (at the time) of having a good paying job with benefits.
After that things went off the rails a bit, and I learned the pitfalls of credit card debt, and being house poor to simply own a house (please don't do this, it's stressful). I wish I could go back and tell 26 year old me that it was not financially smart to buy a house I could uncomfortably afford. Or I should've filled it with roommates instead of just a dog.
But that wasn't my priority at the time, and while I rue buying that house, it led me to other things that made my life richer. Priorities change over time, and that's okay too. You just need to figure out what they are so you can direct your decisions accordingly.
Love,
Mama monkey
Wednesday, June 27, 2018
Wednesday, June 20, 2018
All about priorities
Dear girls,
When you're little, you're typically told that you can do anything, be anything. And so you dream big. Astronaut, ballerina, first female fighter pilot. And while yes, it's mostly true that you can do anything, in most cases you have to really want it and really work at it.
And that's where priorities come in. Priorities are a conscious decision and it takes some thought to figure out where you want to put your time, energy, money. Ultimately, only you can decide what's important and worthwhile. And if you're lucky, you'll figure it out pretty early.
That's not to say you shouldn't drift aimlessly. It can be about the journey, not the end goal. Backpacking around Europe in a gap year or working in several different jobs is a good thing, as it can provide insight into things that you absolutely don't want to do, or you could accidentally stumble onto a calling (not everyone finds or has a calling, so don't be surprised if this is you, it's absolutely me).
What does this have to do with money, you ask. Well, if you want to retire early and be financially independent, or work for the peace corps, you need to figure out where your priorities lie. Which is more important, paying for cable or saving for FI? Have a fun car, or saving the world? Living like a poor college student, or having the coolest new gadget (will there be gadgets when you read this)? You make that decision based on what you want in life and you shouldn't let anyone get in the way of that.
Love,
Mama
When you're little, you're typically told that you can do anything, be anything. And so you dream big. Astronaut, ballerina, first female fighter pilot. And while yes, it's mostly true that you can do anything, in most cases you have to really want it and really work at it.
And that's where priorities come in. Priorities are a conscious decision and it takes some thought to figure out where you want to put your time, energy, money. Ultimately, only you can decide what's important and worthwhile. And if you're lucky, you'll figure it out pretty early.
That's not to say you shouldn't drift aimlessly. It can be about the journey, not the end goal. Backpacking around Europe in a gap year or working in several different jobs is a good thing, as it can provide insight into things that you absolutely don't want to do, or you could accidentally stumble onto a calling (not everyone finds or has a calling, so don't be surprised if this is you, it's absolutely me).
What does this have to do with money, you ask. Well, if you want to retire early and be financially independent, or work for the peace corps, you need to figure out where your priorities lie. Which is more important, paying for cable or saving for FI? Have a fun car, or saving the world? Living like a poor college student, or having the coolest new gadget (will there be gadgets when you read this)? You make that decision based on what you want in life and you shouldn't let anyone get in the way of that.
Love,
Mama
Wednesday, June 13, 2018
Where we are today
Dear girls,
Part of why I'm writing you these letters is to illustrate how the decisions your dad and I have made have put us in the situation we're currently in (slaves to debt) and how we get back to zero (it's hard). I want to make us the example of what not to do.
We live a good life. You guys have everything you need (but not everything you want). We go on vacations, we have fun. We live a typical, middle class American lifestyle.
But I want more than that for us and for you guys. I want us to be able to go on a trip on a whim knowing we already have the money saved for it. I want to know that we can take a month long road trip and not have to worry about the vacation day calculator at work. I want to be able to spend all the time you'll let me with you guys, and not have to worry about a paycheck.
So below is where we are today. Every month I'll post our progress so you can see our progress (or lack thereof). And you'll see how the decisions we make have impacted our life, and how the decisions we're making going forward help to change things.
Love you,
Mama
***********************************************************************
Part of why I'm writing you these letters is to illustrate how the decisions your dad and I have made have put us in the situation we're currently in (slaves to debt) and how we get back to zero (it's hard). I want to make us the example of what not to do.
We live a good life. You guys have everything you need (but not everything you want). We go on vacations, we have fun. We live a typical, middle class American lifestyle.
But I want more than that for us and for you guys. I want us to be able to go on a trip on a whim knowing we already have the money saved for it. I want to know that we can take a month long road trip and not have to worry about the vacation day calculator at work. I want to be able to spend all the time you'll let me with you guys, and not have to worry about a paycheck.
So below is where we are today. Every month I'll post our progress so you can see our progress (or lack thereof). And you'll see how the decisions we make have impacted our life, and how the decisions we're making going forward help to change things.
Love you,
Mama
***********************************************************************
I'm not counting our mortgage balances in this list, as we haven't decided how we'll tackle those yet. But here's all the bad debt that we carry month to month. The total is $155,888.27.
Amount
|
Payoff
|
%
|
Min. Pmt
|
Notes
| |
Car Loan
|
$16,797.71
|
3 year - 12/2020
|
2.24%
|
$ 541
| |
401k
|
$33,439.35
|
20 year - 5/2032
|
3.25%
|
$ 227
|
Must pay off in full
|
T Alaska Visa
|
$18,635.39
|
10/2018
|
0.0%
|
$ 210
|
0% until 10/2018
|
HELOC
|
$74,615.82
|
10 year 2027
|
3.99%
|
$ 357
| |
Al Alaska visa
|
$12,400
|
5/2019
|
3.99%
|
??
|
Sunday, June 10, 2018
The American Dream nay Nightmare
Dear girls,
Despite dad and my best effort, all your life you'll be submitted to a barrage of marketing and messaging that tells you that you should live a certain way. Even at 7 and 4, you watch TV and movies that sneakily entice you to buy toys and things. That's why I like PBS. No commercials. We try to keep this away from you guys, but taking y'all shopping is a nightmare. An exercise in saying 'No, you can't have that.'
It seems that everything in our society is about buying more, getting more, having more, earning more, more more more. And that's really unfortunate, because it sets you guys up to accept a way of life without question. A way of life where it's weird to save money and try to be financially independent. You're the odd person out for saying 'no, I can't afford to do X' or 'I'm saving my money to invest, I don't want to buy the new fancy toys'.
And so you end up with people, like your dad and I, who are in debt because we made decisions without really considering the consequences. Debt traps you and makes you a slave. You lose the ability to CHOOSE your life when you're in debt, because debt needs to be paid off. That's the struggle I'm having right now. How to make decisions that make sure we can still pay down our debts, but that also don't put our lives on hold, and give us the opportunity to make the most of our time with you. Because time is the one thing you can't get more of. And the pair of you grow up so darn fast.
Below I've shared the 3 simple sounding rules to make sure you're in control, and not your money choices. Money is a tool, and I'm hoping by the time you two are on your own, dad and I will have taught you how best to use it.
Love,
Mom
**************************************************************************
I'm listening to The Simple Path to Wealth by J.L. Collins and his advice is really really simple. I'll summarize.
1) Avoid debt, because no debt is good debt no matter what they tell you (I'll tell you about what is good debt, fur real, someday, as getting debt to by an income producing asset is actually a good way to go).
2) Save as much as you can, hopefully at least 50% of your income. This will be a combination of how much you earn, and living a frugal lifestyle. This one is all about running your life on your priorities and values.
3) Invest what you save in low fee index funds.
That's it. Item 2 is the hardest and will require you to make unusual choices that other people and society will pressure you about. It will require you to know your priorities and values and if they don't mesh with societal norms, to resist the pressure to give in.
Despite dad and my best effort, all your life you'll be submitted to a barrage of marketing and messaging that tells you that you should live a certain way. Even at 7 and 4, you watch TV and movies that sneakily entice you to buy toys and things. That's why I like PBS. No commercials. We try to keep this away from you guys, but taking y'all shopping is a nightmare. An exercise in saying 'No, you can't have that.'
It seems that everything in our society is about buying more, getting more, having more, earning more, more more more. And that's really unfortunate, because it sets you guys up to accept a way of life without question. A way of life where it's weird to save money and try to be financially independent. You're the odd person out for saying 'no, I can't afford to do X' or 'I'm saving my money to invest, I don't want to buy the new fancy toys'.
And so you end up with people, like your dad and I, who are in debt because we made decisions without really considering the consequences. Debt traps you and makes you a slave. You lose the ability to CHOOSE your life when you're in debt, because debt needs to be paid off. That's the struggle I'm having right now. How to make decisions that make sure we can still pay down our debts, but that also don't put our lives on hold, and give us the opportunity to make the most of our time with you. Because time is the one thing you can't get more of. And the pair of you grow up so darn fast.
Below I've shared the 3 simple sounding rules to make sure you're in control, and not your money choices. Money is a tool, and I'm hoping by the time you two are on your own, dad and I will have taught you how best to use it.
Love,
Mom
**************************************************************************
I'm listening to The Simple Path to Wealth by J.L. Collins and his advice is really really simple. I'll summarize.
1) Avoid debt, because no debt is good debt no matter what they tell you (I'll tell you about what is good debt, fur real, someday, as getting debt to by an income producing asset is actually a good way to go).
2) Save as much as you can, hopefully at least 50% of your income. This will be a combination of how much you earn, and living a frugal lifestyle. This one is all about running your life on your priorities and values.
3) Invest what you save in low fee index funds.
That's it. Item 2 is the hardest and will require you to make unusual choices that other people and society will pressure you about. It will require you to know your priorities and values and if they don't mesh with societal norms, to resist the pressure to give in.
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