I live, write, and garden in the PNW with my husband of 27 years, disabled daughter, college-aged son, and my 84-year-old mother. We have paid off $250,000.00 worth of debt (if you include the interest) in the last fifteen years and as of 6/12/2020 are 100% DEBT FREE!!!!It is a weird feeling to have paid almost all of the bills for the month of August out of the July 31st paycheck. I only have 2 payments left to make, one mid-month that is reoccurring and then the monthly payoff of DH's travel credit card towards the end of the month. I will also be putting an additional $225 in the JMF, but that's not a bill, that's savings.
I seem not to blog too much when things are going smoothly and this is the sort of thing that feels very smooth indeed. Saving up for things does not seem to have the same urgency that paying stuff off has. We are not striving to pay off a mortgage anymore. We are not striving to pay off huge amounts of credit card or medical debt. We are not striving to pay off a car loan. It's almost a bit of a let down feeling.
Maybe it is because we spent so much of the last 15 years paying down debt. Maybe it is feeling like there is a lack of focus since the consumer debt is gone. I mean, I don't want it back, at all. But it was almost like there was always an over-riding uber purpose to our financial life. This is totally a first world problem, I know.
I know that when I don't blog, there is much more of a tendency to fritter money away. I'm not sure quite where that balance is yet. I wish I could get more excited about savings. It just seems like it is going to take a long time to get where we are going and most of what we save is now so automatic. I pay savings like I pay any other bill.
Maybe it is because there are no big ups and downs anymore. I mean, I do stress when unexpected stuff comes up, but we are able to handle it now, and without touching the Emergency Fund.
Am I even making sense? Has anyone else gone through this sort of loose ends thing after they've paid off their consumer debt? Maybe it is just me. Maybe I am so wired now to pay off debt, I really just don't know what to do now. On paper I feel like we are doing all the right things, but in my head, it still feels like we should be working against something massive, something with urgency. I have to wonder if I will ever get used to not having that anymore.
I should just count my blessings. The last two weeks have shown me that life can change at the drop of a hat and at least we don't have out of state hospital costs and funeral costs to be paying.
We will be having some medical expenses coming up, though, that I will have to work through, 2 more pairs of glasses, in-grown toenail surgery, some dental work, all for the kids. All of that will probably be about $1000 out of pocket. We've maxed our HSA for the year already. But we won't have spent enough to do more than take the standard deduction. Honestly, I think we ought to be able to deduct as much medical as we pay out, but I very much doubt that will ever happen. Oh, well. At least at this point in time, we can afford it.
Kind of Mixed Up in How I Feel About Finances
August 4th, 2015 at 03:41 am
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May I ask you a kitchen frugality question?....Do you have a go-to place for really good prices on canning lids in bulk?
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The other is retirement. Are you guys on autopilot because you're well on your way to the right number? I think my family is significantly behind on ours, so that's really motivated me to get going on that. I even developed a goal -- rather arbitrary, but should help me focus and not fritter away TOO much of our money.
I always did net worth updates monthly even when I was focused mainly on paying down debt, and now they're one of my barometers of success. Maybe you could create net worth challenges.
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Retirement is on auto-pilot, so I don't think about it much other than to check the quarterly statements.
I always know where I am with net worth, always have done, so it doesn't really feel like a big thing to me to use for anything. *sighs* I just really want to get excited again and just seem to feeling meh instead. I am sure it will cycle around again, but it is just taking its own sweet time.
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Things like reviewing her will, getting her to put all her financial papers in one place and letting me know where to find them, knowing what lawyer office has her paperwork, getting her deceased 2nd husband's name off of all her accounts and titles (I don't need the aggravation 15 years from now with that!), adjusting her retirement accounts to minimize taxes going forward and reduce any future tax bill for me, and so on. Knowing that things will be mostly settled, and doing now while she still has her full wits, will be a big relief going forward.