I’ve very much enjoyed reading some of the other journals here and hope mine will prove to be somewhat interesting to others. I also hope it will help clarify my goals and keep me motivated to work toward them.
Background:
Gender: Female
Age: 42
Family: married with a 10 year old son
Professional/career: Project manager in R&D in the oil and gas industry. I’ve also had some graphic design side business in the past.
MTBI: INTP
I’ll start by saying that I’m not completely comfortable sharing all my financial details. Posting this is WAY outside my comfort zone. My expenses are also rather incomplete due to the way my husband and I split things up. We have always kept our finances completely separate as we have very different approaches to managing money. We divide things up approximately like this:
Me: Mortgage, child care expenses, vacations, home improvement/projects, cell phones, my car expenses and discretionary purchases
Him: Utilities, groceries, insurance, house services (termite control, garbage service, etc) internet service (expensive in the country), satellite TV, family entertainment (movies, restaurant etc.), his car expenses and purchases.
At this point I will focus on my side of the equation and start suggesting changes that will help cut his expenses as well. Hopefully he will see my progress and develop some interest in this as well. I think he is happier with his career and less motivated to stop working full time.
In general we have always lived well within our means and saved 10-20% of income. Our assets (in descending order) are in retirement accounts, home equity, a couple of margin accounts (which we invest separately), and cash. Our only debt is the mortgage which we owe $100k.
We currently live in our “dream” house which we built 14 years ago. At that point we could barely afford it but it has everything in it we wanted. In hind sight, the house is too big as we originally planned for a larger family, but I love living here! We have 3 acres which are heavily wooded with a variety of trees, and we have planted many others. You can look out my windows (most of which have no blinds or curtains) and see wildlife daily 
. I’ve made some sacrifices to live here (8 years of long commutes – thankfully that’s over) and staying in a career which isn’t where I want to be much longer. I don’t hate it, but the stress levels are unpredictable - some years are great, others are very difficult and have affected my health. I’d also like a lot more time to pursue other interests.
4 years ago I changed jobs (and industries), and with bonuses and promotions I’ve had a 40% increase in salary. In the process, early FI (with the kind of home I want) is starting to look feasible. Over the last few months, I closed a savings account and put it toward the mortgage. In June I paid off my car, and in August my child care costs dropped (my son is out of after school care).
So the short term goal is paying off the house. Doing this in two years is easy now, but I’m getting impatient and want faster progress. Once the house payment is gone I can save faster, but more importantly my fixed expenses drop dramatically, and I'm free to look for lower paying jobs which are more satisfying if I like. I can also explore starting my own business full time. I doubt I’ll do this yet, but just having the option should dramatically reduce my stress and improve my motivation.
Longer term (2-3 years), I want to buy a rental property or two and see if I can deal with it. My family is convinced it’s expensive and troublesome (they have no direct experience), but I have a fundamental distrust of the stock market long term and RE looks like a great alternative. There is also the leverage, which you just can’t beat. I also have to save for the kiddo’s college expenses.
Much longer term (8+ years) – after my son is out of school and school districts no longer matter, I’ll explore moving to house #2. This will be smaller, further away from the coast (mosquitos and expensive windstorm insurance), and include design for solar or similar cost of living reductions. My goal is to be either FI or close enough to leave work and have supplemental income from small business projects. Where we move will be dependent on DH’s work situation. We have a target area about 100 miles away that appeals to both us in terms of weather, landscape, and proximity to family and our interests – but it’s too remote for continuing either of our current careers.
So enough of the story for now, I’ll start this by just keeping track of the mortgage balance and work up to some expense tracking. This month I’m putting roughly 85% of my income toward the house, but keep in mind the percentage of household income is lower.
For November the balance is $99.7k. The December payment should bring this down about $5k and that will happen early next week.
Statistics: Posted by Open Space — Sat Nov 29, 2014 1:27 am