We have a little over $10k left on our mortgage. We had to get a large mortgage when we moved here last year because we still owned our house in Florida, but got a great rate on it - 2.75% (5 year ARM since we were going to pay it off before five years). When the house sold there a month later, we took almost all of the proceeds to put against the mortgage here, taking the balance from north of $205K to where we are now. We do have the money saved in a credit union to pay it off, but as I said in the other post that we wanted to keep some out just in case we need a down payment on a new car for my wife.
I am starting to rethink that. I am leaning towards now paying it off. We'd take our savings from a little over $17,500 down to $7500, but it would decrease our monthly mortgage costs by $850, while self-escrowing the taxes and insurance. Saving it back up would take a year or so at the same rate. However, in the case that we need a car, we would have more flexibility. We also would use up all of our savings in that scenario, leaving us a bit vulnerable should the worst happen. Or we would put much less down on a car, that might work too. It's a risk, but writing it out like this shows me that maybe it isn't quite the risk I thought it was at first.
We have a few other things we want to do around the house that we need to save up for - closet organizers, adding on to the deck, swing and chairs for the front porch, swing for the back yard, upgrading our DVR to Tablo TV, buying a soundbar, and saving up for a family vacation just to name a few.
Will let you know what we decide! March on!
Showing posts with label spending. Show all posts
Showing posts with label spending. Show all posts
Monday, May 18, 2015
A Little About Me
I'm in my early 40s, married with 3 wonderful children. We live in a small southern town in North Carolina, where we moved back to last year to be closer to family. I've been investing for over 10 years now, a bit haphazardly at first but has morphed into a focused strategy of dividend reinvestment. We have been following a budget/plan for about that long as well. Trying to live the frugal life while not being miserly with our money, because what's the point of saving if all you do is nothing!
We have quite a few competing money priorities that we are working through. Our house is almost paid off - we have probably a little over a year to go. However, my wife's car is going to have to be replaced in the next couple of years. It's 17 years old with over 200,000 miles on it and starting to have a few repairs in the last year. We have some savings set aside should the need to replace it sooner happen, but we'd really like to have the house paid off before. That's the plan, but have kept some option available.
March on!
We have quite a few competing money priorities that we are working through. Our house is almost paid off - we have probably a little over a year to go. However, my wife's car is going to have to be replaced in the next couple of years. It's 17 years old with over 200,000 miles on it and starting to have a few repairs in the last year. We have some savings set aside should the need to replace it sooner happen, but we'd really like to have the house paid off before. That's the plan, but have kept some option available.
March on!
March On!
This is going to be a place for me to keep track of our march to financial independence - paying down debt, spending, investing, dividends and anything else I want to talk about. Hang out a bit.
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