Just got home from work; it's around 8 pm and I REALLY need a break from the office. But at least I'll get some overtime pay for this week.
They were actually discussing whether we'd need to go in to work on Sunday (tomorrow). I would have refused if it came to that, and luckily, it didn't.
Tomorrow will definitely be as close to a "do nothing" day as possible, but I do want to get to Lowes for light bulbs. I will do lunch with dad and fill up the gas tank but the rest of the day: HOME.
Lifetime Milestone
It's hard to believe I've reached the point of even being able to talk about this without LMAO, but I'm just $39,000 away from becoming a millionaire.
I track both my expenses and investments monthly, and as of December 1, my investments (excluding the house) came to $961,000.
Will the bull market last long enough to carry me over the finish line? It has been a long time coming.
I know there are many who read this site who are trying to pay down significant debt or just get by paying the bills. I've been there, believe me.
After graduating college in the early 1980s, and throughout my 20s and even into my early 30s, I was pretty broke. In fact, the one and only loan I ever took out, excluding my home mortgage, was to buy a used truck. I was concerned about taking on debt even then, and I think the loan was for less than $5,000. I remember the bank had a certain minimum loan amount so I actually borrowed more than I needed, reluctantly.
I was working as a journalist back then, not making much money. I remember needing to find an apartment in southern Vermont when I relocated to take a news job there, and while there was one apartment I liked very much, the rent just felt too high for me, so I took a rather dumpy, much smaller apartment elsewhere.
I had student debt when I graduated, but it was nowhere the amount of student debt kids deal with today. I can't remember exactly how much it was, but I'm thinking maybe $10K.
I moved from Vermont back to Connecticut to be closer to family when I had what would turn out to be my first symptoms of MS. I lived in my sister's basement for several years, saving my money so I could get a place of my own.
It wasn't until 1992, when I took my first job as a financial services copywriter, that I began making what I considered good money. At that time, "good" money was anything over $50,000.
I stayed at that job for 7 years, and it was during that time I felt I could buy a house. Pretty much from the get go, I began prepaying the mortgage; sometimes it was just $100 a month, but other times it was $500. There were periods I couldn't make prepayments because I'd been laid off, but whenever I was working, I made those prepayments. That was one of my smarter moves.
Another really smart move, but one that most people wouldn't do? Tracking my income and expenses on a monthly basis. Income is fairly easy since most of the time, I had just one job, but after many years of tracking expenses, I don't feel this is a big deal at all. I'm just in the habit of making sure I have receipts or otherwise can record an expense on my own home-made monthly expense sheet.
The reason I think doing this is such a good idea because it forces me to see, right there in front of me, how the money has been flowing out each month, and on what. It's too easy to overlook things like eating out or spending on frivolous stuff, but if you track every expense, it's impossible not to notice. And then you can make adjustments accordingly.
Anyway, I'm grateful for the sense of security the $$ gives me, along with a feeling that I have "options" and won't be backed into a corner due to financial considerations.
And just for hoo-hahs, if you want to know what my net worth was in 2009, the start date for this blog, it was just $315,226. So I tripled my net worth in 8 years. This long-running bull market gave me a headwind that helped things along a lot. But I also have been able to save piles of $ after paying off my mortgage in 2012. That helped a lot too.
Edging closer to a big milestone
December 3rd, 2017 at 01:12 am
December 3rd, 2017 at 01:27 am 1512264421
So sorry you have to work so late on a Saturday.
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I did this on my own, without the benefit of a spouse's income, however, it really helped that I don't have children.
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December 3rd, 2017 at 07:57 pm 1512331033
Turtle, you should be proud of your accomplishments, I avoid debt like the plague, but I know that paying credit card debt down has got to be hard becus their rates are so ridiculously high.
December 3rd, 2017 at 08:31 pm 1512333087
I don't blame you, I wouldn't want to work on Sunday either. Every so often the schools I would be at would suggest we come in for meetings on Saturdays, Really? When I was taking classes, there were times i had to attend classes on Saturdays and then after church and studying on Sundays, I didn't feel like I had adequate rest to meet the expectations for the next week. I'm glad you didn't have to work.
Congrats, Patient Saver!
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