Welcome back to Ease Your Financial Payne! The first month of 2021 is over & so much has already happened in the world since the start of the year.
This month, we put all of our stimulus money & $100 we got for Christmas towards our car to get a head start on our goal of paying it off this year ($1,300 total). We now only owe $15,055 on it. My husband bought this over priced car before we got married when he was 21 and we are now paying the price. No 21 year old needs a new/newer car that is over $20,000. You live & you learn. Only used cars from now on bought with cash and only if we NEED a different vehicle.
Actually, whenever I can fully work from home, or one of us doesn’t need to work anymore, or we go down to part time, we are planning on selling my car to only have one vehicle. Through out this pandemic, I have driven my car approximately once every two weeks for about 10 min, sometimes not even that much. I really don’t need it. I’m sure a lot of people are in a similar boat right now & I suggest just cutting out anything in your life that does not serve a purpose or is unused. I’m waiting until after the pandemic to see what my work situation is, and if I don’t need to go into the office like I used to, then I’ll probably sell it. If I do need to go into the office once in a while, I’m sure my husband and I can coordinate sharing the car (we work a block away from each other) or I can get a ride with my boss. I basically get to choose my own work hours, so I could just plan them around my husband’s work hours. I also just realized that our town has Lyft, so even if we can’t coordinate the car or a ride in some way, Lyft can always be our back up plan. When I sell my car, we can get about $5-7,000 for my car and then save money on gas, tabs for my vehicle, car insurance, and other car maintenance like oil changes, new tires, windshield wipers, etc. Then we can put all of that extra money towards paying off our other car! Then eventually snowball that money into paying off our house faster! Every thing you own is something you have to take care of/pay for, keep that in mind with any purchase. While writing this, I’ve convinced myself to sell my car haha. So I’ll update you all whenever I decide to do so.
It is so easy to just follow what others are doing around you without thinking, and to accept it as the norm and what makes the most sense, but does it? I guess I just saw how most American households have 1 vehicle per adult and never stopped to truly think: But do WE NEED more than one vehicle?? Back when my husband was a delivery driver & I had to drive an hour away twice a week for work, yes we did, but now… not so much. I think it’s important to recognize what matters most to you & what is most efficient for you and your lifestyle. Even pre-pandemic the only thing I’ve ever used that car for was to get to work, that’s it. I can easily be more creative with ways to get to work, especially if I’m going to be mostly working from home.
Anyway, here is our monthly financial update:
Total Financial Independence & Retire Early Goal Numbers:
- $900,000 Invested
- $36,000 In Savings
- $0 Debt
- Both of us have the choice to leave any & all employment
Our Partial Financial Independence Goal Numbers:
- $100,000+ invested, for retirement.
- $25,000+ In Savings for Emergencies/Baby Fund.
- An HSA we are Maxing out every year while working for Medical Expenses. (No specific Goal Number)
- $0 Personal Debt- No Mortgage or Car Payment brings down our expenses a ton ($1,540/month).
- With husband & I working part time (or one of us not at all).
Our Current Numbers as of February 1st, 2021:
- $34,178.19 Invested.
- $10,802.46 In Savings.
- No HSA yet, we will get one Oct. 2022.
- -$145,713.73 Total Debt. (House & Car)
- We are both still working full time.
Total amount needed to reach partial F.I. Goals: $225,733.08
Total amount needed to reach total F.I.R.E. Goals: $1,036,733.08
Ease Your Financial Payne 