Welcome back and Happy Spring! (Hopefully.) Here in Minnesota, you never know when Spring is actually here. The past two Winters, it has been warmer & less snowy than usual, which is concerning, to be honest. Also, last summer was not as humid either, it was very dry, at least where I live. Now that I am already talking about weather & climate, one book I read this month was Bill Gate’s: How to Avoid a Climate Disaster. It was extremely informative, concerning, and hopeful. I’ve already been obsessed with environmental sustainability for the last year or two. I’ve always known it was important, but only over the last year have I truly changed my behavior & consumption. I highly recommend Bill Gate’s new book, it has so many intense facts and he describes what the world, governments, companies, & individuals need to do to help fight against climate change.
In March, we also went on a short vacation down to Tennessee, we went to Nashville & Chattanooga. The best part for me was going to the Johnny Cash Museum! Also eating good food. 🙂
The last weekend in March, we had 2 leaks in our house we got fixed on Monday for $240, then later that day, 1/3 of our fence that surrounds our backyard fell because of strong winds. 
So there goes at least another $1,000 probably. Ah… the joys of home ownership.. If my husband and I never bought a house, we would be so much closer to financial independence, so much closer. BUT we really love our home, enjoy doing projects on it, and like the idea that nobody can tell us what we can or can’t do. We’re in control.
When it comes to achieving our financial goals, we are switching our strategy up a bit. We are now pausing all investing and going to focus on paying off all of our debt ASAP. With this new change, we are going to pay off his car by the end of this year, hopefully by the end of August (or earlier), and probably going to be debt free about 4 years from now. (If our house/property decides to stop falling apart, haha….ha..ha…..ha……) I’ve done the long term math on different financial strategies, but they all make us reach the same goals at the same time, so we prefer to be debt free ASAP. To help with this, we took our entire stimulus checks and put it on his car, $2,800, and are hoping to put an extra $2,000/month now on his car until it is paid off. Again, if we stop having unwanted, expensive house projects.
Along with pausing our investing, we are still toying with the idea of selling my car, are going to pause any unnecessary house projects (other than painting), and are pausing all travel, so we can put as much money as we can towards our debts.
Total Financial Independence 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 April 1st, 2021:
- $37,712.57 Invested.
- $11,559.40 In Savings.
- No HSA yet, we will get one Oct. 2022.
- -$139,716.53 Total Debt. (House & Car)
- We are both still working full time.
Total amount needed to reach partial F.I. Goals: $215,444.56
Total amount needed to reach total F.I.R.E. Goals: $1,026,444.56
Ease Your Financial Payne 