I just closed out our personal monthly accounting period and this is the first month that we hit a 50% savings rate! That is, counting student loan debt repayment as savings.
The savings rate is a bit unusually high because we had some extra income and because of the timing of payments and reimbursements but it is nevertheless encouraging to get this affirmation that we are headed in the right direction. Our first several months of the transition to Mustachianism involved high spending as we reigned in our spendypants ways. Even after we reduced unnecessary spending, we were still paying contract cancellation fees and paying large amounts up front to make sound long-term financial decisions. We also had a number of necessary larger-dollar home maintenance expenses in succession. But now, seven months in to our new Mustachian lifestyle, my wife's return to part-time employment and our major lifestyle changes are beginning to give noticeable results. We are very excited and thankful for having discovered MMM and his blueprint for financial freedom through badassity!
We are continuing to make changes. We processed student loan refinancing applications today, helping us save on interest. Health insurance changes at the first of the year will reduce expenses and increase our savings rate, helping us get closer to a consistent 50% savings rate. These big changes with our smaller lifestyle changes will add up fast.
Edit to add: We are very much indebted to the forum members for the advice we've received along the way. This forum is an invaluable resource and I know we can count on all of you for expertly-knowledgeable, dispassionate, and insightful guidance. Thank you to all of you for helping guide us down this path!
