What a month for my wife and I!
I added our student loan balances up in December 2012 - $133k, for about $21.50 per day in interest. This sparked my interest in FI and my discovery of MMM, which changed our lives forever. Back then we each made about $56k per year and have received 2-3% annual raises. We started very frugal in a 1 bedroom apartment and have always driven paid off older cars, but we purchased a home 3 years ago and expenses (and quality of life for us) are much higher as a result.
We requested PMI removal last month, had the house reassessed due to many DIY home improvements completed, and qualified to have PMI removed without paying any extra principal!
I had saved up about $8k to put toward principal as this was the amount needed to get to 80% LTV, which I applied to our student loans instead. This dropped the SL balance to ~$7500, less than our $10k e-fund. After talking with DW yesterday, we can't resist so I'm going to pay off the last loan this week!
We've been on "auto-pilot" of sorts financially the last few years, max 401k but couldn't quite max the Roths while paying loans and mortgage. Now we can easily max Roths and start taxable account investing! Such an exciting month after years of auto-pilot!
We are so thankful for this incredible community and the real change it's making in the lives of people around the world. After working so hard for years, it feels almost unreal to have our student loans (almost) gone. I've never known my wife without us owing 5 or 6 figures to the department of education! It never would have been possible without MMM seeing through the financial scam that is consumerist western culture, sharing in his blog, and everyone that contributes to this forum helping keep each other motivated and inspired.
Net worth December 2012: Negative 100k
Net worth September 2019: 410k
