I was going through the end-of-month accounting, and it feels so good to have everything organized the way we have it. We still have a mortgage, but it's our only debt. We consolidated some other real estate debt into our mortgage last year, and I just finished a no-cost interest rate reduction with our lender, so now we're down to 3%. We don't plan to pay it off faster than required now, instead shoveling money into taxable accounts. Our taxable accounts, cash, and rental house could be used to pay off our residence at any time, which feels great.
The past six months of staying at home have been both wonderful and difficult. On the difficult side, it's a bummer to be going into winter facing more of the same along with kids in school. We are managing, though, and our expenses are down, which helps supercharge our savings. We've been fortunate to not miss any income, our renter is solid, and I've been able to use the extra time around the house to get some things done.
I have been seriously thinking of retiring early for several years, and the pandemic couldn't have been better timed to give me a taste of working from home. It's okay, and someday I'll be ready for more of a part time arrangement from home. Right now, though, with our income where it is and all the uncertainty out there, I am grateful for full-time work, and even look forward to getting back in the office in hopefully 6 to 9 months. In the meantime, on with the padding of the stash.