It feels longer than a year!
It has been great to transition into the MMM community. I really love reading the forum, getting ideas and having a place to contemplate money/ what to do with it/ general philosophy and approach
The WaPo article came at the perfect time for me. We had bought a place a few months earlier, so that goal was accomplished, and life style creep was starting to occur in our hcola town. MMM reset my attitude and financial practices in profoundly beneficial ways. I still don't think ER is on the table for us, mostly because my husband loves his work and I already have the perfect part-time gig, but we have kids and I adore the idea of having lots of money for security and a low stress life.
Things I have done:
Dropped the NYT and WSJ
Stopped going out to eat multiple times a week, now 2-4 times a month
Began serious batch cooking, always packing lunch for spouse, myself and kids
Got rid of the nanny
Began biking a lot
Line dry
Dropped frequency of cleaning person
Started dollar cost averaging Roth money into stocks
Raised pretax contributions to 5%, are going to raise them to 10%
Have saved enough money and developed a plan for 529 contributions
Started dying my hair at home (that right there saves $105 a month)
Getting cheap haircuts a fifteen minute bike ride away, rather than expensive ones an hour away by car
Stopped monthly amazon purchases
Shop at goodwill for children and husband's clothing
Consider buying things much more carefully, frequently decide not to buy them
Prioritize saving and investing over spending
Refocus on being a steward of my family's money
Cut family's hair at home (no more $35 haircuts for my daughters... So face punch worthy!)
Obsessively track goodwill donations
Talk about MMM with my neighbors and friends. It is so cool when they get into it!
Do own pedicures
Never returning to an Easter or Mother's Day brunch in a restaurant unless someone else is paying for it.
Take staycations
Dropped therapy
Rented out our place when we left the country for a while
Stuff I need to do:
Track our grocery spending for a month or two and then decide if I want to make changes
Investigate changing insurance carriers for better rates
Continue to develop a nuanced financial plan that accomplishes our multiple goals
Appreciate my awesome husband who works hard and goes along with all my frugality initiatives
Continue to increase our savings rate every month
Explore barter opportunities for things/services I want
Go camping
We still spend a chunk of change on preschool and swim lessons, and some after school activities, and will continue to examine how the cost to value ratio skews. Right now it is worth it.
Like most people here, I don't miss the things I/we have given up. Our children are sad about the brunches, but otherwise thriving. I occasionally don't want to cook, and get tired of the same soup every week, but paying for take out is not acceptable for me now.
I feel proud about our growing bank balances, and glad that our marital disagreements about money center around where our saving should go. That is a good problem!
Just one last thing, we live in the epicenter of crazy rich people with ridiculous spending habits. MMM, both posts and forum, helps me stay grounded and not jealous. Focusing on my own behavior and habits and corresponding rise in net worth is important. It also gives us a clear, sustainable philosophy to impart to our children, equally important when growing up in an outrageously privileged environment.
Edited to add: we got rid of our land line too.
In terms of goals, I should sit down and figure out our actual savings rate.
